Ikda Conjugation: 읽다 Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 읽다 (ikda)
• Meaning: to read
• Part of speech: verb (동사)
• Level: A1
• Stem: 읽
• Class: regular
• Polite present: 읽어요
• Polite past: 읽었어요
• Formal present: 읽습니다
• Objects: transitive

What Does 읽다 Mean?

• to read. Look at written words and understand them, as in 책을 읽다.

Particles and objects. The text read takes 을/를 (책을 읽어요). Reading aloud and reading silently both use 읽다; the object alone tells you what is being read.

How Do You Pronounce 읽다?

읽다 is pronounced [익따]; Revised Romanization: ikda. Before 다 only the ㄱ of the cluster ㄺ is heard, and it makes the next consonant tense. Before ㄱ the ㄹ is heard instead, and before a vowel both consonants survive, with ㄱ moving to the next syllable.

Sound changes under the standard pronunciation rules (국립국어원):

• 읽어요 sounds like [일거요]
• 읽었어요 sounds like [일거써요]
• 읽을 거예요 sounds like [일글꺼예요]
• 읽겠어요 sounds like [일께써요]
• 읽습니다 sounds like [익씀니다]

How Do You Use 읽다 in a Sentence?

Form shown: polite present (읽어요), here describing a daily habit with 매일 (every day).

Form shown: polite past (읽었어요), with 어제 (yesterday) placing the reading in the past.

Form shown: polite future for a plan (읽을 거예요); 이 소설 means "this novel".

Ikda Conjugation: What Are the Forms of 읽다?

Is 읽다 Regular or Irregular?

읽다 is a regular verb: the spelling of the stem 읽 never changes, only its pronunciation does: 읽어요, 읽었어요. Lesson: polite present recipe. Tool: conjugator.

What Is the Most Common Mistake with 읽다?

Wrong: ✗ [일따] for 읽다

Correct: ✓ [익따]

Why: The final cluster ㄺ is pronounced ㄱ before ㄷ, so 읽다 is [익따]; before a vowel (읽어요) it links as [일거요].

Learners see the ㄹ first and pronounce it, but in the dictionary form the ㄹ is silent. It returns before ㄱ (읽고 [일꼬]) and before vowels.

How Is 읽다 Different from Similar Words?

Checking a Message before Class

Two classmates are discussing a message about their next lesson. Reading here concerns a short message, not a book.

Mina

Jun

Mina

Jun

읽었어요 confirms the message was read, 읽어요 gives a polite instruction in this scene, and 읽을 거예요 states Jun’s plan. The object disappears from the replies because the classmates already know which text they mean. In 이 글도, 도 means “too” and takes the place of the ordinary object marker.

What Can You Read with 읽다?

소리 내어 literally means making a sound. It makes the speaking part explicit, because 읽다 alone includes silent reading. A teacher asking for reading aloud is asking you to pronounce the text, not merely look through it.

마음을 읽다 does not usually claim a supernatural ability. It describes understanding what someone feels or intends, perhaps from their expression. 흐름을 읽다 similarly moves beyond printed words: in a discussion of a market or a game, the “reading” is an interpretation of the situation.

Where Will You Hear or See 읽다?

In class, 읽으세요 is a polite instruction to read. A teacher may point to a particular line or page, so the object is supplied by the gesture. At home, 책을 읽어요 often describes a reading habit. It does not by itself say that the reader has finished the book.

On a messaging service, 읽음 can appear as a read-status label. It is a noun-like label built from 읽다, not a complete polite sentence. It indicates the message’s read status; it does not tell you how carefully the recipient understood it or why they have not replied.

In everyday speech, 보다 can also be used for looking at a book, newspaper or message. 읽다 is more explicit about reading its words. The comparison above gives the basic distinction, but hearing 보다 with a written text is normal: the speaker may be talking broadly about checking or looking through it.

Why Does the ㄺ Sound Change?

Treat the spelling and the sound as two separate tasks. In writing, keep 읽 before each ending. In speaking, the next sound determines how the two consonants are handled. The dictionary form, the vowel-ending form and the form before 고 therefore sound different without belonging to different irregular classes.

읽는 is especially useful when listening: it sounds like [잉는]. Before ㄴ, the final ㄱ sound becomes ㅇ through nasalisation. In 읽어요 [일거요], both parts of ㄺ are heard across the syllable boundary. In 읽고 [일꼬], ㄹ remains and the following ㄱ is tense. These three forms give you three distinct listening cues from one written stem.

The ㄺ batchim lesson explains this cluster with other words. The important spelling habit is to preserve the whole cluster even when only part of it is audible.

Words for Talking about Reading

The school vocabulary lesson gives more words for lessons and written materials. 독서 is useful for a hobby description, while 읽다 works directly with the title or kind of text you read.

Mini Drill: Spell It, Then Pronounce It

1. Give the polite present of 읽다.
2. Give its polite past.
3. Give its formal polite present.
4. Add 고 to the stem and give the pronunciation.

Quick Self-Test

1. Does 읽다 always mean reading aloud?
2. Is 마음을 읽다 about printed words?
3. Does the changing sound of ㄺ make 읽다 an irregular verb?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 읽다 Regular or Irregular?

읽다 is regular. The stem 읽 gives 읽어요 in the polite present and 읽었어요 in the polite past; only the pronunciation of the cluster changes.

How Do You Say "I Read Books Every Day" in Korean?

Say 저는 매일 책을 읽어요. In this sentence the verb is in the polite present form, 읽어요.

How Do You Make 읽다 Negative?

There are two ways. The short form puts 안 in front of the verb: 안 읽어요. The long form is 읽지 않아요, pronounced [익찌 아나요].

Can You Say "I Want to Read" with 읽다?

Yes. Use 읽고 싶어요, pronounced [일꼬 시퍼요], as in a sentence about a book you want to read.

Which Particles Go with 읽다?

The text read takes 을/를 (책을 읽어요).

What Is the Difference between 읽다 and 보다?

읽다 is reading text; 보다 is to look at or watch (a movie, a picture).

Which Words Are Related to 읽다 (to read)?

• 쓰다
• 외우다
• 보다
• 그리다

What Should You Learn Next?

Next: 쓰다, or browse the verb dictionary.