만들다 (mandeulda) Conjugation: Meaning, Forms & Examples

Mandeulda conjugation follows the ㄹ-drop pattern: the stem's ㄹ falls away before ㄴ, ㅂ and ㅅ.

Key Facts

• Hangul: 만들다 (mandeulda)
• Meaning: to make
• Part of speech: verb (동사)
• Level: A1
• Stem: 만들
• Class: ㄹ-drop
• Object marking: transitive

What Does 만들다 Mean?

• to make. Used for making or creating things: 음식을 만들다, 친구를 만들다.

만들다 is a very common verb. The thing you make takes the object particle 을/를, and it combines with many nouns: 음식을 만들다 (to make food), 친구를 만들다 (to make friends) and 계획을 만들다 (to make a plan).

How Do You Pronounce 만들다?

Before a vowel, the ㄹ at the end of the stem moves into the next syllable and sounds like a flapped r, so the polite present 만들어요 is read [만드러요] and the past 만들었어요 is [만드러써요]. In the formal 만듭니다 [만듬니다], the ㅂ before ㄴ is pronounced [ㅁ].

How Do You Use 만들다 in a Sentence?

엄마가 is the subject, 케이크를 is the object, and 만들어요 is the polite present. The ㄹ stays before this vowel ending.

Here 제가 만드는 describes 음식 (the food I make). The modifier 만드는 has lost its ㄹ before ㄴ.

내일 (tomorrow) and the plan form 만들 거예요 talk about a future plan. A stem that ends in ㄹ takes the future ending without an extra vowel, so the form is simply 만들 거예요.

How Does Mandeulda Conjugation Work?

The stem 만들 drops its final ㄹ before ㄴ, ㅂ, ㅅ and 오. You see this in 만듭니다 (ㅂ), 만드세요 (ㅅ) and 만드는 (ㄴ). Where no drop is triggered the ㄹ is kept: 만들어요, 만들었어요, 만들면, 만들고 싶어요.

The full rule is taught in ㄹ-drop verbs and adjectives.

Common Mistake with 만들다

Wrong: ✗ 만들는 음식

Correct: ✓ 만드는 음식

Why: Verbs whose stem ends in ㄹ drop the ㄹ before ㄴ, so 만들 + 는 becomes 만드는 (food that I make).

만들다 Versus Similar Verbs

Making Food for a Picnic

Two classmates are planning a picnic. Jisu asks about tomorrow's food; Alex suggests making it together. The exchange uses a plan, a wish and a past form.

Jisu

Alex

Jisu

Alex

같이 means “together,” so the wish concerns sharing the activity. 한 번 counts one occasion. The past 만들었어요 tells you the experience happened; the future 만들 거예요 concerns tomorrow's plan. Both keep the ㄹ, unlike 만드세요 and 만드는.

Combinations for Things You Create

음식을 만들다 means to make food. It emphasizes the food produced rather than a particular cooking technique. 김밥을 만들다 works even though rolling and assembling are central to making gimbap. This makes 만들다 useful when you know the dish but do not know the verb for each preparation step.

친구를 만들다 is the familiar expression “make friends.” The object is a person, but the meaning is forming a friendship. It does not describe physically creating a person. In a conversation about a new school, 친구를 만들고 싶어요 naturally expresses wanting to meet people and become friends.

계획을 만들다 means to make a plan. In more detailed planning talk, 계획을 세우다, literally to “set up” a plan, is another useful combination. A plan can be created with 만들다, but learning 세우다 helps you recognize the phrase when someone discusses organizing a trip or project.

Where Will You Meet 만들다?

Recipe videos use 만들다 when introducing the finished dish. Crafts and workshop descriptions use it for objects people create. In both settings, the object particle 을/를 marks the result: the food, toy or other item being made.

Product descriptions often put a form of 만들다 directly before the noun. 만드는 describes making as an ongoing or usual activity; 만든 points to something already made. The difference matters when you read a description of handmade food or a craft item: the noun after the verb is still the thing created.

만드세요 can be a polite instruction in a cooking class. It honors the person doing the making through the 시 ending. It is not a special replacement verb. Notice that the ㄹ disappears here even though it stays in the familiar 만들어요.

Related Words for a Cooking Scene

The cooking vocabulary lesson connects ingredients with preparation actions.

만든 음식 points to food already made, while 만드는 음식 describes food someone makes or is making. These forms sit before 음식 without adding a separate Korean word for “that.”

Mini Drill: When Does ㄹ Disappear?

1. Add the present modifier ending 는 to 만들다.
2. Give the polite instruction form.
3. Give the conditional meaning “if someone makes it.”
4. Give the formal present.

The future 만들 거예요 can look as though nothing has happened to the stem. A ㄹ-ending stem already supplies the ㄹ needed for this future construction, so there is no extra 을 syllable. Keep the space before 거예요; it is a separate grammatical unit.

Quick Self-Test

1. Does 만들다 work for food as well as crafts?
2. What does 친구를 만들다 mean at a new school?
3. Which describes something already made: 만드는 or 만든?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Is It 만드는 and Not 만들는?

The final ㄹ of the stem drops before ㄴ, so the present modifier is 만드는. The same drop gives 만듭니다 before ㅂ and 만드세요 before ㅅ.

Which Endings Drop the ㄹ?

The ㄹ drops before endings that start with ㄴ, ㅂ or ㅅ, as in 만드는, 만듭니다 and 만드세요. Before vowels and most other consonants it stays: 만들어요, 만들고 싶어요, 만들면.

What Is the Formal Present of 만들다?

It is 만듭니다, read [만듬니다]. The ㄹ drops before ㅂ, and the ㅂ is pronounced [ㅁ] before ㄴ.

How Do I Say "Make Friends"?

Use 친구를 만들다. In polite speech, 친구를 만들고 싶어요 means 'I want to make friends'.

What Is the Difference between 만들다 and 요리하다?

요리하다 means to cook. 만들다 can also describe making food, as in 김밥을 만들 거예요, but it works for any object or situation.

Which Words Are Related to 만들다?

• 요리하다
• 살다
• 놀다
• 사용하다

What Should You Learn Next?

See 요리하다 for cooking and 살다 for another ㄹ verb. Once 만들다 feels familiar, compare it with other entries in the verb dictionary or check a form in the conjugator.