Key Facts
- Hangul: 맛보다 (matboda)
- Meaning: to taste
- Level: B1
- Stem: 맛보
- Conjugation class: regular
- Polite present: 맛봐요
- Object marking: transitive
What Does 맛보다 Mean?
맛보다 joins 맛 (taste) and 보다 (see, try), and the food takes 을/를, as in 국을 맛보다. It is about sampling and judging flavor. In daily talk, 먹어 보다 is more frequent, so 맛보다 sounds a little more deliberate, like a cook checking the soup or a judge on a food show.
In writing, 맛보다 is also used figuratively for experiencing something for the first time, such as success or failure. In everyday conversation about food, though, you will mostly hear it in its literal sense.
How Do You Pronounce 맛보다?
The final ㅅ of 맛 is said as a ㄷ sound, and that makes the next ㅂ tense: the dictionary form is [맏뽀다], 맛봐요 is read [맏뽜요] and 맛봤어요 [맏뽜써요]. The romanization matboda does not show the tensing. Formal 맛봅니다 is [맏뽐니다].
How Do You Use 맛보다 in a Sentence?
The examples show a cook checking soup, a first taste of Korean food and tasting as a test.
먼저 국을 맛봐요.
First I taste the soup.
먼저 sets up a first step, and 국을 is the soup being tasted.
처음으로 한국 음식을 맛봤어요.
I tasted Korean food for the first time.
The past 맛봤어요 with 처음으로 marks a first experience.
음식을 맛보면 알 수 있어요.
If you taste the food, you can tell.
The conditional 맛보면 says that tasting is enough to know.
Useful Patterns with 맛보다
In its literal sense, the object of 맛보다 is always something you can eat or drink. Because the verb is about judging, the sentence around it often states a result, such as being able to tell what is in a dish. For a casual "try some", 먹어 보다 is closer to what Koreans say day to day.
How Does Matboda Conjugation Work?
맛보다 is regular and conjugates exactly like 보다. The stem 맛보 ends in ㅗ, so it takes 아, and 보 + 아 merges to 봐: 맛봐요 and 맛봤어요. Endings that start with a consonant leave the stem alone: the honorific is 맛보세요 and the modifier 맛보는.
맛보다
| Form | Korean | Romanization | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 맛봐요 | ||
| Polite past | 맛봤어요 | ||
| Polite future (plan) | 맛볼 거예요 | ||
| Polite future (intention or guess) | 맛보겠어요 | ||
| Formal present | 맛봅니다 | ||
| Formal past | 맛봤습니다 | ||
| Formal future | 맛볼 것입니다 | ||
| Casual present | 맛봐 | ||
| Casual past | 맛봤어 | ||
| Casual future | 맛볼 거야 | ||
| Want to (polite) | 맛보고 싶어요 | ||
| Honorific polite | 맛보세요 | ||
| Because / and then | 맛봐서 | ||
| If (conditional) | 맛보면 | ||
| Present modifier (before a noun) | 맛보는 | ||
| Past modifier (before a noun) | 맛본 | ||
| Future modifier (before a noun) | 맛볼 | ||
| Short negative | 안 맛봐요 | ||
| Long negative | 맛보지 않아요 |
Sound Changes
| Form | Korean | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 맛봐요 | [맏뽜요] |
| Polite future | 맛볼 거예요 | [맏뽈꺼예요] |
| Formal past | 맛봤습니다 | [맏뽣씀니다] |
| Casual present | 맛봐 | [맏뽜] |
| Want to | 맛보고 싶어요 | [맏뽀고 시퍼요] |
| Because | 맛봐서 | [맏뽜서] |
| Past modifier | 맛본 | [맏뽄] |
| Long negative | 맛보지 않아요 | [맏뽀지 아나요] |
Common Mistake
Wrong: ✗ 이 케이크는 달게 맛봐요
Correct: ✓ 이 케이크는 맛이 달아요
Why: 맛보다 is the action of tasting, not the flavour itself. English "it tastes sweet" tempts learners to use it, but to describe a flavour Korean says 맛이 plus an adjective.
How It Differs from Similar Words
| Word | How to tell it from 맛보다 |
|---|---|
| 먹어 보다 | Try eating something; more everyday than 맛보다. |
| 맛있다 | An adjective meaning 'is delicious'. |
| 먹다 | To eat normally, not just a taste. |
Checking Soup before Serving It
A cook asks a helper to check the soup. The helper has not tried it yet. The exchange uses the past, a future plan, and a polite request.
Cook
국을 맛봤어요?
Gugeul matbwasseoyo?
Have you tasted the soup?
Alex
아니요. 지금 맛볼 거예요.
Aniyo. Jigeum matbol geoyeyo.
No. I’m going to taste it now.
Cook
그럼 먼저 맛보세요.
Geureom meonjeo matboseyo.
Then please taste it first.
Alex
네. 조금 짜요.
Ne. Jogeum jjayo.
Okay. It’s a little salty.
The final 짜요 describes the soup’s flavor. It does not use 맛보다, because the tasting action and the result of tasting are different ideas. 먼저 means “first”: the cook wants an assessment before the next cooking decision.
What Can You 맛보다?
국을 맛보다 is tasting soup, and 소스를 맛보다 is tasting a sauce. Both suggest trying enough to learn something about the flavor. Korean also allows 음식을 맛보다 for sampling food more generally. The verb does not require you to name a precise spoonful or bite.
한번 맛보세요 is a natural invitation to try a taste. 한번 softens the invitation toward “give it a try”; it does not necessarily demand one exact attempt. In a market or at a food event, the invitation can encourage someone to sample an unfamiliar product without committing to a whole serving.
성공을 맛보다 means to experience success, literally to “taste success”. 실패를 맛보다 similarly means to experience failure. The experience is being presented through the image of tasting, and there is no food. These expressions fit stories, interviews and sports reporting. They do not always describe the very first success or failure of someone’s life.
Where Will You Hear the Tasting Verb?
Cooking programs use 맛보다 when a cook checks a dish before adjusting or serving it. A restaurant description may invite readers to sample a regional specialty. The word is natural in these contexts and carries no special honorific meaning on its own. 맛보세요 makes an invitation polite to the person being addressed.
In conversation, 먹어 보다 is another useful way to suggest trying food. That expression focuses on the experience of eating it, while 맛보다 puts flavor in the foreground. A friend can use either naturally; 맛보다 is not restricted to judges, professional cooks or formal writing.
For a drink, tasting a small sample can still be 맛보다. If the main action is simply drinking a cup, 마시다 is the ordinary verb. The distinction is the purpose of the action, not a rigid rule that 맛보다 only accepts solid food.
What Makes 맛보다 Easy to Misread?
The 맛 part remains in every form. Only 보다 supplies the changing endings: 맛봐요, 맛봤어요, 맛보면 and 맛보세요. A useful check is whether you are joining 보 with an 아 ending. If so, the familiar contraction gives 봐. With 면 or 세요, keep 보.
Write the dictionary verb 맛보다 as one word. In 맛을 보다, 맛 is a separate noun with an object marker, and 보다 follows after a space. Both structures can concern checking flavor. The one-word spelling is the lemma used throughout this page.
The English sentence “the soup tastes salty” describes the soup, so use an adjective such as 짜다. Saying that someone tastes the soup needs the action verb 맛보다. The subject and object tell you which meaning of English “taste” you need before you choose the Korean wording.
| Related word | Meaning | When it helps |
|---|---|---|
| 맛 | taste / flavor | Names the quality you are checking. |
| 간 | seasoning balance | Useful when checking saltiness or seasoning. |
| 짜다 | to be salty | Describes a result of tasting. |
| 싱겁다 | to be bland / insufficiently salty | Describes food that needs more seasoning. |
The cooking vocabulary lesson provides the surrounding actions; sauces and seasonings helps name what is added afterward.
Mini Drill: Separate Tasting from Flavor
- Give the polite past of 맛보다.
- Give its honorific polite form for an invitation.
- Complete the conditional: 맛보____.
- Choose the verb for “experience success”: 맛보다 or 마시다.
Show drill answers
- 맛봤어요.
- 맛보세요.
- 맛보면.
- 맛보다, in 성공을 맛보다.
Quick Self-Test
- Can 맛보다 describe sampling a drink?
- Does 맛보다 itself mean “is delicious”?
- Which syllable contracts in 맛봐요?
Show answers
- Yes. Sampling for flavor can concern food or drink.
- No. 맛있다 means “is delicious”.
- 보 combines with 아 to give 봐.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 맛보다 the Same as 맛있다?
No. 맛있다 is an adjective meaning delicious; 맛보다 is the action of tasting.
How Is 맛보다 Different from 먹다?
먹다 is eating normally. 맛보다 is taking only a small taste to judge the flavour.
Which Is More Common in Daily Talk?
먹어 보다 (to try eating) is more frequent in casual conversation. 맛보다 sounds more deliberate, like a cook or a food critic.
Which Particle Follows the Food?
을/를, as in 국을 맛봐요.
Which Words Are Related to 맛보다?
What Should You Learn Next?
Compare 맛있다 for describing flavour and 마시다 for drinks. The 보 + 아 → 봐 contraction is covered in how to conjugate Korean verbs in the present tense. You can check other forms in the Korean verb conjugator or browse the Korean verb dictionary.