Naerida Conjugation: 내리다 Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 내리다 (naerida)
• Meaning: to get off; to fall; to lower
• Level: A2
• Stem: 내리
• Class: regular
• Object marking: both

What Does 내리다 Mean?

내리다 has three senses. First, to get off: 버스에서 내리다. Second, to fall from the sky, said of rain and snow: 비가 내리다, 눈이 내리다. Third, to lower something: 가격을 내리다.

Context sorts them out almost every time. A vehicle with 에서 means getting off, weather as the subject means falling, and a price or an object with 을/를 means lowering.

Meanings:

• to get off. Leave a vehicle, as in 버스에서 내리다.
• to fall. Fall from the sky, as in 비가 내리다 or 눈이 내리다.
• to lower. Lower or bring down something, as in 가격을 내리다.

How Is 내리다 Used?

Transitivity changes with the sense. Getting off and falling are intransitive (버스에서 내려요, 비가 내려요), while lowering is transitive (가격을 내려요). The honorific is 내리세요.

Watch the spelling of the polite present: 내리 plus 어요 contracts to 내려요. The verb is rated A2, but you will hear it from your first ride on Korean transport, where announcements tell you where to get off.

How Do You Pronounce 내리다?

내리다 is romanized naerida. Most forms are read as written; the past 내렸어요 is read [내려써요] and the formal present 내립니다 is read [내림니다].

Example Sentences

This is the polite present form. 시청역에서 pairs the station with 에서, the marker for the place you leave. This is the getting-off sense.

This is the polite past form. 눈이 is the subject, so the sense is falling. 많이 describes the amount, and 내렸어요 is the polite past.

This is the if (conditional) form inside the pattern -면 돼요, literally 'if you get off at the next station, it works'. It is the friendly way to give directions: you just need to get off at the next station.

Naerida Conjugation: What Are the Forms of 내리다?

Is 내리다 Regular or Irregular?

내리다 is regular. The ㅣ in the stem merges with the ending, which gives 내려요 and 내렸어요.

Common Mistake with 내리다

Wrong (in everyday speech): ✗ 버스를 내려요

Correct: ✓ 버스에서 내려요

Why: The vehicle is the place you get off from, so it takes 에서: 버스에서 내려요. Learners often borrow the 을/를 that 타다 (to get on) takes, but getting off works the other way round.

Similar Words

내리다 is to get off and 타다 is to get on. For things that fall, 떨어지다 covers things dropping down, while 내리다 is mostly rain, snow and getting off.

Checking Where to Get off a Train

Two travellers are on a train. One is unsure whether this is the right stop, so the other confirms the plan.

Mina

Alex

Mina

Alex

내려요 asks about the immediate action, 내릴 거예요 states the plan, and 내리면 checks the condition. Here the station name is enough: both speakers know they are leaving the train, so neither needs to repeat the vehicle.

Common Phrases: Stops, Weather, and Lowering Things

이번 역에서 내리다 means “to get off at this station”, while 다음 역에서 내리다 means “to get off at the next station”. 이번 and 다음 distinguish the immediate stop from the following one. That small difference matters when you are listening near the doors of a train.

비가 내리다 and 눈이 내리다 describe rain and snow falling. The everyday alternatives 비가 오다 and 눈이 오다 literally use “come”. You may meet 내리다 in forecasts and written descriptions as well as ordinary speech. English normally translates both patterns as “rain” or “snow”.

가격을 내리다 means “to lower the price”. 고개를 내리다 means “to lower one's head”. In both, an actor lowers something, so the lowered thing takes 을/를. This is different from snow falling on its own: 눈이 is a subject, not an object.

결정을 내리다 means “to make a decision”, literally “to bring down a decision”. No physical movement is involved. It is a common pairing in discussions of work, plans, and official choices. Learning the noun beside 내리다 prevents a literal translation from obscuring the meaning.

Where Will You Hear or See 내리다?

On public transport, 내리다 occurs when passengers discuss their stop or ask for room to leave. The polite question 내려요? can mean “are you getting off?” when directed at someone near the exit. The destination can stay unspoken if the situation makes it clear.

Signs may use the noun 내리는 곳, “place to get off”, to label an exit or alighting area. The modifier 내리는 describes the function of the place. Nearby, 타는 곳 labels where to board. Matching those two phrases is useful even before you can follow a whole announcement.

In a weather report, look for 비 or 눈 as the subject. In a shop or business report, 가격 with 을 points to a deliberate price reduction. The same verb ending gives the tense in each case; the surrounding nouns reveal which meaning is intended.

What Makes 내리다 Tricky?

The stem ends in 리, not 르. It therefore does not use the 르-irregular doubling found in 모르다. The ordinary ㅣ-plus-어 contraction gives 내려요. Before 는, 면, or 고, the stem remains 내리: 내리는, 내리면, and 내리고 싶어요.

Compare the two participants in a transport sentence. A passenger gets off 버스에서; someone unloading luggage can lower 짐을. The first names where the passenger leaves, and the second names what is being lowered or unloaded. For a beginner describing their own stop, 버스에서 내려요 is the clearest pattern.

The transportation vocabulary lesson teaches the vehicles and stop names used with these verbs.

Mini Drill: Pick the Sense and Form

1. Add the marker: 버스___ 내려요.
2. Put 내리다 in the polite past.
3. Complete the future plan: ___ 거예요.
4. Choose the marker for lowering a price: 가격___ 내려요.

Quick Self-Test

1. Does 내리는 곳 indicate boarding or getting off?
2. Is 내리다 a 르-irregular verb?
3. What does 결정을 내리다 mean?

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Say 'It Is Snowing'?

Use 눈이 내려요. Rain works the same way: 비가 내려요.

Which Particle Goes with a Bus?

Use 에서: 버스에서 내려요.

What Does 가격을 내리다 Mean?

It means to lower a price. The object takes 을/를, so this sense is transitive.

How Is It Different from 내려가다?

내려가다 is a downward movement along a route, such as stairs; 내리다 is for leaving a vehicle, for rain and snow falling, and for lowering something.

Which Words Are Related to 내리다?

• 타다 (tada)
• 떨어지다 (tteoreojida)
• 내려가다 (naeryeogada)
• 올리다 (ollida)
• Korean verb dictionary

What Should You Learn Next?

Pair this page with 타다, the verb for getting on, and then read 내려가다 for the motion sense.

Class lesson: How to Conjugate Korean Verbs in the Present Tense. Tool: Korean verb conjugator.