Oeropda Conjugation: 외롭다 Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 외롭다 (oeropda)
• Meaning: lonely
• Part of speech: adjective (형용사)
• Level: A2
• Stem: 외롭
• Class: ㅂ-irregular
• Spoken as: [외롭따]

What Does 외롭다 Mean?

외롭다 is loneliness for company: 외로운 밤 is a night when nobody is near. For your own feeling the sentence is simply 저는 외로워요. For another person, Korean tends to describe appearance, 외로워 보여요, because you cannot be sure of someone else's inner state. The word is about missing people in general, which separates it from 그립다, where you miss one particular person, place or time.

How Do You Pronounce 외롭다?

Only the closing ㅂ matters in the dictionary form: 외롭다 is [외롭따]. The same tensing shows up in 외롭습니다 [외롭씀니다] and in the long negative 외롭지 않아요 [외롭찌 아나요]. Once the ㅂ has softened into 우, nothing is tense: 외로워요 sounds as written, and the past 외로웠어요 is [외로워써요].

How Do You Use 외롭다 in a Sentence?

혼자 있어서 외로우면 전화하세요 combines the reason 혼자 있어서 ('being on your own') with the conditional 외로우면, and the main clause is the polite request 전화하세요.

외로운 사람이 많아요 uses the modifier 외로운 in front of 사람이 and 많아요 for 'there are many'.

In 친구가 없어서 외로웠어요 the cause 친구가 없어서 comes first and the past form 외로웠어요 gives the feeling.

How Does Oeropda Conjugation Work?

Is 외롭다 Regular or Irregular?

외롭다 is ㅂ-irregular. The ㅂ of 외롭 turns into 우 before a vowel, so 외롭 + 어요 gives 외로워요, and the modifier 외로운 and the conditional 외로우면 follow the same change. With a consonant ending the ㅂ stays, as in 외롭지 않아요. Spotting the group is the hard part; the ㅂ-irregular lesson lists the usual members.

Common Mistake with 외롭다

Wrong: ✗ 외롭어요

Correct: ✓ 외로워요

Why: Because 외롭다 is ㅂ-irregular, the ㅂ must turn into 워 in front of 어. Writing 외롭어요 leaves the ㅂ in place, which the language does not allow in this group.

외롭다 Versus 심심하다 and 그립다

A Phone Call after Moving to a New City

Jisu calls Minho, who has recently moved away. They speak politely, even though they know each other.

Jisu

Minho

Jisu

Minho

The conversation moves from a present question to a past feeling and then a condition. 처음에는 means “at first”, so Minho’s answer leaves room for the feeling to have changed. Jisu offers contact rather than assuming that living alone always feels lonely.

Loneliness, Solitude and Missing Someone

혼자 있어서 외롭다 connects being alone with feeling lonely. 혼자 describes the situation; 외롭다 describes the feeling. Someone who enjoys an evening alone may not be lonely at all. Conversely, a person can feel lonely even among other people when they lack a close connection.

외로운 밤 means a lonely night. The night itself has no feelings: the phrase describes the experience of the person spending it. You may hear this combination in songs, drama dialogue and personal writing. It sounds more atmospheric than simply reporting that nobody else is in the room.

외로움을 느끼다 means to feel loneliness. 외로움 is the noun, so it can take the object marker 을 with 느끼다, “to feel”. The shorter 외로워요 is usually enough when telling a friend how you feel. The longer combination is useful when reading an essay or an account of somebody’s experience.

그립다 points toward someone or something you miss. If the focus is a particular friend far away, that word may express your meaning more precisely. 외롭다 describes the lack of connection itself. The two feelings can occur together, but choosing one tells the listener where your attention lies.

Where Will You Hear 외롭다?

In a personal conversation, 외로워요 can be a direct admission that you want company. It is not a diagnosis or an especially formal word. Adding 요 makes the statement polite to the listener without reducing the emotional meaning. The casual 외로워 belongs in conversations where both speakers already use casual speech.

Songs and dramas often pair loneliness with nights, separation or living alone. In an article about people living by themselves, the noun 외로움 lets the writer discuss loneliness as a topic. Recognizing the noun helps you follow the same idea even when the dictionary adjective does not appear at the end of a sentence.

When speaking about another person, 외로워 보여요 means “they look lonely”. 보여요 presents your impression rather than claiming direct access to their feelings. If the person has told you they are lonely, you can report what they said; the appearance expression is useful when all you have is observation.

How Do the Adjective Forms Fit Together?

외로운 is the ordinary form before a noun. It describes a current quality, as in 외로운 사람, “a lonely person”. The noun does not need to refer to the past. This differs from an action verb’s present modifier, which normally ends in 는.

외로우면 introduces an “if” condition. It retains 우 rather than the 워 seen in 외로워요 because 면 follows the changed stem without 어. 외롭지 않아요 keeps ㅂ because 지 begins with a consonant. These are three branches of the same pattern, rather than three unrelated spellings to memorize.

The emotions vocabulary lesson gives you more ways to describe feelings without using 외롭다 for every unhappy mood.

Mini Drill: Describe the Feeling

1. Change 외롭다 to the polite present.
2. Give its polite past.
3. Complete “a lonely night”: ____ 밤.
4. Give the conditional form meaning “if lonely”.

Quick Self-Test

1. Does 혼자 always imply feeling lonely?
2. Which noun means loneliness?
3. What does 외로워 보여요 add to a description?

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Say 'I Feel Lonely'?

Say 저는 외로워요.

How Can I Say Another Person Looks Lonely?

Use 외로워 보여요, because the speaker is judging from appearance.

What Is the Difference between 외롭다 and 심심하다?

외롭다 is a lack of company. 심심하다 is having nothing to do.

Is 외롭다 Regular?

No, it is ㅂ-irregular, so the polite present is 외로워요.

Which Words Are Related to 외롭다?

• 심심하다
• 슬프다
• Korean verb dictionary

What Should You Learn Next?

Compare 그립다 for missing someone and 심심하다 for boredom, then 슬프다 for sadness. 불쌍하다 describes someone who seems pitiful. The Korean verb conjugator tests other stems, and the Korean verb dictionary lists the rest of the family.