삶다 (samda) Conjugation: Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 삶다 (samda)
• Meaning: to boil (food)
• Level: B1
• Part of speech: verb
• Stem: 삶
• Conjugation class: regular
• Grammar: What is boiled takes 을/를 (계란을 삶아요).
• Usage: Pronounced [삼따]. Used for eggs, noodles, potatoes and laundry.

What Does 삶다 Mean?

It is the word for eggs, noodles, potatoes and even laundry, and the food takes 을/를: 계란을 삶다. It is not the verb for heating a liquid itself. For bringing soup or water to a boil, Korean uses 끓이다.

Senses:

• to boil (food): Cook food in boiling water: 계란을 삶다.

How Do You Pronounce 삶다?

삶다 is pronounced [삼따]. The final cluster ㄻ keeps only its ㅁ sound at the end of a word, and the ㄷ of 다 turns tense. Before a vowel both parts are heard: 삶아요 is [살마요] and 삶았어요 is [살마써요]. The formal present 삶습니다 is [삼씀니다].

How Do You Use 삶다 in a Sentence?

계란을 삶아요 is the plain polite present and names the food with 을/를.

감자를 삶았어요 is the past, [살마써요]. 감자를 ends in 를 because 감자 ends in a vowel.

국수를 삶으면 물을 버려요 pairs the conditional 삶으면 [살므면] with the next step, pouring the water away.

How Does Samda Conjugation Work?

삶다 is regular. The stem vowel ㅏ selects 아, so the polite present is 삶아요 and the past is 삶았어요. Endings that begin with 으 keep it (삶으면, 삶으세요), and 고 or 지 endings attach to the bare stem. The modifier forms are 삶는 and 삶은.

Sound Changes

Common Mistake

Wrong: ✗ 계란을 삼아요

Correct: ✓ 계란을 삶아요

Why: 삶다 has the final consonant ㄻ, and 삼다 is a different verb. Because the two share the sound [삼] in some forms, learners drop the ㄹ when they write.

What Is Easy to Confuse with 삶다?

끓이다 is bringing a liquid or soup to a boil, while 삶다 is cooking food in boiling water. 찌다 is to steam. 삼다 is a separate verb that means to make into something.

Where Does 삶다 Turn Up?

Eggs, noodles, potatoes and laundry are the objects you will hear. 굽다 and 데우다 are other kitchen verbs in the same family.

Dialogue: Preparing Potatoes for Dinner

Two housemates check the next step in their dinner preparation. The object is a solid food, so 삶다 fits the task.

Jin:

Sara:

Jin:

Sara:

삶아요 asks about the cooking happening now. 삶았어요 asks whether another task is complete. 삶아서 connects boiling the eggs with putting them away. The ending links the steps; it does not add a cooking time or tell you how firm the eggs are.

Which Cooking Phrases Use 삶다?

• 계란을 삶다 — to boil eggs. 계란 and 달걀 both mean egg. The object is the egg itself, even though the shell stays on during cooking.
• 국수를 삶다 — to boil noodles. This describes cooking the noodles in water. The recipe may then tell you to drain or rinse them before adding sauce or broth.
• 삶은 계란 — a boiled egg. 삶은 describes the result before a noun. You can recognize this on food labels without reading a complete sentence.
• 빨래를 삶다 — to boil laundry. This is a literal non-food use. It refers to boiling fabric in water, rather than the ordinary machine-washing of clothes.

These are ordinary collocations, not hidden idioms. 삶다 names the cooking method, so it does not tell you the seasoning, serving temperature, or exact doneness. A boiled potato may later be mashed, sliced, or added to a dish; those later steps need other verbs.

Where Will You See 삶다?

Recipes and cooking videos use 삶다 for ingredients cooked in water. A recipe heading or food label may use 삶은 before the food name. Spoken instructions can use 삶으세요, while a housemate describing a task may simply use 삶아요. The cooking action stays the same across those endings.

Compare the object carefully. 물을 끓이다 means to boil water; 감자를 삶다 means to boil potatoes. If a recipe cooks noodles directly in broth, 끓이다 may describe preparing the whole dish. 삶다 draws attention to cooking the ingredient in water, often as a separate preparation step.

찐 감자 means steamed potatoes, whereas 삶은 감자 means boiled potatoes. Both may be soft and fully cooked, but the words describe different contact with water. A learner who only translates both as “cooked potatoes” misses the instruction the recipe is giving.

Why Is 삶다 Regular despite the Changing Sound?

The ㄻ cluster stays in the spelling. 삶아요 and 삶으면 let you hear both consonants across syllables; 삶다 and 삶는 have different spoken shapes because the following sound is different. This is a pronunciation pattern, not a reason to replace the written stem with 삼.

The vowel in 삶 is ㅏ, so the polite present uses 아요: 삶아요. Before the modifier ending 은, keep the same stem to make 삶은. In 삶을 거예요, 거예요 is a separate written word. That spacing helps you see the planned action and its future expression.

삼다 is a separate verb. It can mean making something into a role or treating something as something else. Its overlap in sound with 삶다 does not make it a shorter spelling for boiling. In a shopping list or recipe, retain ㄹ even when the audio does not make it obvious.

Kitchen Words around 삶다

The Korean cooking vocabulary lesson groups ingredients, equipment, and preparation verbs so you can follow a recipe in order.

Mini Drill: Keep the ㄻ Spelling

1. Write the polite past of 삶다.
2. Complete “boiled potatoes”: ___ 감자.
3. Choose the verb for boiling water: 삶다 or 끓이다.
4. Write “if you boil” using the conditional ending.

Quick Self-Test

1. Does 삶다 specify how many minutes to cook an egg?
2. Which cooking method does 찌다 name?
3. Is 삼다 an alternative spelling for boiling food?

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Say I Boil Eggs?

계란을 삶아요.

How Is 삶다 Pronounced?

[삼따]. Before a vowel the ㄹ comes back, as in 삶아요 [살마요].

What Is the Difference between 삶다 and 끓이다?

끓이다 brings a liquid to a boil, while 삶다 cooks food in boiling water.

Is 삼다 the Same Word?

No. 삼다 is a different verb meaning to make into.

Which Words Are Related to 삶다?

• 끓이다: to boil
• 찌다: to steam
• 굽다: to grill; to roast
• 데우다: to heat up

What Should You Learn Next?

Compare 끓이다 and 찌다, then 굽다. The rule behind 삶아요 (to boil (food)) is in polite present recipe, and the Korean verb conjugator tests other stems. 삶다 (to boil (food)) sits beside 끓이다 and 찌다 in the Korean verb dictionary.