Key Facts
- Hangul: 싸우다 (ssauda)
- Meaning: to fight
- Level: A2
- Part of speech: verb
- Stem: 싸우
- Conjugation class: regular
- Grammar: The opponent takes 와/과 or 하고 (동생과 싸우다), not 을/를.
- Usage: Covers both quarrels and physical fights. For a sports match or contest, 경기하다 is more natural.
What Does 싸우다 Mean?
The opponent takes 와/과 or 하고, as in 동생과 싸우다, never 을/를. It covers both arguments and physical fights, and it is the normal word for a verbal row between siblings, friends or partners, not only for a punch-up. For a sports match, 경기하다 is more natural.
Senses:
- to fight: Argue or fight with someone, as in 친구와 싸우다.
How Do You Pronounce 싸우다?
싸우다 is read as spelled, and 싸워요 needs no sound change. The past 싸웠어요 is [싸워써요]. The formal present 싸웁니다 is [싸움니다], with ㅂ turning into [ㅁ] before ㄴ.
How Do You Use 싸우다 in a Sentence?
동생과 자주 싸워요.
I often fight with my younger sibling.
동생과 자주 싸워요 names the sibling with 과 and uses 자주 for often.
어제 친구와 싸웠어요.
I had a fight with my friend yesterday.
어제 친구와 싸웠어요 is the past, [싸워써요]. 어제 means yesterday.
싸우면 빨리 화해하세요.
If you fight, make up quickly.
싸우면 빨리 화해하세요 turns the conditional into advice to make up soon.
How Does Ssauda Conjugation Work?
싸우다 is regular. The stem ends in ㅜ, so 우 + 어 becomes 워, giving 싸워요 and 싸웠어요. Endings that begin with a consonant leave the stem alone: 싸우면, 싸우는, 싸우세요. Before a noun, 싸우는 describes people who are fighting right now and 싸운 describes people who fought earlier.
싸우다
| Form | Korean | Romanization | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 싸워요 | ||
| Polite past | 싸웠어요 | ||
| Polite future (plan) | 싸울 거예요 | ||
| Polite future (intention or guess) | 싸우겠어요 | ||
| Formal present | 싸웁니다 | ||
| Formal past | 싸웠습니다 | ||
| Formal future | 싸울 것입니다 | ||
| Casual present | 싸워 | ||
| Casual past | 싸웠어 | ||
| Casual future | 싸울 거야 | ||
| Want to (polite) | 싸우고 싶어요 | ||
| Honorific polite | 싸우세요 | ||
| Because / and then | 싸워서 | ||
| If (conditional) | 싸우면 | ||
| Present modifier (before a noun) | 싸우는 | ||
| Past modifier (before a noun) | 싸운 | ||
| Future modifier (before a noun) | 싸울 | ||
| Negative with 안 (short) | 안 싸워요 | ||
| Negative (long form) | 싸우지 않아요 |
Sound Changes
| Form | Korean | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Polite past | 싸웠어요 | [싸워써요] |
| Polite future (plan) | 싸울 거예요 | [싸울꺼예요] |
| Polite future (intention or guess) | 싸우겠어요 | [싸우게써요] |
| Formal present | 싸웁니다 | [싸움니다] |
| Formal past | 싸웠습니다 | [싸웓씀니다] |
| Formal future | 싸울 것입니다 | [싸울꺼심니다] |
| Casual past | 싸웠어 | [싸워써] |
| Casual future | 싸울 거야 | [싸울꺼야] |
| Want to (polite) | 싸우고 싶어요 | [싸우고 시퍼요] |
| Negative (long form) | 싸우지 않아요 | [싸우지 아나요] |
Common Mistake
Wrong: ✗ 친구를 싸웠어요
Correct: ✓ 친구와 싸웠어요
Why: 싸우다 is intransitive, so the person you fight with takes 와/과, not 을/를.
What Is Easy to Confuse with 싸우다?
| Word | How to tell it from 싸우다 |
|---|---|
| 화해하다 | 화해하다 is to make peace after a fight, the opposite of 싸우다. |
| 화내다 | 화내다 is to get angry; 싸우다 involves two people arguing or fighting. |
화해하다 is making peace after a fight, the opposite of 싸우다. 화내다 is to get angry, but 싸우다 involves two people arguing or fighting.
Where Does 싸우다 Turn Up?
용서하다 and 미안해하다 often follow a fight. Siblings and friends are the usual partners.
After an Argument over a Borrowed Book
Two classmates meet after class. Jisu notices that Alex and a mutual friend are avoiding each other. The exchange uses a past report, the present form in a question, and a negative.
Jisu
어제 민수와 싸웠어요?
Eoje Minsuwa ssawosseoyo?
Did you argue with Minsu yesterday?
Alex
네. 책 때문에 싸웠어요.
Ne. Chaek ttaemune ssawosseoyo.
Yes. We argued over a book.
Jisu
자주 싸워요?
Jaju ssawoyo?
Do you argue often?
Alex
아니요. 보통은 안 싸워요.
Aniyo. Botongeun an ssawoyo.
No. We usually don’t argue.
책 때문에 names the cause: “because of a book” or “over a book”. It does not make 책 an object of 싸우다. The first line names the other person with 와. Once both speakers know who was involved, the next lines can leave that person out. Nothing in this exchange says that anyone hit anyone.
Common Combinations: Words, Bodies and Causes
말로 싸우다 means to fight with words. 로 identifies the means, so this phrase makes a verbal argument explicit. A bare 싸웠어요 can describe either a quarrel or a physical fight. Add the extra detail when a listener needs to know which happened, rather than assuming the English word “fight” has exactly the same range.
서로 싸우다 means to fight with each other. 서로 highlights that the action goes both ways. If a sentence already names two people as a pair, you may not need to name one of them again with 와/과. The verb can describe the pair’s interaction as a whole.
싸움이 나다 means that a fight breaks out. 싸움 is the noun “fight” or “quarrel”, and 나다 presents it as an event that starts. In a story, this phrase shifts attention from who fought to the outbreak of the trouble. It is not a statement that a fight physically “comes out” of something.
병과 싸우다 means to fight an illness. Here 싸우다 stretches beyond an argument between people: the illness is treated as an opponent. This is a familiar figurative use in personal stories and news. The marker 과 still fits the image of struggling against something.
Where Will You Hear 싸우다?
In a drama, a question about whether two people 싸웠어요 often concerns their relationship after an argument. It does not establish the cause, who started it or whether the disagreement became physical. Words for a reason, such as 돈 때문에 (over money), give information that the verb itself leaves open.
In everyday conversation, 친구하고 has the same partner-marking job as 친구와. 하고 can mean “and” in a list or “with” beside this verb. Read the whole clause: when someone says they fought 친구하고, that friend is the other participant. The friend is not a direct object being acted on.
싸우세요 is grammatically an honorific polite form, but as a standalone instruction it can tell someone to fight. It is not a way of asking people to stop an argument. The meaning of the instruction still comes from 싸우다. Adding a respectful ending does not reverse the action.
What Makes the Forms Easy to Mix Up?
The 우 changes to 워 only in the contracted vowel forms. Compare 싸워요 with 싸우면 and 싸우는. Keeping 우 in the conditional is as important as using 워 in the polite present. The polite present lesson explains the contraction used in 싸워요.
Keep the past marker separate from the idea of reconciliation. 싸웠어요 reports an earlier fight; it does not say the people have made up. If the outcome matters, add 화해하다. Two friends can have fought yesterday and still be upset today.
Words for the Argument and Its Aftermath
| Korean | Meaning | Useful note |
|---|---|---|
| 싸움 | fight; quarrel | Noun for the event, not a conjugated form. |
| 말다툼 | verbal argument | Makes clear that the disagreement involves words. |
| 화해하다 | to reconcile | Describes repairing the relationship afterward. |
| 용서하다 | to forgive | Forgiving someone need not mean both people reconcile. |
The emotions vocabulary lesson adds words for anger and worry, which 싸우다 alone does not describe.
Mini Drill
- Report a fight yesterday using the polite past.
- Give “if you fight”.
- Choose 와 or 를 after 친구 in “I fought with my friend”.
- Give the short negative of 싸워요.
Show drill answers
- 싸웠어요.
- 싸우면, keeping 우 before 면.
- 친구와 싸웠어요.
- 안 싸워요.
Quick Self-Test
- Does 싸우다 always mean a physical fight?
- What does 병과 싸우다 mean?
- Does 싸웠어요 tell you that the people have made up?
Show answers
- No. It also describes verbal arguments.
- To fight an illness.
- No. Reconciliation is a separate action: 화해하다.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Particle Marks the Person I Fight With?
와/과 or 하고.
What Is the past Tense?
싸웠어요.
What Is the Opposite?
화해하다, making peace.
What about a Sports Match?
To say two teams play a match, use 경기하다. Sports reports sometimes use 싸우다 for a hard-fought game, but its everyday sense is a quarrel or fight.
Which Words Are Related to 싸우다?
What Should You Learn Next?
Compare 화해하다 and 화내다, then 용서하다. The rule behind 싸워요 (to fight) is in polite present recipe, and the Korean verb conjugator tests other stems. 싸우다 (to fight) sits beside 화해하다 and 화내다 in the Korean verb dictionary.