Sseolda Conjugation: 썰다 Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 썰다 (sseolda)
• Meaning: to slice
• Part of speech: verb (동사)
• Level: B1
• Stem: 썰
• Class: ㄹ-drop
• Objects: transitive

What Does 썰다 Mean?

썰다 is the kitchen verb for cutting vegetables, meat and fruit with a knife. What gets sliced takes 을/를, as in 양파를 썰어요, and you will meet the verb in recipes and cooking talk. It is narrower than 자르다, which cuts anything, including hair and paper. Because 썰다 is about food, it often comes with a word for thickness, as in 고기를 얇게 썰면.

Senses:

• to slice. Cut food into slices or pieces: 양파를 썰다.

How Do You Pronounce 썰다?

The ㄹ at the end of 썰 moves onto the next syllable before a vowel, so the polite present 썰어요 is said [써러요] and the polite past 썰었어요 is said [써러써요]. The formal present is the surprise: 썹니다 is said [썸니다], because ㅂ turns into ㅁ before ㄴ. The plan form 썰 거예요 is said [썰꺼예요]. The opening ㅆ is a tense consonant, made with a tight throat and no puff of air.

How Do You Use 썰다 in a Sentence?

양파를 썰어요 shows the frame in one line: 양파를 is the object and 썰어요 is the polite present, which covers what you are doing now or do regularly.

수박을 썰었어요 reports a finished action. The ㄹ stays because 었어요 begins with a vowel sound.

고기를 얇게 썰면 is a condition. 썰면 attaches 면 straight to the stem, with no linking vowel, and 얇게 means 'thinly'.

How Does Sseolda Conjugation Work?

썰다 drops its ㄹ in the places where the ㄹ-drop class does: before ㅂ in 썹니다, before 세 in 써세요, and before ㄴ in the modifiers 써는 and 썬. Before 아/어 endings and before 면 the ㄹ stays, which gives 썰어요 and 썰면. Notice that the past modifier 썬 has lost the ㄹ completely, while the future modifier 썰 keeps it.

Sound Changes

Is 썰다 Regular or Irregular?

Learner materials list 썰다 with the irregular verbs because its final ㄹ vanishes before certain sounds, although school grammar counts this ㄹ drop as regular. The pattern is the one seen in 살다, which becomes 삽니다, 사세요 and 사는. Once you know it for one ㄹ-stem verb, every other ㄹ-stem verb behaves the same way. The lesson on ㄹ-drop verbs and adjectives explains why.

Common Mistake with 썰다

Wrong: ✗ 썰습니다

Correct: ✓ 썹니다

Why: 썰습니다 keeps the ㄹ and adds 습니다, the ending for stems that end in a consonant. A stem ending in ㄹ takes the ㅂ ending instead, and the ㄹ falls away: 썹니다. The same dropping explains 써세요 and 써는.

썰다 Compared with 자르다, 깎다 and 다지다

Korean has a separate verb for each knife job in the kitchen, so the choice of verb tells the listener how the food was cut.

Preparing Onions for Dinner

Two housemates are sharing the cooking. Jisu asks about the onion, then gives a cutting instruction. Alex reports finishing it.

Jisu

Alex

Jisu

Alex

아직 with the negative means “not yet”. The final line is spoken after Alex does the cutting, so 다 marks completion. Compare 썰었어요 with 써세요: ㄹ stays before the past vowel ending but drops before 세요. The instruction 얇게 describes thickness; it does not name a different kitchen action.

How Do Recipes Specify the Cut?

얇게 썰다 means to slice thinly. 두껍게 썰다 means to slice thickly. These describe the thickness of the pieces, so the same food can take either phrase. A recipe for thin beef slices and a recipe for thick potato pieces can use the same verb while changing that one description.

잘게 썰다 means to cut into small pieces. 썰다 is broader than the English “slice” sometimes suggests: the result does not have to be a neat, flat slice. 잘게 tells you that the pieces should be small. For very fine chopping or mincing, the more specific verb 다지다 may be used.

채 썰다 means to cut into thin strips, or julienne. The word 채 names the strip-like cut here. Keep a space between 채 and 썰다. In a recipe, this instruction concerns the shape of the finished pieces, rather than how thin each flat slice should be.

어슷하게 썰다 means to slice diagonally. You may meet it in instructions for green onions or cucumbers. The diagonal direction is part of the instruction; 썰다 alone leaves that direction open. Recipe pictures help distinguish a diagonal cut from straight rounds.

Reading Instructions and Ingredient Lists

Cooking videos often use polite instructions, while written recipes can use short directions ending in 다. Both can describe the same knife work. A video’s 써세요 is addressed to the viewer; a list containing 썰다 can simply name the preparation step.

The modifier 썬 appears before a noun to describe food already cut: 썬 양파 means “sliced onion”. 써는 describes the cutting action in progress or as a general activity. These forms are useful when a recipe switches from instructions to naming a prepared ingredient.

Ingredients and Tools beside 썰다

The cooking vocabulary lesson connects these preparation words with the heating steps that follow.

Mini Drill

1. Give the polite instruction form in the table.
2. Put 썰다 before 양파 to mean “sliced onion”.
3. Give “if you slice”.
4. Report that the slicing is finished, in the polite past.

Quick Self-Test

1. Which phrase asks for thin strips: 채 썰다 or 두껍게 썰다?
2. Which verb fits cutting paper: 썰다 or 자르다?
3. Does 잘게 썰다 require flat slices?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Is the Formal Form 썹니다 and Not 썰습니다?

The ㄹ of the stem drops before ㅂ, so the formal present is 썹니다, said [썸니다].

Can I Use 썰다 for Hair or Paper?

No. 썰다 is used for vegetables, meat and fruit. For hair or paper, use 자르다.

How Do I Say That I Sliced a Watermelon?

Say 수박을 썰었어요. The fruit takes 을 and the polite past is 썰었어요.

What Is the Honorific Polite Form?

It is 써세요, with the ㄹ dropped before 세.

Which Words Are Related to 썰다?

• 자르다
• 깎다
• 볶다
• 끓이다

What Should You Learn Next?

To follow a recipe from the board to the pan, continue with 볶다 and 끓이다. Other verbs can be tried in the Korean verb conjugator, and all entries are listed in the Korean verb dictionary.