This series on Korean irregular verbs begins with the ㅡ irregular verbs. This group is known as such because the verb stem ends in ㅡ. Among these verbs are: 나쁘다 or 예쁘다. Just keep a few simple in mind when using these verbs.
Three Rules for ㅡ Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs might seem very daunting. The Korean irregular verbs, however, are a lot easier than the irregular verbs in many European languages. They simply require you to keep in mind some extra rules. For the ㅡ irregular verbs, it is one major rule and 3 additional rules you need to keep in mind.
The major rule simply tells you when the verbs act differently than “normal” verbs. ㅡ irregular verbs behave differently when an ending begins with 어/아, such as the polite present simple. When you are using an ending that ends in 어/아 you need to follow these three simple rules:
- When the verb stem is preceded by a syllable with either vowels ㅏ or ㅗ, you drop ㅡ and use the endings with 아 such as -아요.
- When the verb stem is preceded by a syllable with neither vowels ㅏ or ㅗ, you drop ㅡ and use the endings with 어 such as -아요.
- When the verb stem has a single syllable, you drop ‘ㅡ’ and use the endings with 어 such as -어요.
While the rules seem complicated they are a lot easier than you might think. Look at this little chart I made that explains these rules using some examples. Everything becomes easier when you can see it happen.
Examples how to conjugate the ㅡ irregular verbs. Don’t forget the first rule!
Short List
There are many verbs that follow this conjugation. However, learning all these verbs is impossible. That is why I selected a few, very useful verbs that follow this conjugation. I have selected these verbs to start things off with: 예쁘다, 바쁘다, 아프다, 배가 고프다, 크다, 나쁘다, 쓰다, 끄다, 기쁘다, 슬프다 and 잠그다. As always you can use my Memrise course ‘ㅡ Irregular Verbs’, if you want to learn these words.
