A1
았/었어요 — the past
How the Korean past tense is formed with 았/었, how it stacks for the past perfect, and why it covers several English tenses.
The past is built exactly like the 해요 form, with 았 or 었 inserted before the ending.
먹었어요.
Meogeosseoyo.
I ate.
어제 영화를 봤어요.
Eoje yeonghwareul bwasseoyo.
I watched a film yesterday.
The rule is the same vowel rule
았 after ㅏ or ㅗ, 었 otherwise, 했 for 하다 verbs.
| 먹다 → 먹었어요 | ate |
| 살다 → 살았어요 | lived |
| 가다 → 갔어요 | went |
| 공부하다 → 공부했어요 | studied |
Learning the present gives you the past. Only one syllable is inserted, and it follows the vowel you already checked.
One past covers several English ones
I ate, I have eaten and I had eaten all land on 먹었어요. Where the difference matters, an adverb carries it — 벌써 (already), 아직 (not yet).
벌써 먹었어요.
Beolsseo meogeosseoyo.
I’ve already eaten.
Nouns
이었어요 after a consonant, 였어요 after a vowel.
학생이었어요.
Haksaeng-ieosseoyo.
I was a student.
A state, not just an event
With some verbs the past form describes how things are now rather than what happened. 결혼했어요 is I am married, not I got married and who knows since.
결혼했어요.
Gyeolhonhaesseoyo.
I’m married.
지금 학교에 갔어요.
지금 학교에 가요.
갔어요 is a completed departure. For what is happening now the present form is right, and 가고 있어요 makes the ongoing sense explicit.