‘ㅂ’ irregular conjugation in Korean grammar
Dec 19, 2022
- Author: Good Job Korean team, Niya (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Editor: Good Job Korean team
Conjugation
I will tell you a simple way to conjugate ‘ㅂ’ irregular verbs. Even though there are fundamental rules for ‘ㅂ’ irregular conjugation, it’s a bit confusing. I mentioned the fundamental rules at the bottom of this post. Please check them out if you want to conjugate ㅂ irregular beyond present, past, future, and Adjective form.
-Present tense
You drop ‘ㅂ’ from the verb stem and add ‘워요’.
Example:
눕다 (to lie down) -> 누워요 (I lie down)
맵다 (to be spicy) -> 매워요 (it is spicy)
굽다 (to bake, to grill) -> 구워요 (I bake it)
무섭다 (to be scary) -> 무서워요 (it is scary)
-Past tense
You drop ‘ㅂ’ from the verb stem and add ‘웠어요’.
Example:
눕다 (to lie down) -> 누웠어요 (I lied down)
맵다 (to be spicy) -> 매웠어요 (It was spicy)
굽다 (to bake, to grill) -> 구웠어요 (I baked it)
무섭다 (to be scary) -> 무서웠어요 (it was scary)
-Future tense
You drop 'ㅂ' from the verb stem and add ‘울 거예요’.
Example:
눕다 (to lie down) -> 누울 거예요 (I will lie down)
맵다 (to be spicy) -> 매울 거예요 (it will be spicy)
굽다 (to bake, to grill) -> 구울 거예요 (I will bake it)
무섭다 (to be scary) -> 무서울 거예요 (it will be scary)
-Adjective
You drop 'ㅂ' from the verb stem and add '운'.
Example:
눕다 (to lie down) -> 누운 (lying)
맵다 (to be spicy) -> 매운 (spicy)
굽다 (to bake, to grill) -> 구운 (baked)
무섭다 (to be scary) -> 무서운 (scary)
List of ‘ㅂ’ irregular verbs
Here are more ‘ㅂ’ irregular verbs!
- 가볍다: to be light
가벼워요 - 가벼웠어요 - 가벼운 - 무겁다: to be heavy
무거워요 - 무거웠어요 - 무거울 거예요 - 무거운 - 고맙다: to be thankful
고마워요 - 고마웠어요 - 고마울 거예요 - 고마운 - 눕다: to lie down
누워요 - 누웠어요 - 누울 거예요 - 누운 - 굽다: to bake, to grill
구워요 - 구웠어요 - 구울 거예요 - 구운 - 귀엽다: to be cute
귀여워요 - 귀여웠어요 - 귀여울 거예요 - 귀여운 - 까다롭다: to be picky, choosy
까다로워요 - 까다로웠어요 - 까다로울 거예요 - 까다로운 - 더럽다: to be dirty
더러워요 - 더러웠어요 - 더러울 거예요 - 더러운 - 덥다: to be hot
더워요 - 더웠어요 - 더울 거예요 - 더운 - 두렵다: to be scared
두려워요 - 두려웠어요 - 두려울 거예요 - 두려운 - 맵다: to be spicy
매워요 - 매웠어요 - 매울 거예요 - 매운 - 밉다: to be detestable
미워요 - 미웠어요 - 미울 거예요 - 미운 - 반갑다: to be glad)
반가워요 - 반가웠어요 - 반가울 거예요 - 반가운 - 부럽다: to be envious
부러워요 - 부러웠어요 - 부러울 거예요 - 부러운 - 아름답다: to be beautiful
아름다워요 - 아름다웠어요 - 아름다울 거예요 - 아름다운 - 어둡다: to be dark
어두워요 - 어두웠어요 - 어두울 거예요 - 어두운 - 어렵다: to be difficult
어려워요 - 어려웠어요 - 어려울 거예요 - 어려운 - 쉽다: to be easy
쉬워요 - 쉬웠어요 - 쉬울 거예요 - 쉬운 - 즐겁다: to be joyful
즐거워요 - 즐거웠어요 - 즐거울 거예요 - 즐거운 - 춥다: to be cold
추워요 - 추웠어요 - 추울 거예요 - 추운 - 아쉽다: to be shame
아쉬워요 - 아쉬웠어요 - 아쉬울 거예요 - 아쉬운 - 두껍다: to be thick
두꺼워요 - 두꺼웠어요 - 두꺼울 거예요 - 두꺼운
Exceptions
Exception #1.
There is one verb that doesn’t follow the irregular rule. It is [돕다: to help]. For this word, I hate to say but you will just have to memorize each tense.
돕다: to help
도와요: (I) help.
도왔어요: (I) helped.
도울 거예요: (I) will help
*NOTE:
In order to say ‘to help’ in Korean, ‘도와주다’ is more common than ‘돕다’. ‘도와주다’ is a composed verb from the combination of 돕다(to help) and 주다(to give).
Exception #2.
There are a few verbs that just follow the ‘Regular rule’ even if the verb stem ending with 'ㅂ' final consonant. Let’s check out the words that you have to conjugate with regular conjugation rules.
- 입다: to wear (clothes)
입어요: (I) wear it.
입었어요: (I) wore it.
입을 거예요: (I) will wear it.
- 잡다: to hold, to catch
잡아요. : (I) hold it. (I) catch it.
잡았어요. : (I) held it. (I) caught it.
잡을 거예요. : (I) will hold it. (I) will catch it
- 씹다: to chew, bite
씹어요. : (I) chew it. (I) bite it.
씹었어요. : (I) chewed it. (I) bit it.
씹을 거예요. : (I) will chew it. (I) will bite it.
Example sentences
집에서 학교까지 가까워요.
It is close from home to school.
*집: home *학교: school *가깝다: to be close
학교에서 가까운 집에 살아요.
I live a house that is close from my school.
김치는 너무 매워요.
Kimchi is too spicy.
*김치: Kimchi *너무: too, very *맵다: to be spicy
매운 음식은 조심하세요.
Please be careful of spicy food.
*조심하다: to be careful
한국은 정말 아름다웠어요.
Korea was very beautiful.
*아름답다: to be beautiful
한국은 정말 아름다운 나라예요.
Korean is a really beautiful country.
*나라: country
내일은 비가 많이 와서 날씨가 추울 거예요.
The weather will be cold because it will rain a lot tomorrow.
*내일: tomorrow *비: rain 날씨: weather *춥다: to be cold
저는 더운 여름보다 추운 겨울이 좋아요.
I like cold winter more than hot summer.
*덥다: to be hot *여름: summer *겨울: winter
오늘은 치마를 입었어요. (following regular rules)
I wore a skirt today.
*치마: skirt *입다: to wear
Fundamental rule for ㅂ irregular
The basic conjugation rule is that when ‘ㅂ’ irregular verb is followed by a suffix that starts with a vowel, the ‘ㅂ’ final consonant changes to ‘우’.
You might not understand what is a suffix starting with a vowel, so let’s take a look at the suffix ‘어요’ that is used for present tense conjugation.
Following regular conjugation rules, firstly you need to check the verb stem's last vowel. Then, if it is 'ㅏ' or 'ㅗ‘, you add ‘아요’. If it is not ‘ㅏ’ or ‘ㅗ’, you add ‘어요’. Right?
However, for ㅂ irregular verbs, you always have to add ‘어요’ because ‘ㅂ’ changes to ‘우’ as the verb is followed by the suffix for present tense conjugation. (어요 and 아요 both are suffixes starting with a vowel!)
Let me show you how it changes with the verb ‘어렵다(to be difficult)’ through a picture!
-Present tense
Once, the verb stem ‘어렵’ becomes ‘어려우’, always ‘어요’ should be followed because ‘우’ is neither ‘ㅏ’ nor ‘ㅗ’. So it ends up becoming ‘어려우어요’ then shortened as ‘어려워요’
-Past tense
The past tense works in the same way. ‘어렵' is followed by '었어요’, so ‘ㅂ’ changes to ‘우’ as the suffix for the past tense ‘었어요’ starts with a vowel. It ends up becoming ‘어려웠어요’.
-Future tense
Future tense is ‘어렵 + 을 거예요’. ‘ㅂ’ final consonant changes to ‘우’, but here since ‘ㅂ’ disappears and now the verb stem ends with a vowel ‘우’, so it should be followed by ‘ㄹ 거예요’.
-ㅂ irregular with the suffix starting with a consonant Future
One thing that you should remember is that you don’t always drop the ‘ㅂ’ final consonant. ‘ㅂ’ does not always change to ‘우’. You have to leave the ’ㅂ’ final consonant when the following suffix starts with a consonant.
For example, ‘-고 verb ending’ or ‘-네요 verb ending’ or ‘-지 않아요 ending’ starts with a consonant, so you just add them after ‘어렵’.
Ex)
이 시험은 정말 어렵네요.
This exam is really difficult.
*시험: exam, test
이 시험은 어렵고 시간이 많이 필요해요.
This exam is difficult and a lot of time is needed.
*시간: time *많이: a lot *필요하다: to be needed
오늘 시험 어렵지 않아요?
Isn’t today’s exam difficult?
- Author: Good Job Korean team, Niya (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Editor: Good Job Korean team
