One form, most of your day
The polite -요 style, called haeyo-che, is the default register of adult daily life: shops, offices, new acquaintances, most conversations.
Korean dictionary forms all end in 다: 가다 (to go), 먹다 (to eat), 하다 (to do). You never speak in dictionary form. Strip off 다 to get the stem, then attach an ending. The polite present ending depends on the last vowel of the stem, and there are exactly three cases.
A bonus of this tense: the same form serves statements, questions, suggestions and even mild commands. 가요 can mean 'I go', 'do you go?', or 'let's go', with intonation and context doing the sorting. One conjugation buys you four sentence types.
The three rules
That is the whole system: bright vowels ㅏ and ㅗ attract 아요, everything else takes 어요, and 하다 becomes 해요. Descriptive verbs, the words English treats as adjectives, conjugate exactly the same way: 좋다 (to be good) becomes 좋아요.
| Stem's last vowel | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ㅏ or ㅗ | -아요 | 살다 → 살아요 (live) |
| any other vowel | -어요 | 먹다 → 먹어요 (eat) |
| 하다 verbs | 해요 | 공부하다 → 공부해요 (study) |
| 저는 아침에 빵을 먹어요. | I eat bread in the morning. jeo-neun a-chi-me ppang-eul meo-geo-yo, stem 먹 + 어요 |
| 저는 한국어를 공부해요. | I study Korean. jeo-neun han-gu-geo-reul gong-bu-hae-yo, 하다 verb |
| 오늘 날씨가 좋아요. | The weather is nice today. o-neul nal-ssi-ga jo-a-yo, descriptive verbs conjugate like action verbs |
Contractions: when vowels collide
When a stem ends in a vowel and the ending starts with one, the two merge. These contractions are mandatory in speech, and there are only a handful of patterns to learn.
| Dictionary form | Mechanical form | Actual form |
|---|---|---|
| 가다 (go) | 가 + 아요 | 가요 |
| 오다 (come) | 오 + 아요 | 와요 |
| 보다 (see, watch) | 보 + 아요 | 봐요 |
| 마시다 (drink) | 마시 + 어요 | 마셔요 |
| 배우다 (learn) | 배우 + 어요 | 배워요 |
| 주다 (give) | 주 + 어요 | 줘요 |
| 친구가 서울에 가요. | My friend goes to Seoul. chin-gu-ga seo-u-re ga-yo, 아 + 아 collapse into one |
| 매일 커피를 마셔요. | I drink coffee every day. mae-il keo-pi-reul ma-syeo-yo, 이 + 어 becomes 여 |
| 텔레비전을 봐요. | I watch television. tel-le-bi-jeo-neul bwa-yo, 오 + 아 becomes 와 |
The eu-drop: 쓰다 and friends
Stems ending in the vowel ㅡ drop it before the ending. 쓰다 (to write, to use) loses ㅡ and becomes 써요. For longer stems, the vowel before ㅡ decides between 아 and 어: 바쁘다 (to be busy) has ㅏ before the ㅡ, so it becomes 바빠요 (ba-ppa-yo).
One more irregular worth meeting now because the verb is so common: 듣다 (to listen) changes ㄷ to ㄹ before a vowel ending, giving 들어요. Learn it as vocabulary; the full irregular families come later.
| 이메일을 써요. | I write an email. i-me-i-reul sseo-yo, ㅡ drops before 어요 |
| 한국 음악을 들어요. | I listen to Korean music. han-guk eu-ma-geul deu-reo-yo, 듣다 is irregular: ㄷ becomes ㄹ |
Questions cost nothing
Keep the same form and raise your pitch at the end. 어디에 살아요? asks where someone lives; 뭐 해요? asks what someone is doing. Question words like 뭐 (what), 어디 (where), 언제 (when) and 왜 (why) slot in before the verb without changing anything else.
| 어디에 살아요? | Where do you live? eo-di-e sa-ra-yo, same form as the statement, rising intonation |
| 뭐 해요? | What are you doing? mwo hae-yo, the most useful two syllables in casual polite Korean |
The present -요 form also covers the near future in context. 내일 가요 means 'I am going tomorrow'. You do not need a future tense to start making plans.
Pronunciation corner
The -요 endings are unstressed and light. Keep every syllable even; Korean has no heavy stress accent like English.
| 해요 (haeyo) | [hɛ.jo] | heh-yo, two even syllables |
| 마셔요 (masyeoyo) | [ma.ɕʌ.jo] | the sh sound is soft, made with the tongue further forward than English sh |
| 먹어요 (meogeoyo) | [mʌ.ɡʌ.jo] | the k of 먹 links on: muh-guh-yo, three smooth syllables |
| 좋아요 (joayo) | [tɕo.a.jo] | the ㅎ disappears between vowels: cho-ah-yo |
Practice drill
Conjugate each dictionary form into the polite present (-요) form.
가다 (to go)Show answer
가요
먹다 (to eat)Show answer
먹어요
공부하다 (to study)Show answer
공부해요
마시다 (to drink)Show answer
마셔요이 + 어 contracts to 여
보다 (to see, watch)Show answer
봐요오 + 아 contracts to 와
살다 (to live)Show answer
살아요last vowel ㅏ takes 아요
배우다 (to learn)Show answer
배워요우 + 어 contracts to 워
쓰다 (to write)Show answer
써요the vowel ㅡ drops
오다 (to come)Show answer
와요
Frequently asked questions
Why does 하다 become 해요 instead of 하아요?
하다 is its own class and simply takes 해요. Since thousands of Korean verbs are built as noun + 하다, like 공부하다 and 전화하다, this one irregularity covers an enormous share of the language.
How do I make a question in the polite present?
Use the identical form with rising intonation, and add a question word if needed. 가요 with a rise means 'are you going?'. Nothing else changes.
What about the 습니다 forms I hear in formal settings?
That is the formal register, used in news, presentations and announcements. It is worth recognizing early, 갑니다 (gam-ni-da) and 먹습니다 (meok-seum-ni-da), but haeyo-che is what you need for daily conversation, so master it first.
Do Korean adjectives conjugate like verbs?
Yes. Words like 좋다 (to be good) and 바쁘다 (to be busy) are descriptive verbs and take the same endings: 좋아요, 바빠요. Korean needs no separate 'to be' before them.
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