Talking about Your Day

Infinitive forms in Korean ends
with 다 [da].

걷다 [geot-da]
to walk

자다 [ja-da]
to sleep

뛰다 [ttwi-da]
to run

날다 [nal-da]
to fly

먹다 [meok-da]
to eat

Steps to make the verbs into a present tense,

Step 1. Drop the 다 [da]

걷다 [geot-da]
→ 걷 [geot]

뛰다 [ttwi-da]
→ 뛰 [ttwi]

먹다 [meok-da]
→ 먹 [meok]

Step 2. Attach 아요 [a-yo] or 어요 [eo-yo]

When to attach 아요 [a-yo]
If the verb stem ends withᅡ[a] or ᅩ [o],
you’ll attach 아요 [a-yo]

Example for 아요 [a-yo]

받다 [bat-da] to receive

Step 1. Drop the 다 [da]

받다 [bat-da]

→ 받 [bat]

Step 2. Attach 아요 [a-yo] or 어요 [eo-yo]

받 end inᅡ [a], you’ll attach 아요 [a-yo].

받다 [bat-da] → 받아요 [bat-a-yo]

When to attach 어요 [eo-yo]
If the verb stem DOES NOT end in ᅡ[a] or ᅩ [o],
you’ll attach 어요 [eo-yo]

Example for 어요 [eo-yo]

먹다 [meok-da] to eat

Step 1. Drop the 다 [da]

먹다 [meok-da]

→ 먹 [meok]

Step 2. Attach 아요 [a-yo] or 어요 [eo-yo]

먹 doesn’t end with either ᅡ [a] or ㅗ [o], you’ll attach 어요 [eo-yo].

먹다 [meok-da] → 먹어요 [meok eo-yo]

Example with one more step

가다 [ga-da]
to go

• Step 1. Drop the 다 [da]
  가다 [ga-da] → 가 [ga]
• Step 2. Attach 아요 [a-yo] or 어요 [eo-yo]
  가 end in ᅡ [a], you’ll attach 아요 [a-yo].
• Step 3. Ease the pronunciation
  Drop the 아 [a] in he middle so you don’t say [a] twice.
• 가다 [ga-da] → 가아요 [ga-a-yo] → 가요 [ga-yo]

Example with one more step

오다 [o-da]
to come

• Step 1. Drop the 다 [da]
  오다 [o-da] → 오 [o]
• Step 2. Attach 아요 [a-yo] or 어요 [eo-yo]
  오 end ᅩ [o], you’ll attach 아요 [a-yo].
• Step 3. Ease the pronunciation
  For verb stem ending in ᅩ [o], ᅩ [o] and ㅏ [a] combines and changes to ᅪ [wa]
• 오다 [o-da] → 오아요 [o-a-yo] → 와요 [wa-yo]