【-았/었/였】How to make and express the past tense.

Once you can talk about the present, the next step is the past tense.

This is an expression used to say “was” or “did”.

Once you are able to use the past tense, your ability to express yourself will expand dramatically.

How to make the past tense.

Attach “-았/었/였” to verbs and adjectives.

“-았/었/였” is used to talk about the past.

Like this, Just adding “-았/었/였” makes it past tense.

Use “-았/었/였” according to the vowel in the stem of the word.

The past tense changes depending on the vowel in the stem.

The stem vowel has ‘아,오’.

선생님한테 생일 선물을 받았습니다.
I got a birthday present from my teacher.
(받다)

친구하고 강남에서 놀았습니다.
I spent time with my friend in Gangnam.
(놀다)

When the stem vowel has ‘아,오’, it is combined with -았.

No ‘아,오’ in the vowels.

학식에서 순댓국을 먹었습니다.
I had Sundaeguk at the school cafeteria.
(먹다)

이거는 누가 만들었습니까?
Who made this?
(만들다)

When no ‘아,오’ in the vowels, it is combined with -었.

Past tense of ‘~하다’.

The word ‘~하다’ has -였 attached to it and becomes 하였, but in conversation it is pronounced 했.

거기서 뭐를 했습니까?
What did you do there?

어젯밤에 범인을 체포했습니다.
We apprehended the perpetrator last night.

친구랑 새벽까지 통화했습니다.
I was on the phone until midnight with My friend.

Let’s learn “~하다” as “~했습니다”.

Cases in which omission or shortening of sentence patterns occurs.

If similar vowels follow, one is omitted.

If the vowel in the stem and “-았/었” sound alike, the vowel may be omitted from the pronunciation.

유미씨는 먼저 집에 갔습니다.
Yumi went home first.
(가다)

3시간 동안 계속 줄을 섰습니다.
I stood in line for 3 hours straight.
(서다)

Think of it as a shortening of the sound by connecting sounds, just as ‘가았습니다’ is shortened to “갔습니다” when pronounced quickly.

Pronunciation changes to double vowels.

In some cases, shortening of sentence patterns occurs.

어제는 집에서 영화를 봤습니다.
Yesterday I watched a movie at home.
(보다)

평소보다 커피를 많이 마셨습니다.
I drank more coffee than usual.
(마시다)

The principle of contraction is that if you pronounce 마시었다 quickly, it becomes 마셨다.

The past tense of nouns is another change in the pronunciation of double vowels.

The noun cannot be used as is, so it is used with 이다 in the past tense.

30년전에 저기는 학교였습니다.
Thirty years ago, that was a school.

10년전에는 중학생이었습니다.
Ten years ago I was in junior high school.

These can also be considered double vowelization.

Some past tenses do not change according to principle.

Vocabulary with sounds that drop out during change.

In some cases, the past tense does not change according to the rules.

For example, this is a case where some sounds drop out when the past tense is used.

영어시험은 어땠습니까?
How was your English exam?
(어떻다)

정말 마음이 기뻤습니다.
I felt very happy.
(기쁘다)

It is hard to remember everything at once, so let’s work on it little by little.

Vocabulary with “-았/었” after the stem form changes.

Some vocabulary words have “-았/었” after the stem form changes.

베트남은 너무 더웠습니다.
It was very hot in Vietnam.
(덥다)

회사까지 1시간을 걸었습니다.
I walked an hour to the office.
(걷다)

These must be remembered as they are, as exceptions.

Let’s start by describing what we ate the night before last in Korean!