Conjugating (a) Verbs in the Present Tense

WATCH THE LESSON: https://youtu.be/oqzJoDapl14

This lesson is on conjugating (a) verbs into the present tense. In the previous lesson we learned about the existance of three types of Korean verbs: (eo) verbs, (a) verbs, and (ha-da) verbs... and there are irregular verbs, but we can worry about those later. Much later.

To determine which of the 3 types of verb you have start out with the infinitive form of the verb. You will recognize the infinitive form of the verb by its -da ending. Once you have that remove to -da and take a look at what is now the last syllable. If the last syllable does not contain an (a) or an (o) you have an (eo) verb. We learned about those in the last lesson. Check the link in the description if you want to learn (eo) verbs in the present tense. If the last syllable is (ha) you have a (ha-da) verb. That's the next lesson. Or If the last syllable contains (o) or (a), but is not (ha). then you have an (a) verb and that is the type of verb we will be learning about in this lesson.

We will be learning how to conjugate (a)ㅏ verbs into the present tense. Let's use an example: an-da. It means to hug.

The first step in conjugation is to cut off the da ending. The infinitive verb with the da cut off is called the root verb. Then we add (a)ㅏ to the end. That is why they are called ㅏ(a) verbs because we add an ㅏ(a).

an-a 안아

and there you have it your present tense of the word hug. This is the casual form. Remember Korean has 3 different levels of respect casual, polite, and formal. and so there are 3 different ways to say a verb in the present tense. To make the polite form we add -yo to the casual form

an-a-yo 안아요

To make the formal form of the verb we start with the infinitive and cut off the da. then if the last syllable ends in a vowel we add ㅂ니다 -b-ni-da to the end or if the syllable ends in a consonant we add seub-ni-da습니다.

In this case our root verb ends in a consonant so we add seum-ni-da

an-seum-ni-da. 안습니다

Let's look at some examples that have roots that end in a vowel.

There are two vowels that an (a) ㅏ verb root might end in: (a)ㅏ and (o)ㅗ

Let's look at an example that has a root that ends in (a) first

ga-da 가다 to go

as always we begin by cutting off the -da

and since our verb root already ends in (a)ㅏ this time we do not need to add an ㅏ(a) the the root. So we're done.

We have made the casual present tense of go.

ga 가

and as usual we make it polite by adding (yo).

ga-yo 가요

and the formal form, As I said before: add 습니다seum-ni-da to roots that end in consonants and m-ni-da to roots that end in vowels

gam-ni-da 갑니다

There we have the casual, polite, and formal forms of the  present tense of an ㅏ (a) verb which it has as root that ends in ㅏ(a)

Lastly, let's look at a case where the root verb ends in ㅗ (o). Let's use the example

보다 bo-da (to see)

step one remove the -da

step two because this is an (a) ㅏverb we a (a)ㅏ

bo-a보아

and then! what happens next... is the two vowels come together to make (wa)

bwa 봐

that is our casual present tense of see.

and just like before we create the polite form by adding (yo)요
bwa-yo 봐요 

and the formal form by adding   m-ni-da ㅂ니다

bom-ni-da 봅니다

Let's sumarize present tense (a) verb conjugation

-cut off the -da

-check that the last syllable contains (o) or (a) but is not (ha)

-look at the very last letter in the word.

IF IT IS A CONSONANT: add (a) to the root to make the casual form, add yo to the casual form to make polite, add seum-nida to the root to make the formal form.

IF IT IS AN (a): you don't need to add anything to the root to make the casual form, add (yo) to the casual form to make the polite form. and add m-ni-da to the root to make the formal form

IF IT IS AN (o): add (a) to the root and then blend the (o) with the (a) to make (wa). add (yo) to the casual form to make the polite form. and add m-ni-da to the root to make the formal form

As you can see making the polite and formal forms is virtually the same. and making the casual forms is similar too you're just adding (a) to the root. and. then. vowels combine.

Now lets move on to using these verbs to make 2 word sentences.

When we want to make two word sentences remember we do not need to change the verb depending on whether we are using 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person, singular, or plural.

To say "I see" casually in the first person the verb is the same as

when you say  " you see, Anna sees, we see, they see" casually. No need to change the verb at all.

But one thing we should add to these sentences are subject markers. A subject marker is a suffix that is added to the end of the subject of the sentence. The subject is the thing that is doing the verb. there are 2 types of subject markers: the type that puts extra emphasis on the subject ga/i  and the type that puts extra emphasis on the action neun/eun. Subjects that end in vowels get either a neun or ga subject marker and subjects that end in consonants get an (eun) or i subject marker.

We learned about subject markers in the last lesson. If you saw that then this is review. let's use our example "ga" to illustrate how we use these subject markers.

na-neun ga

nae-ga ga

both these sentences mean I go. the first one means I go with the emphasis on go. when you're making it clear that you are definately going not staying, not doing anyting else GOING!

the 2nd one means I go with the emphasis on i to make it clear to everyone that it is I who is going, not you not you not you, I. I am the one going.

Now, why did I change na to nae in this sentence. well... when u use a ga subject marker jeo turns into je, na turns into nae, and neo turns into ne but is pronounced "ni" so it doesn't get mixed up with nae.

These subject markers are meant to make it clear who is doing the action. In a short sentence like "I go" you may see the subject marker omitted. You will also see the subject marker neun shortened to just (n) in unofficial forms of communication.

Remember, as well, Korean is a pronoun drop language. If you see a verb all by itself the implied subject is "I". Or the same subject that was used in the previous sentence.

I'm providing you with a list of (a) verbs in the infinitive form that you can practice conjugating if you like. Conjugated forms and their pronunciations are in the comments section. If you are going to memorize some of them I highly recomend that you memorize them in the infinitive form so that you don't need to memorize them all over again when we learn past and future conjugation.

These things are all linked in the description and annyeonghi gyeseyo my fellow students and thanks for studying with me.

WATCH THE LESSON: https://youtu.be/oqzJoDapl14