Korean -게 되다 and 마다: Telling How You've Changed
Korean -게 되다 says you came to or ended up in a state — 한국 음식을 좋아하게 됐어요 (I've come to like it) — and 마다 means every, as in 날마다 or 주말마다 (every weekend).
Published:
Written by Alvin Lim Certified Korean Language Teacher (Level 2)
Korean -게 되다 says you came to be or ended up a certain way — 한국 음식을 좋아하게 됐어요 (I’ve come to like Korean food), 한국어를 할 수 있게 됐어요 (I’ve become able to speak Korean) — and 마다 means “every”: 날마다 운동해요 (I exercise every day), 주말마다 등산해요 (I hike every weekend). Together they let you tell the story of how you’ve changed since coming to Korea.
In the last lesson you got close enough to use 반말. This lesson zooms out to the long arc: who you were at first, and who you’ve become.
Words for change and habit
These are the words you reach for when you look back and notice you’ve grown.
How do you say you “came to” do something?
When a state changed — you grew into it, ended up there, often without planning it — Korean uses -게 되다. Attach -게 to the stem, then 되다 (conjugated for tense). Past 됐어요 is the everyday shape for a change that has already happened.
한국 음식을 좋아하게 됐어요 = I’ve come to like Korean food 한국어를 할 수 있게 됐어요 = I’ve become able to speak Korean 처음에는 못 먹었는데 이제 잘 먹게 됐어요 = at first I couldn’t eat it, but now I eat it well 한국에서 살게 됐어요 = I ended up living in Korea
The feeling is “it turned out this way.” Where 좋아해요 just states a fact (I like it), 좋아하게 됐어요 tells a story (I came to like it — I didn’t used to). That’s why it pairs so naturally with 점점 (gradually) and 이제 (now): 점점 익숙해지게 됐어요.
How do you say “every day, every weekend”?
For regular repetition, attach 마다 straight onto a noun. It means “every” or “each,” and it spreads across the whole set.
날마다 운동해요 = I exercise every day 주말마다 등산해요 = I hike every weekend 사람마다 생각이 달라요 = each person thinks differently 나라마다 문화가 달라요 = every country has a different culture
마다 sticks to almost any noun: 시간마다 (every hour), 가게마다 (every shop), 아침마다 (every morning). It overlaps with 매일/매주, but 마다 is the flexible workhorse — drop it on a noun and you get “each and every one.”
How have you changed since coming to Korea?
That question is the heart of this lesson. The before→after arc combines a past contrast with -게 되다. Watch a friend tell their change story:
See the full arc: 처음엔 못 먹었는데 (at first I couldn’t) pivots into 이제 잘 먹게 됐어요 (now I’ve come to eat it well), and 마다 stacks up the new routine — 날마다 걷고, 주말마다 등산하게 됐어요. That contrast between “before” and “now” is exactly what -게 되다 was built to carry.
FAQ
What does -게 되다 actually mean? -게 되다 marks a change of state — you came to be, ended up, or grew into something, often through circumstances rather than a deliberate choice. 한국 음식을 좋아하게 됐어요 = I’ve come to like Korean food (I didn’t decide to; it happened). 한국어를 할 수 있게 됐어요 = I’ve become able to speak Korean. It’s the natural way to narrate growth: where a plain verb states a fact, -게 되다 frames it as a shift from how things used to be.
How is 마다 different from just saying a time word? 마다 means “every” or “each,” and it attaches directly to a noun: 날마다 (every day), 주말마다 (every weekend), 사람마다 (each person), 나라마다 (every country). It stresses regular repetition or distribution across a whole set. 매일 also means “every day,” but 마다 is more flexible — you can stick it on almost any noun (시간마다 every hour, 가게마다 every shop) to mean “each and every one.”
How do I tell a before-and-after story in Korean? Pair a past contrast with -게 되다. The classic frame is 처음에는 … 못 했는데 이제 … -게 됐어요: 처음에는 매운 음식을 못 먹었는데 이제 잘 먹게 됐어요 = at first I couldn’t eat spicy food, but now I’ve come to eat it well. Start with how things were (처음에는, 예전에는), pivot with -는데, then land the change with -게 됐어요. Add 점점 (gradually) for extra flavor: 점점 익숙해지게 됐어요.
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