Korean Past Tense: -았/었어요 and Talking About Yesterday
Korean past tense made simple: -았/었어요 follows the same vowel rule as 해요 (갔어요, 먹었어요, 했어요), time words like 어제 and 지난주, plus -고요 for afterthoughts.
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Written by Alvin Lim Certified Korean Language Teacher (Level 2)
Korean past tense is one ending: -았/었어요. Stems whose last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ take 았어요 (가다 → 갔어요), everything else takes 었어요 (먹다 → 먹었어요), and 하다 verbs become 했어요 — the exact vowel rule you already learned for 해요. Add yesterday-words like 어제 and 지난주, and your weekend stories are ready to tell.
Words that set the scene in the past
Pronunciation flag: 작년 is said jang-nyeon, not jak-nyeon — the ㄱ softens into ㅇ before ㄴ, the same nasal shift you met in 합니다.
았 or 었 — which one does your verb take?
If you can make a verb’s 해요 form, you already know its past. Same fork in the road, different ending.
Last vowel ㅏ/ㅗ → 았어요: 가다 → 갔어요, 오다 → 왔어요, 만나다 → 만났어요. Everything else → 었어요: 먹다 → 먹었어요, 마시다 → 마셨어요, 배우다 → 배웠어요. 하다 → 했어요: 공부하다 → 공부했어요, 일하다 → 일했어요.
The contractions are the ones you have already survived in Lesson 6: 가 + 았 squeezes into 갔, 오 + 았 into 왔, 마시 + 었 into 마셨, 배우 + 었 into 배웠. Descriptive verbs play along too — 좋다 → 좋았어요, 재미있다 → 재미있었어요 — and so do 있다/없다: 집에 있었어요 = I was at home. One rule, the whole language’s past.
When did it happen? Five time words
Korean past sentences love a time word up front. The starter set: 어제 (yesterday), 아까 (a little while ago, same day), 지난주 (last week), 지난달 (last month), 작년 (last year). The short everyday ones — 어제, 아까, plus 오늘 and 내일 — take no particle: 어제 봤어요. The longer calendar nouns usually take 에, exactly like the time-에 from Lesson 9: 지난주에 만났어요, 작년에 왔어요. Notice the 지난 prefix doing the “last” work in 지난주 and 지난달 — spot it once and you own both words.
And one more thing: -고요
Real conversations rarely end cleanly. Koreans finish a sentence, then bolt on one more detail with -고요.
주말에 영화를 봤어요. 정말 재미있었어요. 친구도 만났고요. = I watched a movie on the weekend. It was really fun. And I met a friend, too. Works in the present as well: 요즘 한국어를 배워요. 운동도 하고요 = I am learning Korean these days. And exercising, too.
Attach 고요 straight to the stem — past 만났 + 고요, present 하 + 고요 — with no vowel-matching, just like the -고 있다 you know from Lesson 13. It keeps your turn going without building a whole new sentence, which is exactly how chat messages flow.
Your weekend, recapped
Every verb in that chat is one you already knew — 보다, 만나다, 쉬다, 일어나다, 일하다, 자다 — just wearing the past ending. That is the real payoff of the 았/었 rule: zero new vocabulary, an entire new tense.
FAQ
Is the 았/었 choice really the same as the 해요 rule? Yes — it is the Lesson 6 vowel logic, recycled. Stems whose last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ take 았어요 (살다 → 살았어요, 오다 → 왔어요), everything else takes 었어요 (먹다 → 먹었어요, 마시다 → 마셨어요), and 하다 becomes 했어요. If you can build a verb’s 해요 form, you can build its past.
Do I need a particle after 어제 or 지난주? 어제, 오늘, 내일, and 아까 take no particle at all: 어제 봤어요. Longer time nouns usually take 에: 지난주에 만났어요, 작년에 한국에 갔어요 — the same time-에 you learned in Lesson 9. When in doubt, the short everyday words go bare.
What exactly does -고요 do? It tacks an afterthought onto a sentence you already finished: 정말 재미있었어요. 친구도 만났고요 = “It was really fun. And I met a friend, too.” Attach 고요 straight to the stem — past 만났 + 고요, present 하 + 고요. It is spoken-Korean glue, everywhere in chat apps.
Next: future plans with -(으)ㄹ 거예요. Previous: weather and 보다 comparisons. Full path: curriculum hub.