One of the characteristics of Korean verbs and adjectives is that they both are conjugated according to tense, speech level, passive and causative forms, and speech styles.

Verbs and adjectives consist of a word stem and word ending, with their base forms consisting of the word stem plus 다.

This form is also called the ’dictionary form or root form".

When conjugated, the word stems of verbs and adjectives do not change; rather, 다 is replaced with the appropriate form depending on the speaker’s intention.

For example : 

자다 verb which means to sleep,  consists of 자 + 다 

자 is the stem and 다 is the end is removed or replaced with other sentence endings. 

Another example : 

먹다  which means to eat. 

먹 is the stem and 다 has to be removed or replaced with other sentence endings. 

There are two key points to remember : 

When the stem of the word ends with a 오 or 아 like in case of 자 + 다 where the stem ends with 아, 

You simply have to add 아요 in the end. 

When the stem of the word ends with anything other than 오 or 아 like in case of 먹 + 다 where the stem ends with ㄱ, 

You simply have to add 어요 in the end. 

So looking at the two examples 자다 and 먹다 

자다 - 자 remove 다 - 자 +아 요 = 자요

먹다 - 먹 remove 다 - 먹 - 어요 = 먹어요

Some more examples : 

오다 - remove 다 - 오 + 아요 = 와요

가다 - remove 다 - 가 + 아요 = 가요

말하다 - remove 다 - 말 +해요 = 말해요

가르치다 - remove 다 - 가르치 +여요 = 가르쳐요 

There are several ways to conjugate. Let's look at them with one example of 보다

The verb 보다 (boda) can also take other forms of conjugation. Let’s take a look at the table below to get familiar with them.

Conjugating 만들다 (mandeulda) “to make” ending with ㄹ consonant.

Below is a table with the different conjugations for the verb 만들다 (mandeulda) following the different tenses (Past, Present, and Future Tense) and tones.

The verb 만들다 (mandeulda) can also take other forms of conjugation. Let’s take a look at the table below to get familiar with them.

It might take some time to understand properly. I would suggest you be fimiliar with the different speech levels in Korean first and try conjugating the words mentioned in the table slowly.

If you can't wrap your head around the concept of Hangul, the Korean writing system.

Please check this link. Here !! 

If you’re able to read and write Korean alphabets. You might wanna check :

Don't get discouraged if you're not able to understand the conjugation of verbs and adjectives initially. 

More practice will help you understand the concept more clearly.

It was a short lesson. We'll see you in the next. 

To understand TOPIK Test structure, application process, Levels and Passing scores etc. check these pages:

1. TOPIK – The Complete Guide & 2. TOPIK Levels and Passing Marks. You can also Practice Online with TOPIK GUIDE Mock Tests.

If you are going to take the TOPIK Test for the first time, or if you want to give your score a boost so that you can pass a higher level, we would strongly advise you to get the Complete Guide to TOPIK – Self-Study Package. It is a digital study package that has everything you need to get a great score in the TOPIK test – all the past TOPIK papers with answer sheets, grammar and vocabulary study material, video tutorials explaining the test structure, strategies to solve them and much more. You can check out more details about this study package HERE.

Learning Korean can be tricky, especially when the goal of your learning is conversation. If you’ve ever attempted to speak Korean but were unable to, then hopefully you’ll find this post helpful.

Thank you for reading. If you have any questions or suggestions. Comment down below.