Lesson-9-过去时变形整理

This lesson is a review and summary of the various types of past tense structures in the Korean language. There is only one basic past tense structure, the suffix -았/었/였-, but by combining it with other structures, you can create more sentences with specific meanings.

1. -았/었/였- (Level 1 Lesson 17)

Verb stem + -았/었/였- + -어요

Ex)
사다 = to buy
→ 사 + -았어요 = 샀어요 = I (or someone else) bought it.

주다 = to give
→ 주 + -었어요 = 줬어요 = I gave it (to someone).

2. -았/었/였었어요

To further emphasize that one “had” done something in the past or before another action/state, some people add the suffix one more time, making it -았/었/였었어요 instead of -았/었/였어요.

Ex)
보다 = to see, to watch
→ 보 + -았어요 = 봤어요 = I saw.
→ 보 + -았- + -었어요 = 봤었어요 = I saw it a long time ago; I had seen it before.

3. -고는 했어요

To talk about something that you used to do regularly or habitually, you can use the ending -고는 했어요. When you use -고는 했어요 after a verb, it implies that you do not do it any longer.

Ex)
보다 = to watch
→ 보 + -고는 했어요 = 보고는 했어요 = I used to watch.
* You can even shorten this to 보곤 했어요.

밤 늦게까지 TV를 보고는 했어요.
= I used to watch TV until late at night.
In spoken Korean, people will typically shorten it to, “보곤 했어요”.

가끔 친구들을 만나고는 했어요.
= I used to meet my friends from time to time.

4. -(으)ㄴ (Level 4 Lesson 26)

-(으)ㄴ is the conjugation you can use after a verb stem to modify a noun. -(으)ㄴ needs to be followed by the noun that the verb modifies either as the object or the subject.

Ex)
마시다 = to drink
마시 + -ㄴ = 마신 = that I drank
어제 마신 커피 = the coffee that I drank yesterday

아까 이야기한 책
= the book I talked about earlier

이 책을 쓴 사람
= the person who wrote the book

5. -던 (Level 8 Lesson 4)

-던 is also used after a verb to modify a noun. -(으)ㄴ is the basic verb ending for modifying nouns, but if you use -던, you can add the nuance of “used to” or “was doing but did not finish”.

Ex)
마시다 = to drink
→ 마신 = (something) that I drank
→ 마시던 = (something) that I was drinking; (something) that I used to drink

그거 제가 마시던 커피예요. = That is the coffee I was drinking (but did not finish).

어렸을 때 제가 좋아했던 만화책이에요.
= It is a comic book that I used to like when I was a kid.

6. -(으)ㄹ 뻔했어요 (Level 5 Lesson 1)

When you say -(으)ㄹ 뻔했어요 after a verb stem, it means that something “almost happened” or that you “almost did” something.

Ex)
잊다 = to forget
→ 잊 + -을 뻔했어요 = 잊을 뻔했어요. = I almost forgot.

넘어지다 = to fall down (on the ground)
→ 넘어지 + -ㄹ 뻔했어요 = 넘어질 뻔했어요. = I almost fell down.

너무 놀라서 소리를 지를 뻔했어요.
= I was so surprised that I almost screamed.

너무 무거워서 떨어뜨릴 뻔했어요.
= It was so heavy that I almost dropped it.

7. -아/어/여 봤어요 (Level 4 Lesson 12)

-아/어/여 보다 means “to try doing something” or “to give something a try”. By using this in the past tense, you can say “I have tried doing + something + before” or “I have done + something + before” in Korean.

Ex)
듣다 = to listen
→ 듣 + -어 보다 → 들어 보다 (irregular conjugation)
→ 이 노래 들어 봤어요? = Have you heard this song (before)?

이거 읽어 봤어요? = Have you read this? / Have you tried reading this?

8. -(으)ㄴ 적 있어요

-(으)ㄴ 적 있어요 is used after verb stems to mean “I have done + something + before”, to talk about one’s experience. You can also use -아/어/여 본 적 있다 to mean the same thing, using the -아/어/여 보다 structure.

Ex)
배우다 = to learn
→ 배우 + ㄴ 적 있어요 = 배운 적 있어요. = I have learned it before. / I have the experience of learning it.

중국어 배운 적 있어요? = Have you learned Chinese before?
중국어 배워 본 적 있어요? = Have you tried learning Chinese before?

여기 와 본 적 없어요. = I have not been here before.
= 여기 온 적 없어요.
= 여기 안 와 봤어요.