Past Tense Verb Conjugation in Korean 았어요/었어요; (으)셨어요
Past tense is quite simple in Korea, we only need to add the past tense marker 았/었.
Sentence structure: Adjectives / Verbs + 았어요/었어요 (Formal speech style: 았/ 었습니다)
When we decide between 았어요 and 었어요, we have to look at the final vowel in the preceding adjective or verb. If the vowel isㅏ,ㅑ,ㅗ,ㅛ, we will use 았다; if it is one of the other vowels, we will use 었다 instead. Since the conjugation rules are the same as the polite style sentence-final ending 아/어요, we can add ㅆ directly to the 아/어요 ending.
Examples:
앉-：앉다 (to sit down) 앉+아 → 앉아요 → 앉았어요
들-：듣다 (to listen) 들+어 → 들어요 → 들었어요
If you would like to revisit the conjugation rules in details, please refer to the Present Tense Verb Conjugation in Korean 아/어요 article.
3 special case:
- 되-：되다 (to become) → 됐어요
- 이-：이다 (to be) 이어 → 이었어요/였어요
- 하-：하다 (to do) → 했어요
Examples:
- 아침을 먹었어요 = I had breakfast.
- 대학교를 졸업했어요 = I graduated from university.
Past tense for Subject Honorific Suffix (으)시
Sentence structure: Adjectives / Verbs + (으) 셨어요 (시+었)
We are also combining subject honorific suffix (으)시 with the past tense polite ending 았/었어요. If the preceding adjective or verb ends in a consonant, then we need to use 으셨어요. Conversely, if the preceding adjective or verb ends in a vowel, then we will use 셨어요.
Examples:
- 아버지가 지난주에 제주도에 갔어요. → 아버지께서 지난주에 제주도에 가셨어요. (Father went to Jeju Island last week.)
- 그분 아까 여기에 있었어요. → 그분 아까 여기에 계셨어요. (That person was just here.）
