How to Use Verbs in Korean

The verb we are going to deal with first is 가다 (gada) which means to go. This is the basic form of the verb to be able to use it in a sentence we need to conjugate it.

To conjugate 가다, you need to take away 다. So now you are left with the stem, 가. Now we conjugate by adding the appropriate endings depending on the person you're talking to or about, and the tense (Past, Present and Future).

In Korean as well as the tenses there are three different styles of speech (Formal, Standard and Intimate). All three are needed so we'll get learning them right off the bat.

First we will look at the standard style of speech in the present tense. The first and most basic ending we need is 요 (yo). In Korean verbs don't change for the person (I, You, He, She, It, We, You (plural) and They). So when we add on 요 onto the end of 가, we get 가요, which means I go, you go, she goes, etc.

We will stick with the standard style of speech for now, so we will look at the past tense. Now we need another ending, ᄊ어요. So, if we add that onto our stem, 가 we get 갔어요. This means, I went, You Went, She went, etc.

Now we will look at the future tense in the standard style of speech. Again, our stem is 가 so we need a new ending, ᆯ거예요. So if we add that ending onto our stem we get 갈 거예요. Which means, I will go, You will go, etc.

Here is a chart which covers all of the conjugations:

가다 - To Go