🕒 Sharing Your Stories: Mastering the Past Tense "-았어요 / -었어요"

How do you say "I ate" or "I went" in Korean? Teacher Hoon explains the most essential grammar to help you talk about your weekend, your travels, and your life.

Korean BBQ table representing a shared past experience

The Key to Storytelling (EEAT Tip)

In Korean, the past tense is very systematic. As a teacher with 20 years of experience, I've seen that once students master Vowel Harmony, they stop translating from English and start thinking in Korean. Using -았어요 / -었어요 correctly is the first step toward lively storytelling. Let's look at the formula.

📑 Tap to view Grammar Roadmap

1. The Golden Rule of Vowel Harmony
2. Real-Life Example Sentences
3. 🗣 Natural Practice Dialogue
4. 💡 Fact: Cinematic Storytelling

1. How to Form the Past Tense

Attach the marker based on the Last Vowel of the verb stem:

🍎 -았어요: If the stem ends in ㅏ or ㅗ.
(e.g., 가다 → 가 + 았어요 → 갔어요)
🥦 -었어요: For all other vowels (ㅓ, ㅜ, ㅣ, etc.).
(e.g., 먹다 → 먹 + 었어요 → 먹었어요)
✨ 했어요: For all 하다 verbs.
(e.g., 공부하다 → 공부했어요)

💡 Teacher Hoon's Pro "Contraction" Tip

Beginners often make the mistake of saying "가았어요" or "보았어요." In natural spoken Korean, these always shrink! 가+았어요 becomes 갔어요, and 보+았어요 becomes 봤어요. Practice these "shrunken" forms aloud to sound more like a native and less like a robot!

📝 Experience-Sharing Sentences

🏙️ 어제 친구를 만났어요. (I met my friend yesterday.)
🍲 지난주에 한국 음식을 먹었어요. (I ate Korean food last week.)
🏖️ 휴가 때 부산에 갔어요. (I went to Busan during my vacation.)

🗣 Practice Dialogue: Weekend Talk

A: 주말에 뭐 했어요?
(What did you do on the weekend?)

B: 친구랑 영화 봤어요. 그리고 맛있는 저녁도 먹었어요.
(I watched a movie with a friend. And also ate a delicious dinner.)

💡 Did You Know? Cinematic Korean

In K-dramas, you'll often hear the past tense mixed with -고 있었어요 (Past Continuous). This is how Koreans add vivid detail to a scene—like "I was just eating when...". Mastering basic past tense first allows you to eventually unlock these "Cinematic" storytelling skills!

Want to Tell Your Story in Korean?

Grammar is better with conversation! Book a 1:1 "Weekend Recap" session with Hoon on italki. We'll practice using past tense to talk about your hobbies, your recent travels, and your life experiences until your storytelling is smooth and natural.

🚀 Share Your Stories with Hoon

More Beginner Essentials:
있어요 vs 없어요 | Menu Reading Guide