Tenses and Aspect

Korean Grammar 2

Course 2 · Chapter 4 · Tenses and Aspect

⏳ Tenses and Aspect — 시제와 상

Tense (시제) says when something happens; aspect (상) says how it unfolds: in progress, finished with a result that remains, or remembered from the past. Korean marks tense with suffixes on the stem (-았/었-, -겠-) and builds aspect with helper verbs (있다) and extra endings (-던, -(으)ㄴ 지). Here the forms are grouped by what they let you say. The stems use the changes from Chapter 3, so check a stem there if a form looks odd.

1. The past: -았/었-

You know the forms from Korean Grammar 1: -았- after ㅏ or ㅗ in the last stem vowel, -었- after other vowels, and -했- for 하다. It covers the simple past and the "present perfect": 밥 먹었어요? means both "Did you eat?" and "Have you eaten?", and 민수는 벌써 집에 갔어요 "Minsu has already gone home". Adjectives take it too: 어제는 추웠어요 "It was cold yesterday". Irregular stems follow Chapter 3: 들었어요, 몰랐어요, 바빴어요.

The honorific -(으)시- sits before the tense marker (Chapter 2): 드셨어요, 가셨어요.

2. The past, now cut off: -았/었었-

Doubling the marker gives a past situation that is over, reversed or no longer holding. It is not the English "had done" for plain anteriority. 서울에서 일 년 살았었어요 says you lived in Seoul for a year, and (the form implies) you do not live there now. 미국에 갔었어요 can mean "I went to the U.S. (and have since come back)". Compare 미국에 갔어요, which on its own says only that the going happened.

Use -았/었었- when the contrast with now matters; if it does not, the plain -았/었- is the normal choice, and learners who put -았/었었- on everything sound odd.

3. The future: -(으)ㄹ 거예요

Attach -ㄹ 거예요 to a vowel stem and -을 거예요 to a consonant stem. ㄹ-stems keep the ㄹ and add only 거예요: 살 거예요. Irregular stems change first (Chapter 3): 추울 거예요, 들을 거예요, 지을 거예요, 쓸 거예요, 부를 거예요. It covers plans and expectations: 이번 방학에 유럽에 갈 거예요 "I'm going to Europe this vacation". For a more formal register use -(으)ㄹ 겁니다: 갈 겁니다. With 이다: 학생일 거예요 "(they) will be / must be a student".

Korean often uses the plain present with a time word for a firm plan: 내일 가요 "I'm going tomorrow".

4. On-the-spot will and guess: -겠-

The suffix -겠- attaches directly to the stem, before the ending. It leans toward conjecture from what you see now, willingness and immediate intention, where -(으)ㄹ 거예요 leans toward a planned or expected future.

Use	Example	Meaning
Conjecture	하늘을 보니 곧 비가 오겠어요.	Looking at the sky, it's going to rain soon.
Conjecture	맛있겠어요.	That looks tasty.
Willingness	제가 하겠습니다.	I'll do it.
Plan	이번 방학에 유럽에 갈 거예요.	I'm going to Europe this vacation. (not -겠-)
Frozen phrase	알겠습니다. / 모르겠어요.	Understood. / I don't know.
Frozen phrase	잘 먹겠습니다.	Thank you for the meal. (said before eating)

In a question, -겠- asks about the listener's will or a polite offer: 뭐 드시겠어요? "What will you have?" (Chapter 2's 드시다). Be careful with your own plans: 갈 거예요 is the usual way to report a plan, and 가겠어요 sounds like a decision made just now.

5. In progress: -고 있다

Stem + -고 있다 is "be doing": 지금 밥을 먹고 있어요 "I'm eating right now". It takes any tense: 먹고 있었어요 "was eating", 먹고 있을 거예요 "will be eating". Korean uses the plain present more than English uses "-ing" in many contexts, so do not add -고 있다 to everything; use it when the "in the middle of" idea matters. For an honoured subject the 있다 becomes 계시다 (Chapter 2): 선생님은 책을 읽고 계세요 "The teacher is reading a book".

6. A state that remains: -아/어 있다

With intransitive verbs of change, -아/어 있다 describes the state left behind by a completed action: 문이 열려 있어요 "The door is (standing) open", 의자에 앉아 있어요 "(someone) is seated on the chair". Compare:

Form	Example	Meaning
-고 있다	앉고 있어요	is in the act of sitting down
-아/어 있다	앉아 있어요	is seated (already sat down)

Other common verbs: 서 있다 (be standing), 누워 있다 (be lying), 켜져 있다 (be on), 닫혀 있다 (be closed). The honorific uses 계시다: 앉아 계세요. For verbs of wearing (입다, 신다, 쓰다), Korean uses -고 있다 for the resulting state: 모자를 쓰고 있어요 "(they) are wearing a hat". This last point is general knowledge, not from the sources checked for this chapter.

7. The remembered past: -던 and -았/었던

Before a noun, the past modifier -(으)ㄴ says the action was finished, while -던 says it was in progress, habitual or left unfinished, as remembered. Compare: 다 마신 커피 잔은 여기 두세요 "Put the coffee cups you've finished here" and 마시던 커피는 그대로 두세요 "Leave the coffee you were drinking as it is". The rule of thumb: if you can say "used to" or "was -ing" in English, use -던.

Form	Example	Meaning
-(으)ㄴ	먹은 밥	the rice I ate (completed)
-던	먹던 밥	the rice I was eating / used to eat
-았/었던	먹었던 밥	the rice I ate (that time, now recalled and done with)

More examples: 우리가 자주 가던 카페가 문을 닫았어요 "The café we used to go to a lot has closed down"; 예전에 살았던 동네에 오랜만에 가 봤어요 "I visited the neighbourhood I used to live in, for the first time in ages". Unlike -(으)ㄴ, -던 does not change after a vowel or consonant stem: 가던, 만들던, 먹던, while the -(으)ㄴ forms are 간, 만든 and 먹은. Modifiers in general come in Chapter 7.

8. Time since: -(으)ㄴ 지

Verb stem + -(으)ㄴ 지, then a length of time, then 됐어요 (or 지났어요), says how long it has been since something happened: 한국어를 배운 지 일 년이 됐어요 "It's been a year since I started learning Korean". Use -ㄴ 지 after a vowel stem or ㄹ-stem (산 지, 만든 지) and -은 지 after a consonant stem (먹은 지). The 지 is a separate word, so leave a space before it. A long gap works the same way: 만난 지 오래됐어요 "It's been a long time since we met". It is for verbs, not adjectives. The forms and examples in this section come from general knowledge, not from the sources checked for this chapter.

9. Experience: -(으)ㄴ 적이 있다 / 없다

Verb stem + -(으)ㄴ 적이 있다 says "I have (ever) done it"; -(으)ㄴ 적이 없다 says "I have never done it". Use -ㄴ after a vowel or ㄹ stem and -은 after a consonant stem: 한국에 간 적이 있어요 "I have been to Korea", 김치를 만든 적이 없어요 "I have never made kimchi". The question is 먹어 본 적이 있어요? "Have you ever tried eating it?" (본 = 보다 "try", the same helper as -아/어 보다). Compare -(으)ㄴ 지, which counts time since; 적 is the "occasion" itself. This section is from general knowledge, not from the sources checked for this chapter.

🗣️ In Use — 실제 예문

📋 Quick Reference — 요약표

Form	Meaning	Example
-았/었-	past; present perfect	먹었어요
-았/었었-	past, now over	살았었어요
-(으)ㄹ 거예요	plan; expectation	갈 거예요
-겠-	on-the-spot guess or will	맛있겠어요
-고 있다	in progress	먹고 있어요
-아/어 있다	resulting state	앉아 있어요
-던	remembered / habitual past (modifier)	가던 카페
-(으)ㄴ 적이 있다	experience	간 적이 있어요
-(으)ㄴ 지 … 됐어요	time since	배운 지 일 년 됐어요

✏️ Try It Yourself — 연습

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