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past tense 1 - simple past

# Posted: 1 Jan 2007 14:16 KST - Edited by: _joseph_
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These are the past tense endings for verbs, but not for when a verb is used as an adjective. There are 3 types of past tense, basically, which are used in Korean.

었다 ... 았다
First is the past tense is made of 었다 and 았다.

Details about forming the rules are here, now, thanks to parks guide which is under the creative license so I can include his text here.

● Rules

the 어/아 form is made as described here.
Basically, the forms are made as follows:

You need to take the 어/아 form and then add the double shi-ut ㅆ to the bottom and there you go! That`s the past tense!
Its application to the formation of the past tense is described here below.

First Take 다 off a verb, then:

1. For verbs without a final consonant, just add ㅆ. this corresponds to making the 어/아 form, because in these cases, it simply is the verb stem itself. So, here we just add ㅆ onto the bottom of it.

Eg.

* 사다: 사 + ㅆ 다 = 샀다 = bought
* 가다: 가 + ㅆ 다 = 갔다 = went
* 자라다: 자라 + ㅆ 다 = 자랐다 = grew

Note: 하다 becomes 했다, NOT 핬다, because the 어/아 form of 하다 is 해

2. For verbs with a final consonant, add 었 or 았.
(For a verb with ㅏ or ㅗ, add 았, and for a verb with ㅓ, ㅜ or ㅣ, add 었)
This is again the same way the 어/아 form is formed

Eg.

* 날다: 날 + 았다 = 날았다 = flew
* 놀다: 놀 + 았다 = 몰았다 = drove (a car), urged on (a horse)
* 먹다: 먹 + 었다 = 먹었다 = ate
* 죽다: 죽 + 었다 = 죽었다 = died
* 밀다: 밀 + 었다 = 밀었다 = pushed

3. For verbs with ㅣ as a final verb, change it to ㅕ and add ㅆ.

Eg.

* 던지다: 던지 → 던졌 → 던졌다 = threw
* 빌리다: 빌리 → 빌렸 → 빌렸다 = borrowed
* 실리다: 실리 → 실렸 → 실렸다 = to be loaded

4. For verbs with ㅡ as a final vowel, replace it with ㅓ and ㅆ.

Eg.

* 크다: 크 → 컸 → 컸다 = grew
* 쓰다: 쓰 → 썼 → 썼다 = wrote
* 트다: 트 → 텄 → 텄다 = sprouted

Irregular Verbs

Eg.

* 하다 → 했다
* 듣다 → 들었다 (this is a stem-changing ㄷ irregular)
* 오다 → 왔다 (this is a contracted form which is 오 + 아 )

examples:

붙이다 -> 붙였습니다 (to attach)
다투다 -> 다투었습니다 (to quarrel)
하다 -> 하였습니다 (to do) or 했습니다 (to do)
실리다 -> 실렸다

Here is a long list of examples thanks to parksguide which is open under the creative license and so can be included here. Please click the link to see more of the excellent stuff at Park\‘s guide.
The List of Common Adjectives

	Present	Past
Positive	Written	Spoken	Written	Spoken
High	높다	높아	높았다	높았어
Low	낮다	낮아	낮았다	낮았어
Big	크다	커	컸다	컸어
Small (size)	작다	작아	작았다	작았어
Spacious	넓다	넓어	넓었다	넓었어
Cramped	좁다	좁아	좁았다	좁았어
Many	많다	많아	많았다	많았어
Small (quantity)	적다	적어	적었다	적었어
Kind	착하다	착해	착했다	착했어
Fast	빠르다	빨라	빨랐다	빨랐어
Slow	느리다	느려	느렸다	느렸어
Handsome	멋있다	멋있어	멋있었다	멋있었어
Ugly	못생기다	못생겨	못생겼다	못생겼어
Easy	쉽다	쉬워	쉬웠다	쉬웠어
Difficult	어렵다	어려워	어려웠다	어려웠어
Interesting	재미있다	재미있어	재미있었다	재미있었어
Boring	지루하다	지루해	지루했다	지루했어
Hot	뜨겁다	뜨거워	뜨거웠다	뜨거웠어
Cold	차갑다	차가워	차가웠다	차가웠어
Warm	따뜻하다	따뜻해	따뜻했다	따뜻했어
Cool	시원하다	시원해	시원했다	시원했어
Wonderful	굉장하다	굉장해	굉장했다	굉장했어
Beautiful	아름답다	아름다워	아름다웠다	아름다웠어
Pretty	예쁘다	예뻐	예뻤다	예뻤어
Humble	겸손하다	겸손해	겸손했다	겸손했어
Lovely	사랑스럽다	사랑스러워	사랑스러웠다	사랑스러웠어