Past Tense -았/었어요

Add '-았어요/-었어요' to a verb or adjective stem to talk about things that happened in the past.

If the stem's last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, use '-았어요'; otherwise use '-었어요'. '하다' becomes '했어요'.

어제 친구를 만났어요.

eoje chingureul mannasseoyo.

I met a friend yesterday.

아침에 밥을 먹었어요.

achime babeul meogeosseoyo.

I ate in the morning.

주말에 영화를 봤어요.

jumare yeonghwareul bwasseoyo.

I watched a movie on the weekend.

After a noun, use '이었어요' if it ends in a consonant and '였어요' if it ends in a vowel.

저는 학생이었어요.

jeoneun haksaengieosseoyo.

I was a student.

그날 날씨가 정말 좋았어요.

geunal nalssiga jeongmal joasseoyo.

The weather was really nice that day.

어제는 너무 바빴어요.

eojeneun neomu bappasseoyo.

Yesterday I was so busy.

친구한테서 편지를 받았어요.

chinguhanteseo pyeonjireul badasseoyo.

I got a letter from a friend.

지난주에 한국에 안 갔어요.

jinanjue hanguge an gasseoyo.

I didn't go to Korea last week.

When a stem ends in 'ㅡ', the 'ㅡ' drops before '-았/었어요', with the form chosen by the preceding vowel, as in 예쁘다 to 예뻤어요 and 쓰다 to 썼어요.

💡 Tip: For stems with a final consonant like '먹다', keep the consonant and just add the ending, giving '먹었어요'.

💡 Tip: Don't overuse '-았었-'. Plain past is usually enough; reserve '-았었-' for a distant past that is cut off from the present.