The course › The Past

⏪ The Past

Unit 10 of 30 in the Kaja Hangul course. Every phrase below is shown in 한글 with a romanisation, what it actually means, and a recording you can play.

Learn these properly →

The phrases

어제 뭐 했어요?

eoje mwo haesseoyo?

What did you do yesterday?

했어요 is 하다 in the past. Every ~하다 verb follows it: 공부했어요, 일했어요.

밥 먹었어요?

bap meogeosseoyo?

Have you eaten?

Asking whether someone has eaten is how Korean says 'I care how you're doing'.

한국에 가 봤어요

hanguge ga bwasseoyo

I've been to Korea

-아/어 보다 = to try / to have tried. In the past it becomes 'I have ever done this'.

재미있었어요

jaemiisseosseoyo

It was fun

재미있어요 → 재미있었어요. The 었 slots in before the ending, exactly as it does everywhere.

어디에 갔어요?

eodie gasseoyo?

Where did you go?

가요 → 갔어요: 가 + 았 fuse into one syllable, 갔, and the ㅆ carries the past.

친구를 만났어요

chingureul mannasseoyo

I met a friend

만나요 → 만났어요, absorbed the same way as 가다.

늦어서 죄송합니다

neujeoseo joesonghamnida

Sorry I'm late

-아/어서 gives the reason: 'because I was late'. The apology carries the tense.

잘 잤어요?

jal jasseoyo?

Did you sleep well?

자요 → 잤어요. Another absorbed vowel.

전에 한 번 봤어요

jeone han beon bwasseoyo

I saw it once before

한 번 = one time. 번 is the counter for occasions, and takes native numbers.

아까 전화했어요

akka jeonhwahaesseoyo

I called earlier

아까 = a little while ago, earlier today. 어제 is yesterday; 아까 is this morning.

그때는 몰랐어요

geuttaeneun mollasseoyo

I didn't know at the time

모르다 → 몰랐어요 is a 르 irregular: the ㅡ drops and an extra ㄹ appears.

정말 맛있었어요

jeongmal masisseosseoyo

It was really delicious

맛있어요 → 맛있었어요. Notice you now know both the present and past of this.

Words introduced here

밥 — rice / a meal
한국 — Korea
모르다 — to not know
재미있다 — to be fun
어제 — yesterday
아까 — a little while ago
번 — counter for times
만들다 — to make
고르다 — to choose
준비하다 — to prepare
바꾸다 — to change
울다 — to cry
웃다 — to laugh / smile
이해하다 — to understand
기억하다 — to remember
싫어하다 — to dislike

← Saying No Describing Things →

← All unitsOpen the app →

Kaja Hangul is a free Korean course. No ads, no tracking. The Korean here was written by a learner and is being checked by a native speaker — if something reads wrong to you, it may well be.