✍️Intermediate Day 4: Expressing Experience – ~아/어 본 적 있어요

📘 Intermediate Day 4: Expressing Experience – ~아/어 본 적 있어요

Welcome back! 🎉 In today’s lesson, you’ll learn how to express your past experiences in Korean using the structure ~아/어 본 적 있어요.

Whether you want to say "I’ve been to Korea" or "I’ve eaten kimchi," this pattern is essential for sharing things you’ve done in the past – especially at least once.

📘 Grammar Breakdown – ~아/어 보다 + 적 있다

This expression combines two key grammar parts:

  • ~아/어 보다 – to try doing something / to experience doing something
  • 적 있다 / 없다 – to have a time/instance of something

Together, ~아/어 본 적 있다 means “I have tried / I have ever done.” To make it polite, use ~아/어 본 적 있어요.


📘 How to Form the Expression

  • Verb stem + 아/어 보다 → past tense: ~아/어 봤어요
  • Then add 적이 있다 = to have the experience of

Example Pattern: 가다 (to go) → 가 봐 + 본 적 있어요 = 가 본 적 있어요 → I’ve been / gone before


📌 Vocabulary Table – Experiences

English Korean Romanization
to eat먹다meok-da
to go가다ga-da
to see/watch보다bo-da
to meet만나다man-na-da
to travel여행하다yeo-haeng-ha-da
to try시도하다si-do-ha-da

📘 Example Sentences

  • 저는 한국에 가 본 적 있어요.
    jeo-neun han-guk-e ga bon jeok it-seo-yo
    👉 I’ve been to Korea.
  • 불고기를 먹어 본 적 있어요?
    bul-go-gi-reul meo-geo bon jeok it-seo-yo?
    👉 Have you ever tried bulgogi?
  • 그 사람을 만난 적 있어요.
    geu sa-ram-eul man-nan jeok it-seo-yo
    👉 I’ve met that person before.
  • 한국 드라마를 본 적 있어요.
    han-guk deu-ra-ma-reul bon jeok it-seo-yo
    👉 I’ve watched Korean dramas.

📘 Negative & Other Tenses

Have NOT done: ~아/어 본 적 없어요

  • 김치를 먹어 본 적 없어요.
    gim-chi-reul meo-geo bon jeok eop-seo-yo
    👉 I haven’t tried kimchi.

Past Tense:

  • 작년에 일본에 가 본 적이 있었어요.
    jak-nyeon-e il-bon-e ga bon jeok-i iss-eot-seo-yo
    👉 I had been to Japan last year.

💬 Real-Life Dialogue

👦 준호: 태국 음식 먹어 본 적 있어요?
👧 수지: 아니요, 아직 안 먹어 봤어요. 맛있어요?

👦 준호: 네! 정말 매운데 맛있어요!


🧪 Mini Quiz – Experience Check!

  1. How do you say: “I’ve tried Korean food.”
    Click to Show Answer

    ✅ 한국 음식을 먹어 본 적 있어요.

  2. Translate: “I haven’t been to Busan.”
    Click to Show Answer

    ✅ 부산에 가 본 적 없어요.

  3. Which is correct?
    a) 가 봐요 적 있어요
    b) 가 본 적 있어요
    c) 간 적 있다
    Click to Show Answer

    ✅ b) 가 본 적 있어요


✅ Conclusion

🎉 Great job! You now know how to express what you’ve done in the past — whether it’s traveling, eating, watching, or anything else.

  • ✔️ Use ~아/어 본 적 있어요 to talk about past experiences
  • ✔️ Use ~아/어 본 적 없어요 to say you haven’t done something
  • ✔️ Practice with real examples from your life!


📘 Coming Up Next

Tomorrow: Intermediate Day 5: Giving Instructions and Advice – ~(으)세요 / ~지 마세요
You’ll learn how to make polite requests and tell someone what (not) to do!

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