Day 22: Talking About Past Experiences in Korean – Learn How to Use the Past Tense

 Day 22: Talking About Past Experiences in Korean – Learn How to Use the Past Tense

Welcome to Day 22 of your Korean language journey! Today, we’ll focus on how to talk about past experiences and how to use the past tense in Korean.

Being able to talk about what you did in the past is a crucial part of conversations in any language. Whether you’re sharing a story, talking about something you did yesterday, or recalling a past event, knowing how to conjugate verbs in the past tense will allow you to communicate more effectively in Korean.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to describe past actions, express what you’ve done, and start engaging in past-tense conversations.

1. The Basics of Past Tense in Korean

In Korean, the past tense is relatively easy to form because the conjugation is based on the verb stem. To conjugate a verb in the past tense, you typically add -았어요 (-asseoyo) or -었어요 (-eosseoyo) to the verb stem, depending on the vowel at the end of the verb stem.

  • -았어요 (-asseoyo) is used for verb stems with an ‘a’ or ‘o’ vowel sound.

  • -었어요 (-eosseoyo) is used for verb stems with other vowels.

Examples:

  • 가다 (gada) – to go
    갔어요 (gasseoyo) – went

  • 먹다 (meokda) – to eat
    먹었어요 (meogeosseoyo) – ate

  • 하다 (hada) – to do
    했어요 (haesseoyo) – did

2. Forming the Past Tense

Let’s look at some common verb conjugations in the past tense:

  1. 가다 (gada) – to go

    • 갔어요 (gasseoyo) – went

    • 저는 학교에 갔어요. (Jeoneun hakgyoe gasseoyo.) – I went to school.

  2. 먹다 (meokda) – to eat

    • 먹었어요 (meogeosseoyo) – ate

    • 저는 점심을 먹었어요. (Jeoneun jeomsimeul meogeosseoyo.) – I ate lunch.

  3. 하다 (hada) – to do

    • 했어요 (haesseoyo) – did

    • 저는 숙제를 했어요. (Jeoneun sukje-reul haesseoyo.) – I did my homework.

  4. 자다 (jada) – to sleep

    • 잤어요 (jasseoyo) – slept

    • 저는 8시에 잤어요. (Jeoneun yeos-si-e jasseoyo.) – I slept at 8 o'clock.

  5. 보다 (boda) – to see, to watch

    • 봤어요 (bwasseoyo) – saw, watched

    • 영화를 봤어요. (Yeonghwareul bwasseoyo.) – I watched a movie.

3. Negative Past Tense

To form the negative of past tense verbs, you use 안 (an) or -지 않았어요 (-ji anasseoyo), depending on the level of formality. Both options mean "did not."

  1. Using “안 (an)” for Negative Past Tense:

    • 저는 공부를 안 했어요. (Jeoneun gongbureul an haesseoyo.) – I didn’t study.

  2. Using “-지 않았어요 (-ji anasseoyo)” for Negative Past Tense:

    • 저는 영화를 보지 않았어요. (Jeoneun yeonghwareul boji anasseoyo.) – I didn’t watch the movie.

Both ways are common, but 안 is more informal, and -지 않았어요 is more polite.

4. Talking About Past Experiences

When talking about past experiences, you can combine the past tense with time expressions like 어제 (eoje) – yesterday, 지난 주 (jinan ju) – last week, 지난 달 (jinan dal) – last month, or 몇 년 전에 (myeot nyeon jeon-e) – a few years ago.

Here are some examples:

  1. 어제 (eoje) – Yesterday

    • 어제 저는 친구와 만났어요. (Eoje jeoneun chinguwah mannasseoyo.) – I met my friend yesterday.

  2. 지난 주 (jinan ju) – Last week

    • 지난 주에 여행을 갔어요. (Jinan jue yeohaengeul gasseoyo.) – I went on a trip last week.

  3. 지난 달 (jinan dal) – Last month

    • 지난 달에 한국에 갔어요. (Jinan dale hanguge gasseoyo.) – I went to Korea last month.

  4. 몇 년 전에 (myeot nyeon jeon-e) – A few years ago

    • 몇 년 전에 서울에 갔어요. (Myeot nyeon jeon-e Seoure gasseoyo.) – I went to Seoul a few years ago.

5. Asking About Past Experiences

To ask someone about their past experiences, you can use the past tense along with question words like 언제 (eonje) – when, 어디 (eodi) – where, 무엇 (mueot) – what, etc.

  1. 언제 갔어요? (Eonje gasseoyo?) – When did you go?

    • 저는 어제 갔어요. (Jeoneun eoje gasseoyo.) – I went yesterday.

  2. 어디 갔어요? (Eodi gasseoyo?) – Where did you go?

    • 저는 서울에 갔어요. (Jeoneun Seoure gasseoyo.) – I went to Seoul.

  3. 무엇을 했어요? (Mueoseul haesseoyo?) – What did you do?

    • 저는 공부했어요. (Jeoneun gongbuhaesseoyo.) – I studied.

6. Practice Talking About Your Past Experiences

Let’s practice forming sentences using the past tense. Write and speak these sentences:

  1. I went to the park yesterday.
    어제 공원에 갔어요. (Eoje gongwon-e gasseoyo.)

  2. I ate pizza last night.
    어젯밤에 피자를 먹었어요. (Eojetbam-e pijareul meogeosseoyo.)

  3. I didn’t watch TV yesterday.
    어제 TV를 보지 않았어요. (Eoje TV-reul boji anasseoyo.)

  4. Where did you go last weekend?
    지난 주말에 어디 갔어요? (Jinan jumare eodi gasseoyo?)

  5. What did you do last month?
    지난 달에 무엇을 했어요? (Jinan dale mueoseul haesseoyo?)

7. Common Mistakes to Avoid

  1. Incorrect Verb Conjugation:
    The conjugation of past tense verbs depends on the vowel in the verb stem. Be careful with the correct ending -았어요 (-asseoyo) vs. -었어요 (-eosseoyo).

  2. Forgetting Time Expressions:
    When talking about past experiences, always try to include a time expression (e.g., 어제 (eoje), 지난 주 (jinan ju)) to give your sentences context.

  3. Using Present Tense Instead of Past Tense:
    Remember to use the past tense correctly when talking about actions that happened in the past. Using the present tense by mistake can change the meaning of your sentence.

What’s Next? (다음은 무엇인가요?)

Tomorrow, in Day 23, we will dive into future tense and how to talk about plans and things you will do in the future. You’ll learn how to express intentions and future actions in Korean!