Irregular Verbs (ㅂ,르,ㄷ,ㅅ)

Now it’s time to learn about irregular verbs.

Irregular verbs don’t follow the regular present tense conjugations. There are four different verb endings you should be aware of: ㅂ,르,ㄷ,ㅅ.

1. If a verb ends in ‘ㅂ’, first if the vowel before the ㅂ is 오, then we remove the ㅂ, and add 오, else if the vowel before the ㅂ is not 오, then we remove the ㅂ and add 우. Then we conjugate it normally according to the regular rules.

어렵다 = 어려 + 우 + 어요 = 어려워요.

돕다 = 도 + 오 + 아요 = 도와요.

2. If a verb ends in ‘르’, first we remove the 르, and add ㄹ to the last vowel before it, then we add an extra ㄹ and then we conjugate it normally according to the regular rules.

다르다 = 달 + ㄹ + 아요 = 달라요.

모르다 = 몰 + ㄹ + 아요 = 몰라요.

3. If a verb ends in ‘ㄷ’, and it is followed by a vowel, first we change the ㄷ to a ㄹ and then we conjugate it normally according to the regular rules.
Only some ㄷ verbs follow this rule. Others conjugate normally.

걷다 = 걸 + 어요 = 걸어요.

듣다 = 들 + 어요 = 들어요.

4. If a verb ends in ‘ㅅ’, and it is followed by a vowel, we remove the ㅅ and then we conjugate it normally according to the regular rules.
Only some ㅅ verbs follow this rule. Others conjugate normally.

잇다 = 이 + 어요 = 이어요.

짓다 = 지 + 어요 = 지어요.