V + 아/어/여

When we want to speak in present tense, we conjugate korean verbs by removing the verb stem ‘다’ and replacing it with either 아,어 or 여.

1. When the verb’s last vowel ends in ㅏ or ㅗ, we replace the stem with ‘아’.

2. When the verb’s last vowel does not end in ㅏ or ㅗ, we replace the stem with ‘어’.

3. When the verb ends in 하다 or 이다, we replace it with ‘여’.

4. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but we’ll cover those later on.

5. We add 요 to the end for the polite marker (we’ll cover this more later), which is most often used.

Examples

가다 + 아 + 요 = 가요 – go

먹다 + 어 + 요 = 먹어요 – eat

좋아하다 + 여 + 요 = 좋아해요 – like

어디 가요? = Where are you going?

지금 뭐해요? = What are you doing?

먹어요! = Eat!