-았/었-

RuleVerb/adjective stem + -ass/eoss- + ending: the past tense. Vowel harmony picks -ass- or -eoss-.

Curiosity

To turn "I eat" into "I ate," what do you insert and where?

Intuition

The past stamps -ass/eoss- between the stem and the ending. Like -aseo/eodo, the stem vowel decides -ass- (a/o) or -eoss-, and an ending such as -eoyo or -seumnida rides on top.

Visualization

gada (dictionary) → ga (stem) → gatda. ga + ass + da contracts to gatda.

가다gadadictionary form

Essence

If the stem vowel is a/o use -ass-; otherwise -eoss- (meogeotda); hada becomes -haet- (haetda). Polite forms are -ass/eosseoyo and -ass/eotseumnida. It can combine with future/conjecture -get- as -atget- ("must have already done").

Examples

어제 친구를 만났어요.

I met a friend yesterday.

아침에 밥을 먹었어요.

I ate (a meal) in the morning.

지난주에 영화를 봤어요.

I watched a movie last week.

Mini-quiz

What is the past form of "meokda" (to eat)? (stem vowel eo)