A/V-았/었어요 and -았/었었어요 = Past and Past Perfect Tense in Korean

L1.04 A/V-았/었어요 and A/V-았/었었어요 = Past and Past Perfect Tense in Korean

☆Past Tense = A/V-았/었어요.

Usage:
- Express an action / event simply occurred in the past without providing the information of presence situation.

Tense:
- Word end in vowelㅏ or ㅗ = A/V-았어요
- Word end in other vowel = A/V-었어요.
- N-하다 verb = 했어요.

Word conversion:

앉다 -- 앉았어요 = to sit 
보다 -- 봤어요 = to see

만나다 -- 만났어요 = to meet 
닫다 -- 닫았어요 = to close

팔다 -- 팔았어요 = to sell 
*모르다 -- 몰랐어요 = to don't know

먹다 -- 먹었어요 = to eat 
씻다 -- 씻었어요 = to wash (hand, face)

*쓰다 -- 썼어요 = to write 
있다 -- 있었어요 = to have

열다 -- 열었어요 = to open 
*부르다 -- 불렀어요 = to call (name)

공부하다 -- 공부했어요 =  to study

청소하다 -- 청소했어요 = to clean

입학하다 -- 입학했어요 = to enter (school, university)

운동하다 -- 운동했어요 = to exercise

Examples:

1. 어제 뭐 했어요? - 한국어를 공부했어요.

What did you do yesterday? - I studied Korean.

2. 주말에 뭐 했어요? - 운동했어요.

What did you do in the weekend? - I played sports.

3. 일요일에 친구를 만났어요? - 네, 만났어요.

Did you meet friends in Sunday? - Yes , I did.

4. 우리 딸이 2017년 07월 08일에 태어났어요.

Our daughter was born in 2017 Jul 08.

5. 주난 주에 제주도에 여행으러 갔어요.

I went travelling to Jeju last week.

☆Past Perfect Tense = A/V-았/었었어요.

Usage:
- Express a past event that no longer continues to the present = did/ had / used to (in the past)

Tense:
- Word end in vowelㅏ or ㅗ = A/V-았었어요
- Word end in other vowel = A/V-었었어요.
- N-하다 verb = 했었어요.

Word conversion:

살다 -- 살았었어요 = to live 
가다 -- 갔었어요 = to go

사다 -- 샀었어요 = to buy 
배우다 -- 배웠었어요 = to learn

많다 -- 많았었어요 = to be much 
싸다 -- 쌌었어요 = to be cheap

읽다 -- 읽었었어요 = to read 
*듣다 -- 들었었어요 = to listen

먹다 -- 먹었었어요 = to eat 
길다 = 길었었어요 = to be long

일하다 -- 일했었어요 = to work 
친절하다 -- 친절했었어요 = to be kind

Examples

1. 프랑스에 갔었어요.

I had gone to France. (and had returned)

2. 일본에서 살았었어요.

I had lived in Japan. (but not now)

3. 여름에는 바다에 사람이 많았었어요.

There had been many people at the beach in the summer.

4. 한국에서 5년 동안 살았었어요.

I had lived in Korea for 5 years. (but no longer now).

5. 지금은 머리가 짧지만 취직하기 전에는 머리가 길었어요.

I have short hair now, but before I got a job, my hair was long.

6. 예전에는 이 커피숍에 자주 왔었어요.

I used to come to this coffee shop often.

7. 선생님이 되게 전에는 성격이 내성적이었었어요.

Before becoming a teacher, I had been an introvert.

8. 어린 때는 만화책을 자주 읽었었어요.

When I was young, I read comic books often.

9. 처음 회사에 들어왔을 때 매우 조용했었어요.

When I first entered the company, it use to be very quiet.