Korean grammar '-았었-/-었었-/였었(했었)-'

1. Explanation

 : '-았었-/-었었-/-였었(했었)-' changes the tense of a sentence to the past. The difference from '-았-/-었-/-였(했)-' is this particle indicates some actions or effects are completed at some point in past. So it indicates the past events separated from present. These particles conjugate with verbs or adjectives. And they takes different particles and conjugations depending on their verb stems or adjective stems. Let's look at the rules together. 

 

  (1) If the verb stem or adjective stem has vowel 'ㅏ or ㅗ',

      you have to conjugate it with '-았었어요.'

  (2) If the verb stem or adjective stem has except vowel 'ㅏ or ㅗ',

      you have to conjugate it with '-었었어요.'

  (3) The form '-하다.' changes to '-했었어요.'

     * 하다 conjugates with '-였었어요'. => '하였었어요' => '하여' can be contracted to '해' => '했었어요.'

 

  * Tip : How to make past tense

    1) Step 1 - Check the verb stem or adjective stem 

    2) Step 2 - Check the ending syllable's vowel 

    3) Step 3 - Conjugate with the correct one

 

2. Examples

 작년까지 주말마다 영화관에 갔었어요. (I used to go to the movie theater every weekend until last year.)

 *가다 to go

  1) A verb stem is '가-'

  2) It has a vowel 'ㅏ'

  3) It conjugates with '-았었어요.'

  4) 가았었어요.  

  5) '가았' can be contracted to '갔'

  6) 갔었어요.

 

 지난주에는 날씨가 좋았었어요. (The weather was good last week.)

 *좋다 good

  1) An adjective stem is '좋-'

  2) It has a vowel 'ㅗ'

  3) It conjugates with '-았었어요.'

  4) 좋았었어요.

 

 어렸을 때는 부산에서 살았었어요. (I used to live in Busan when I was young.)

 *살다 to live

  1) A verb stem is '살-'

  2) It has a vowel 'ㅏ'

  3) It conjugates with '-았어요.'

  4) 살았었어요.

 

 예전에는 책 읽기가 싫었었어요. (I used to don't like reading books in the past.)

 *싫다 don't like 

  1) An adjective stem '싫-'

  2) It has a vowel 'ㅣ'

  3) It conjugates with '-었었어요.'

  4) 싫었었어요.

 

 대학생 때 외국인 친구에게 편지를 보냈었어요. (I used to send letters to my foreign friends when I was in university.)

 *보내다 to send

  1) A verb stem '보내-'

  2) It has a vowel 'ㅐ'

  3) It conjugates with '-었었어요.'

  4) 보내었었어요.

  5) '내었' can be contracted to '냈'

  6) 보냈었어요.

 

 고등학생 때는 성경을 종종 읽었었어요. (I sued to read the Bible often when I was in high school.)

 *읽다 to read

  1) A verb stem is '읽-'

  2) It has a vowel 'ㅣ'

  3) It conjugates with '-었었어요'.

  4) 읽었었어요.

 

 지난달까지 TOPIK 시험을 공부했었어요. (I was studying for TOPIK exam until last month.)

 *공부하다 to study 

  1) A form of the verb is '-하다.'

  2) '-하다.' changes to '-했었어요.'

  3) 공부했었어요.

 

 올해 초까지 지역 봉사활동에 참여했었어요. (I used to participate in local volunteer activity until the beginning of this year.)

 *참여하다 to participate in 

  1) A form of the verb is '-하다.'

  2) '-하다.' changes to '-했었어요.'

  3) 참여했었어요.

 

 결과를 받고 처음에는 실망했었어요. ( I was disappointed at first when I received the results. )

 *실망하다 disappointed 

  1) A form of the adjective is '-하다.'

  2) '-하다.' changes to '-했었어요.'

  3) 실망했었어요.

 

 

3. Practice

 There were many foreign tourists in Insadong ten years ago.

 10년 전에는 인사동에 외국인 관광객이 _____________________ . ( *많다 a lot ) 

 

 I used to make travel plans for the summer vacation with my friend.

 친구와 여름 방학 여행 계획을 _____________________ . ( *계획을 세우다 to make a plan ) 

 

 I used to be close with my relatives when I was in elementary school.

 초등학생 때는 사촌들과 _____________________ . ( *친하다 close ) 

 

 I used to work as a Korean language teacher until two years ago.

 한국어 강사로 2년 전까지 _____________________ . ( *일하다 to work ) 

 

 I put too little water, so the ramyeon was too salty.

 물을 적게 넣어서 라면이 너무 _____________________ . ( *짜다 salty ) 

 

 I couldn't eat spicy food well.

 매운 음식을 잘 못 _____________________ . ( *먹다 to eat ) 

 

 I used to meet my hometown friends during holidays.

 명절이면 고향 친구들과 _____________________ . ( *만나다 to meet ) 

 

 At the mart, they used to give discount coupons until this summer.

 올해 여름까지 마트에서 할인 쿠폰을 _____________________ . ( *주다 to give ) 

 

4. Vocabulary

 작년 last year / 까지 until / 주말 weekend / 주말마다 every weekend / 영화관 movie theater / 가다 to go / 지난 last / 주 week / 날씨 weather / 좋다 good / 어리다 young / 때 when / 부산 Busan / 살다 to live / 예전 in the past / 책 book / 읽기 reading / 싫다 don't like / 대학생 university / 외국인 foreign / 친구 friend / 편지 letter / 보내다 to send / 고등학생 high school student / 성경 The Bible / 종종 often / 읽다 to read / 달 month / 시험 exam / 공부하다 to study / 올해 this year / 초 beginning / 지역 local / 봉사활동 volunteer activity / 참여하다 to participate / 결과 result / 받다 to receive / 처음 at first / 실망하다 to be disappointed / 년 year / 전 before / 관광객 tourist / 많다 a lot of / 여름 summer / 방학 vacation / 여행 travel / 계획 plan / 계획을 세우다 make a plan / 초등학생 elementary school student / 사촌 relative / 친하다 close / 한국어 Korean language / 강사 teacher / 일하다 to work / 물 water / 적게 little / 넣다 to put / 라면 ramyeon / 너무 too / 짜다 salty / 매운 spicy / 음식 food / 잘 well / 못 can't / 먹다 to eat / 명절 hodiay / 고향 hometown / 만나다 to meet / 여름 summer / 마트 mart / 할인 discount / 쿠폰 coupon / 주다 to give 

 

5. Answer

  많았었어요. / 세웠었어요. / 친했었어요. / 일했었어요. / 짰었어요. / 먹었었어요. / 만났었어요. / 줬었어요.