◼ Endings (Double past tense marker)
Following last week’s lesson, we are going to study in detail about Double past tense marker of Endings.
To briefly summarize what we learned last week, there are two kinds of past tense marker -었/았 [-eot / at]. 았
[at] is used after a stem that ends in a bright vowel ( e.g., 아 [a] or 오 [o] ), while 었 [eot] is used after a
stem that ends in all other vowels. To use those markers, we have to sum them as “Verb stem + (honorific
suffix) + Past tense + speech level ending”. The difference between English and Korean showed that in
Korean they not only present what it happened in the past, also consider whether an action or event is
completed. Now, let’s get start with Double past tense marker.
1. Double past tense marker ‘-었/았었 [-eot / at eot]’
As you can see, the form of double past tense and past tense looks really similar. Since one can change a past
sentence in to a double past sentence by adding -었 [eot] to the existing past tense marker -았 [at] / 었 [eot],
there is only one word different of their form. However, depending on whether this one word exist or not, meaning
of sentence becomes quite different. The following list shows how the marker is placed.
Verb stem Past Past Polite speech level ending
가(다) [ga da] “go” 았 [at] 었 [eot] 어요 [eo yo]= 갔었어요 [ga sseo sseo yo]
“went (and no longer here)”
오(다) [o da] “come” 았 [at] 었 [eot] 어요 [eo yo]= 왔었어요 [wa sseo sseo yo]
“came (and no longer here)”
가르치(다) [ga reu chi da] “teach” 었 [eot] 었 [eot] 어요 [eo yo]= 가르쳤었어요 [ga reu chyeo sseo sseo yo]
“taught (or used to teach)”
있(다) [it-da] “exsit” 었 [eot] 었 [eot] 어요 [eo yo]= 있었었어요 [I sseo sseo sseo yo]
“exsited/had (long before)”
많(다) [manh da] “many” 았 [at] 었 [eot] 어요 [eo yo]= 많았었어요 [manh a sseo sseo yo]
“was many/much”
Exercise 1. Fill out the blanks with proper answers in Korean
Verb stem Past Past Polite speech level ending
좁 [job] “narrow”
받 [bad] “receive”
Exercise 2 Change the following sentence into the past and double past sentences.
안경이 깨끗해요. [an gyeong i kkae kkeu tae yo]
→ ______ /______.
Korean language class in MUNI
week
4
2. Feature of Double past tense
The double past tense marker 았/었 [at/eot] makes the past action or situation more remote than the regular
past tense marker 았/었 [at/eot] does. The double past tense marker indicates that the past event is no
longer relevant to the present activity or situation. In addition, it indicates that the past action or situation is
totally complete. For instance, consider the following sentence.
e.g. 보름달이 떴어요 [bo leum dal i tteo sseo yo] “The full moon came up” or “The full moon is up”
보름달이 떴었어요 [bo leum dal i tteo sseo sseo yo] “The full moon was up (back then)”
Exercise 3. Indicate which of the two Korean translations for the English sentence below is correct in case
“(They) used to sell refrigerator inexpensively.”
➔ 냉장고를 싸게 팔았어요 [naeng jang go leul ssa ge pal a sseo yo]
➔ 냉장고를 싸게 팔았었어요 [naeng jang go leul ssa ge pal a sseo sseo yo]
◼ Conversation 4
민준: 하윤아! 나 몇일 전에 호준이 (1)
만났어.
하윤: 진짜? 또 군대 휴가 (2)
나왔나 보네. 뭐 했어?
민준: 집 앞 카페 가서 수다 (3)
떨었어. 군대 얘기 들으니
까 예전 (4)
생각나더라. 나 때는 참 (5)
힘들었었는데…
하윤: 요즘 많이 바뀌긴 했어. 그나저나 그 카페 얼마전
에 (6)
생겼었던 곳 말하는 거야?
민준: 맞아 카페 인테리어도 되게 예쁘고, 디저트도 진
짜 맛있었어. 꼭 가봐.
하윤: (7)
그렇지 않아도 내일 과제하러 카페 가려했는데!
고마워.
Minjun: Hayun! I met Hojun few days ago.
Hayun: Really? Maybe he was on an army vacation.again.
What did you do?
Minjun: I went to a cafe in front of my house and chatted.
When I heard about the military, I remembered it before. It
was very difficult at that time ...
Hayun: It has changed a lot lately. By the way, are you
talking about the cafe that just started ?
Minjun: Right, the cafe interior was very pretty, and the
dessert was also really good. Be sure to go.
Hayun: I was just thinking about to go to the cafe for an
assignment tomorrow! Thanks.
민준: 하윤아! 나 몇일 전에 호준이 만났어.
[ha yun a! na myeo chil jeon e ho jun i man na sseo]
하윤: 진짜? 또 군대 휴가 나왔나 보네. 뭐 했어?
[jin jja? tto gun dae hyu ga na wat na bo ne. mwo hae
sseo?]
민준: 집 앞 카페 가서 수다 떨었어. 군대 얘기 들
으니까 예전 생각나더라. 나 때는 참 힘들었었는데
…
[jib ap ka pe ga seo su da tteol eo sseo. Gun dae yae
gi deul eu ni kka ye jeon saeng gag na deo la. na ttae
neun cham him deul eo sseot neun de ]
하윤: 요즘 많이 바뀌긴 했어. 그나저나 그 카페
얼마전에 생겼었던 곳 말하는 거야?
[yo jeum manh i ba kkwi gin hae sseo. Geu na jeo na
geu ka pe eol ma jeon e saeng gyeo sseot deon got
mal ha neun geo ya?]
민준: 맞아 카페 인테리어도 되게 예쁘고, 디저트
도 진짜 맛있었어. 꼭 가봐.
[maj a ka pe in te li eo do doe ge ye ppeu go, di jeo
teu do jin jja ma si sseo sseo. kkog ga bwa]
하윤: 그렇지 않아도 내일 과제하러 카페 가려했는
데! 고마워.
[geu leo chi an a do nae il gwa je ha leo ka pe ga lyeo
haet neun de! Go ma wo.]
(1) 만났어 [man na sseo] is past tense of 만나다
[man na da]. Sum of 만나 [man na]+ 았 [at]+ -어 [o]
contracted from 만나았어 [man na at o]
(2) 나왔나 보네 [na wat na] is sum of 나왔 [na
wat]( Past tense of 나오다) +-나보네 [na bo ne](= 나보다
[na bo da]) “seem, it seems that..., I think
that...”
(3) As 떨었어 [tteol eo sseo] is past tense of 떨다
[tteol da]. Sum of 떨 [tteol]+ 었 [eot] + -어 [o]
(4) -더라 [na deo la] is termination which is one of
ending indicating that the speaker conveys and
conveys the new knowledge that he or she
experienced in the past.
(5) 힘들었었는데 [him deul eo sseot neun de] is sum
of 힘들었 [him deul eot] “past tense of 힘들다 [him
deul da]” +-었 [eot] “double past tense marker” + -는
데 [neun de].
(6) 생겼었던 [saeng gyeo sseot teon] is sum of 생겼
었 [saeng gyeo sseot] “double past tense of 생기다
[saeng gi da]” + -던 [deon]. -던 [deon] is an ending
that expresses a question about a new fact learned
in the past.
(7) 그렇지 않아도 [geu leo chi an a do] is a phrase
that repeats phrases or phrases back and forth,
meaning that you have already thought about it
before someone else says or acts.
◼ Vocabulary
안경 [an gyeong] n. glasses
깨끗하다 [kkae kkeu ta da] v. clean
보름달 [bo leum dal] n. full moon
뜨다 [tteu da] v. rise
냉장고 [naeng jang go] n. refrigerator
싸다 [ssa da] v. cheap, inexpensive
비싸다 [bi ssa da] v. expensive
팔다 [pal da] v. sell
또 [tto] adv. again, conj. and
군대 [gun dae] n. military, army
휴가 [hyu ga] n. vacation, holiday
앞 [ap] n. front
카페 [ka pe] n. cafe
수다 [su da] n. chat
얘기 [yae gi] n. story, conversation
때 [ttae] n. time, the moment
참 [cham] adv. really, truly, very
힘들다 [him deul da] v. hard, difficult
인테리어 [in te li eo] n. interior
(design)
예쁘다 [ye ppeu da] v. pretty
디저트 [di jeo teu] n. dessert
내일 [nae il] n. tomorrow
과제 [gwa je] n. assignment
◼ Sentence Drill/ Practice
< Topic: Café & Restaurant >
1. 물 한 잔 주시겠어요? [mul han jan ju si ge sseo yo?]
: → (what) (how many)잔 (action/verb)시겠어요? “Could I have a glass of water?”
2. 냅킨은 어디 있나요? [naeb kin eun eo di it na yo?]
: → (what)은/는 어디 (action/verb)나요? “Where is the napkin?”
3. 오늘 카페에서 숙제를 했어요. [o neul ka pe e seo sug je leul hae sseo yo]
: → (when), (where)에서 (what)을/를 (action/verb)어요. “I did my homework at the café today”
4. 메뉴에 아메리카노, 카페라떼, 마카롱 등 이 있어요. [me nyu e a me li ka no, ka pe la tte, ma ka long
deung i i sseo yo]
:→ (where)에 (what),(what),(what) 등 이 (action/verb)어요. “There are Americano, Cafe Latte,
Macarons, etc. on the menu.”
5. 아메리카노 두 잔 이랑 초콜렛 마카롱 하나 주세요. [a me li ka no du jan I lang cho kol let ma ka long
ha na ju se yo]
:→ (what) (how many)잔 이랑 (what)(how many) (action/verb)세요. “(Give me) Two glasses of
Americano and one chocolate macaron”
6. 화장실이 어디 있는지 알 수 있을까요? [hwa jang sil i eo di it neun ji al su i sseul kka yo?]
:→ (where)이/가 어디 (action/verb)는지 (action/verb) 수 있을까요? “Can I know where the toilet is?”
7. 너는 뭐 주문 할래? [neo neun mwo ju mun hal lae?]
:→ (who)은/는 뭐 (action/verb)할래? “What do you want to oreder?”
8. 남은 음식 포장해주세요. [nam eun eum sig po jang hae ju se yo]
:→ (what) (action/verb)세요 “Please pack the leftovers.”
9. 어떤 메뉴가 제일 인기 많나요? [eo tteon me nyu ga je il in gi manh na yo?]
:→ 어떤 (what)이/가 제일 인기 (action/verb)나요? “Which menu is the most popular?”
10. 피클이랑 김치 더 주시겠어요? [pi keul I lang gim chi deo ju si ge sseo yo?]
:→ (what)(이)랑 (what) 더 (action/verb) 시겠어요? “Would you please give more pickle and kimchi?”
◼ Answer
Exercise 1.
(1) 았 [at] / 었 [eot] / 어요 [eo yo]= 좁았었어요 [job at sseo sseo yo] “ was narrow”
(2) 았 [at] / 었 [eot] / 어요 [eo yo]= 받았었어요 [bad at sseo sseo yo] “received (long before)”
Exercise 2.
- Past tense : 안경이 깨끗했어요. [an gyeong i kkae kkeu tae sseo yo]
- Double past tense: 안경이 깨끗했었어요. [an gyeong I kkae kkeu tae sseo sseo yo]
Exercise 3.
∨ 냉장고를 싸게 팔았었어요 [naeng jang go leul ssa ge pal a sseo sseo yo]