Lesson 7: Korean Irregulars

Question 1

ㅅ Irregular
Such as 짓다 = to make/build

Answer 1

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㅅ (for example: 짓다 = to build), the ㅅ gets removed when adding a vowel.
짓다 = build
Past - Present - Future
Informal low: 지었어 - 지어 - 짓겠어
Informal high: 지었어요 - 지어요 - 짓겠어요
Plain form: 지었다 - 짓는다 - 짓겠다
Formal high: 지었습니다 - 짓습니다 - 짓겠습니다

Question 2

ㄷ irregular
Such as 걷다 = to walk

Answer 2

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㄷ, the ㄷ gets changed to ㄹ when adding a vowel. This is only done with verbs.
받다 (to get/receive) = 돈을 받았어요 = I received money
묻다 = 묻어요 (to bury) = 저는 저의 강아지를 묻었어요 = I buried my dog
닫다 = 닫아요 (to close) = 저는 문을 닫았어요 = I closed the door
걷다 = walk
Past - Present - Future
Informal low: 걸었어 - 걸어 - 걷겠어
Informal high: 걸었어요 - 걸어요 - 걷겠어요
Plain form: 걸었다 - 걷는다 - 걷겠다
Formal high: 걸었습니다 - 걷습니다 - 걷겠습니다

Question 3

ㅂ Irregular
Such as 쉽다 = easy

Answer 3

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㅂ (쉽다 = easy), the ㅂ changes to 우 when adding a vowel. 우 then gets added to the next syllable in the conjugated word.
This is mostly done with adjectives. Many verbs end with ㅂ but this rule is rarely applied to verbs (some of the few verbs where this rule applies are: 줍다 (to pick up), 눕다 (to lie down).
춥다 = cold
Past - Present - Future
Informal low: 추웠어 - 추워 - 춥겠어
Informal high: 추웠어요 - 추워요 - 춥겠어요
Plain form: 추웠다 - 춥다 - 춥겠다
Formal high: 추웠습니다 - 춥습니다 - 춥겠습니다
Adjective form: 추운 날씨 = cold weather

Question 4

ㅡ Irregular
Such as 잠그다 = to lock

Answer 4

If the final letter in a stem is ㅡ (for example: 잠그다 = to lock), when adding ~아/어, you can not determine whether you need to add ~어 or ~아 to the stem by looking at ㅡ. Instead, you must look at the vowel in the second last syllable. For example, in the word 잠그다, the second last syllable in the stem is 잠, and the vowel here is ㅏ. We use the same rules as above to determine whether 아 or 어 is added. If the vowel in the second last syllable is ㅏ or ㅗ, 아 is added. If the vowel in the second last syllable is anything other than ㅏ or ㅗ, 어 is added.
Unfortunately, that is not all that happens. When ~아/어 is added to a stem where the last letter is ㅡ, ~아/어 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated. That is quite confusing, so let’s look at examples of how this is done.
예쁘다 = pretty
Past - Present - Future
Informal low: 예뻤어 - 예뻐 - 예쁘겠어
Informal high: 예뻤어요 - 예뻐요 - 예쁘겠어요
Plain form: 예뻤다 - 예쁘다 - 예쁘겠다
Formal high: 예뻤습니다 - 예쁩니다 - 예쁘겠습니다

Question 5

르 Irregular
Such as 다르다 = different

Answer 5

If the final syllable in a stem is 르 (마르다), it is conjugated differently when adding ~아/어. This irregular only applies when adding ~아/어(or any of its derivatives) to a stem and not when adding any other grammatical principles that starts with a vowel or consonant.
When adding ~아/어 to these words, an additional ㄹ is created and placed in the syllable preceding 르 as the last consonant. The 르 also gets changed to either 러 or 라 (depending on if you are adding 어 or 아).
고르다 = choose
Past - Present - Future
Informal low: 골랐어 - 골라 - 고르겠어
Informal high: 골랐어요 - 골라요 - 고르겠어요
Plain form: 골랐다 - 고른다 - 고르겠다
Formal high: 골랐습니다 - 고릅니다 - 고르겠습니다

Question 6

ㄹ Irregular
Such as 길다 = long

Answer 6

When adding ~ㄴ/은 to a stem which ends in ㄹ, the ㄹ is removed and ㄴ is added to the stem.
길다 = long
길 + ㄴ = 긴
When adding ~ㅂ니다 to the stem of a word that ends in ㄹ, you must remove ㄹ and add ~ㅂ directly to the stem.
길다 = long
깁니다

Question 7

Korean Irregular: ㅎ
Such as 노랗다 = yellow

Answer 7

Usually, if the last consonant of a word stem ends in ㅎ, the word is not conjugated in any special way.
However, lot of colors in Korean end with the final syllable ㅎ (see the vocabulary list for a good list of these). When conjugating these words (which are adjectives) to allow them to describe an upcoming noun, we can add ~ㄴ/은, just like it is done with other adjectives. However, in some words (mostly colors) the ㅎ gets dropped and ㄴ gets added directly to the word stem.
노랗다 = yellow - 노란
빨갛다 = red - 빨간
하얗다 = white - 하얀
까맣다 = black - 까만
파랗다 = blue - 파란