All you need to remember is that 하다 becomes 했어요 in the past tense. Originally 하+ 였어요 was 하였어요 but over time this became 했어요. This conjugation may look a little strange to you at first as 하다+ 였어요 becomes 했어요 (and not 하였어요).
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Let’s look at some examples: Verb (Infinitive) Present Tense Past Tense 하다 (to do) 해요 했어요 공부하다 (to study) 공부해요 공부했어요 청소하다 (to clean) 청소해요 청소했어요 Past Continuous is also used to describe an action that occurred in the Past and was interrupted. It is used to define an action that occurs due to another action. This tense can be used to show that someone is in the middle of an action. This is because the verb stem already ends in the ㅓ vowel sound. The Past Continuous Tense is used to describe a previous event that is still happening.
![meet past tense meet past tense](https://ustimetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/horo_benice_-9c97_1639149520.png)
*Notice that 서다 is 섰어요 in the past tense and not 서었어요. So, to make the present tense we add 어요, and to make the past tense we add 었어요. In each of the examples above, the last vowel in the verb stem is NOT ㅏ or ㅗ. Let’s look at some examples: Verb (Infinitive) Present Tense Past Tense 먹다 (to eat) 먹어요 먹었어요 읽다 (to read) 읽어요 읽었어요 서다 (to stand) 서요 섰어요* If the last vowel in a verb stem is NOT ㅏ or ㅗ, then you add 었어요. So, to make the present tense we add 아요, and to make the past tense we add 았어요. In each of the examples above, the last vowel in the verb stem is ㅏ or ㅗ. Let’s look at some examples: Verb (Infinitive) Present Tense Past Tense 살다 (to live) 살아요 살았어요 만나다 (to meet) 만나요 만났어요 보다 (to see) 봐요 봤어요 If the last vowel in a verb stem is ㅏ or ㅗ, then you add 았어요. Then, you must add the correct past tense ending to the verb to make the past tense. By the time I finally left the coffee shop where we were supposed to meet, I (. Fill in the blanks with the simple past tense form of the verb. To change a verb into the past tense, the first thing you must do is remove 다 from the infinitive form of the verb which will give you the verb stem. I (try) to get tickets for that play for months, and I didnt want to miss it. They also follow similar conjugation rules. Present Tense Endings Past Tense Endings ~아요 ~았어요 ~어요 ~었어요 ~여요 ~였어요 Īs you can see from the table above, the past tense verb endings are similar to the present tense verb endings.
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The past tense verb endings can be seen in the table below. To change a Korean verb into the past tense, you must add the correct past tense ending to the verb.