-었-

Korean

Alternative forms
  • 였 (-yeot-) – used after 하다 (hada) verbs and adjectives

Etymology

From Middle Korean -엇〮- (Yale: -és-, stative continuous suffix), which is a simplification of -엣〮- (Yale: -éys-, stative continuous suffix). Both forms appeared in the 15th century as contractions of -어〮 잇- (Yale: -é ìs-) with auxiliary 잇다〮 (Yale: ìs-tá). The past tense meaning developed from a seventeenth-century semantic shift of "one exists in a state of having VERBed" to "VERBed". Hence doublet of 어 있다 (-eo itda).

Pronunciation
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?-eot-
Revised Romanization (translit.)?eoss
McCune–Reischauer?ŏt
Yale Romanization?ess

Suffix
Ablaut/harmonic pair
Yin-form 었 (-eot-)
Yang-form 았 (-at-)

었 • (-eot-)

  1. -ed: A general past tense marker going onto the main verb, adjective or copula of the sentence; it often carries a perfect meaning.
    죽었다. ― Jugeotda. ― He died (and is still dead).
    부산에 갔어요. ― Busan-e gass-eo-yo. ― He's gone to Busan (and he is still likely there or he may not be there anymore).
    오늘 정말 고마웠어... 너무 재밌었어.
    Oneul jeongmal gomawoss-eo... Neomu jaemisseoss-eo.
    Today I was very thankful (and I still am), it was very fun.
    전화가 왔습니다.
    Jeonhwa-ga wat-seumnida.
    A phone call has come in (the phone is still ringing).
    나는 어제 친구를 만났어요.
    Na-neun eoje chingu-reul mannass-eo-yo.
    I met up with my friend yesterday.

Usage notes
  • For vowel harmony, contractions, and allomorphy, see 아/어/여 (-a/eo/yeo).
  • Usually 었 (-eot-) precedes all verbal endings except the honorific suffix. However, sometimes in the colloquial speech 었 (-eot-) can be preceded by 겠 (-get-), although this is considered nonstandard and unnatural in most contexts.
  • Difference with 었었 (-eosseot-):
    • While 었 (-eot-) carries a perfect aspect meaning, 었었 (-eosseot-) carries a meaning of completion of an action and its difference from the past. Thus, while 죽었다 (jugeotda) means he died and is still dead, 죽었었다 (jugeosseotda) means he died and is no longer in that state. These two suffixes can also be easily compared with the verb 가다 (gada), simple past tense of which expresses that one went somewhere and is still possibly there, while the double past tense usually expresses that one went somewhere, stayed there and is no longer there or came back.
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