Simple past tense: -았/었-¶

Present tense is fine for "Sehee loves the cat", but for action verbs it's often a bit unnatural: in real life, "Sehee petted the cat" is probably more useful than "Sehee pets the cat". Example sentences with action verbs look so awkward in present tense that I'm going to quickly explain simple past tense just for future example sentences.

The past tense table¶

To apply simple past tense to a verb or adjective:

• First, write the present-tense casual form (see the conjugation flowchart). Note that the present-tense casual form always ends with a vowel.
• Then, add the following:
  • Add ㅆ다 for the diary level.
  • Add ㅆ어 for the casual level.
  • Add ㅆ어요 for the polite level.
  • Add ㅆ습니다 for the formal level.

Note that past-tense diary form treats verbs and adjectives the same. (In contrast, present-tense diary form applies ㄴ/는다 only to verbs.)

What about other tenses?¶

We won't talk about these yet, but here are some slight future-spoilers on future pages:

• Past progressive: 세희가 고양이를 쓰다듬고 있었어요 = Sehee was petting the cat
• Present progressive: 세희가 고양이를 쓰다듬고 있어요 = Sehee is petting the cat
• Future: 세희가 고양이를 쓰다듬을 거예요 = Sehee will pet the cat

But you don't need to worry about those yet.