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Verbs in theKorean language come in last place in a clause. Verbs are the most complex part of speech, and a properly conjugated verb may stand on its own as a complete sentence. This article uses theYale romanization inbold to show morphology.

Korean verbs are typically classified into four categories: action,state (or description),existential, and thecopulas.

• Action or processive verbs involve some action or internal movement. For a list of Korean action verbs, seewikt:Category:Korean verbs.
• Stative or descriptive verbs are sometimes called adjectives. For a list of Korean stative verbs, seewikt:Category:Korean adjectives.
• Existential verbs convey the existence of something, or its presence in a particular location or a particular being's possession. This category was created for the verb있다itda "to exist" and its opposite,없다eopda "not to exist."
• Copulative verbs allow a non-verb to take verbal endings. In Korean this category was created for the affirmative and negative copula. The affirmative copula is이다ida "to be," and the negative copula아니다anida "not to be." However, there are many other verbs in Korean that also serve to attach verb endings to nouns, most notably하다hada "to do."

The distinction between action verbs and descriptive verbs is visible in verb conjugation in a few places. The copulas conjugate like stative verbs, but the existential verbs conjugate like action verbs. Some verbs can be either stative or active, depending on meaning.

Korean verbs areconjugated. Every verb form in Korean has two parts: averb stem, simple or expanded, plus a sequence ofinflectional suffixes. Verbs can be quite long because of all the suffixes that mark grammatical contrasts.

A Korean verb root is bound, meaning that it never occurs without at least onesuffix. These suffixes are numerous but regular and ordered. There are over 40 basic endings,^[1] but over 400 when the combinations of these endings are counted.^[2] Grammatical categories of verb suffixes includevoice (passive or causative),tense (past, present, or future),aspect (of an action – complete, experienced, repeated, or continuing), honorification (appropriate choice of suffix following language protocol), and clause-final conjunctives or sentence enders chosen from various speech styles and types of sentences such as interrogative, declarative, imperative, and suggestive.

A great many verbs change the pronunciation of the final consonant of the root after the addition of a suffix. Some of these changes are the result of regularconsonant assimilation or cluster simplification, but some of them are irregular. The irregular verbs contain root-final consonants that were historicallylenited and which, as a result disappeared or mutated between vowels but remained next to a consonant.

Thelemma or citation form of a Korean verb is the form that ends inta다da without a tense-aspect marker. For verbs, this form was used as a past perfect declarative form in Middle Korean,^[3] but is no longer used in Modern Korean.^[4] For adjectives, this form is the non-past declarative form.

Besides a verbal root itself that precedesta in the citation form, there is also a long stem with an additional harmonic vowel, called by linguistSamuel E. Martin the "infinitive" form.^[5] This tense-neutral form also does not express any honorifics and speech levels. Thus they are often used for literary titles, subtitles and chapter titles, since they are not specifically directed toward an individual or a group.^[6]

This so-called infinitive, however, must not be confused with the citation form mentioned above. It is formed by attachinge⁄a어/아eo/a to the root, according tovowel harmony. If the verbal root ends in a vowel, the two vowels may merge or contract.

Without vowel contraction

• al알al "know" +e⁄a →al.a알아ara
• mek먹meok "eat" +e⁄a →mek.e먹어meogeo

With vowel contraction

• ka가ga "go" +e⁄a →ka가ga
• o오o "come" +e⁄a →wa와wa
• se서seo "stand" +e⁄a →se서seo
• i이i (copula) +e⁄a →ye여yeo
• ssu쓰sseu "use" +e⁄a →sse써sseo

toy ta 되다doeda "to become" may or may not undergo contraction.ha ta 하다hada "to do" is irregular.

This infinitive form is not used as a noun, but it can be used incompound verbs,serial verb constructions, and before certain (not all) verb endings. It may be compared to theconjunctive in Japanese.

Verbs are the most complex part of speech in Korean. Their structure when used as thepredicate of a clause is prefix + root + up to seven suffixes, and can be illustrated with a template:

*The negative prefix isan안 "not"; the wordmos못mot "cannot" also occurs in this position.

I Valency may bepassive orcausative. These often involve a stem change, followed by the suffixi (the spelling of this suffix may change, depending on the stem change of the verb).

II The honorific suffix is-usi으시-eusi- after a consonant,-si시 after a vowel. Theiㅣ is reduced to a glide before another vowel. For example, with a following past tense,sie-ss-si-eoss- reduces tosye-ss셨-syeoss-.

This shows deference towards the topic of the conversation, for example when speaking of one's elders.

III If there is no suffix in this slot, the verb is in present orgnomic tense. Future tense & prospective aspect iskey-ss겠-get-, pastperfective is-e⁄a-ss었/았-eot-/-at but withvowel harmony. If there is no intervening consonant, this reduces, both in pronunciation and in writing:a-ss to았at-, andwa-ss to왔wat-. The verbo오 "to come" is thereforewa-ss왔wat- in the perfective. The verbha하ha "to do" is an irregularhay했haet- in the perfective.

There are also compound tenses:remote past-e⁄a-ss-e-ss었었/았었-eosseot-/-asseot-, past-future-e⁄a-ss-key-ss었겠/았겠-eotkket-/-atkket-, remote past-future (An action that should have been completed in the past but has not actually been done)-e⁄a-sse-ss-key-ss었었겠/았었겠-eosseotkket-/-asseotkket-^{[clarification needed][are these past perfect, future perfective, & ??]}

IV The formal suffix is-pᄇ after a vowel (it is normally written in the same block as that vowel),-sup습-seup after a consonant in a declarative or interrogative verb,-up읍-eup after a consonant in a proposition. (After a consonants orss theㅅ letter in the suffix drops.)

This shows deference towards the audience of the conversation, for example when speakingto one's elders. If speaking both to and of one's elders, one would use both the formal and the honorific suffixes.

V The syntactic moods, for lack of a better term, are theindicative-nun는-neun,-ni니, ornㄴ; the retrospective (imperfective)-ten던-deon,ti디-di, ortㄷ-d-; and thesubjunctivesi시-si orsㅅ. None of these are used in the casual or intimate styles, and the formal plain indicative declarative can only occur in the gnomic tense.

-nun는-neun and-ten던-deon are used in the formal plain and familiar interrogative styles. After a vowel,-nun는-neun reduces tonㄴ. Before declarativela라ra,-ten던-deon reduces tote더-deo.

-ni니,-ti디-di, and-si시 are used in the formal polite style.

-nㄴ,tㄷ-d-, andsㅅ are used in the familiar declarative and subjunctive styles.

VI The pragmatic moods, for lack of a better term, are thedeclarative-ta다-da (formal polite),-la라-ra (formal plain), andey에-e (familiar);interrogativekka까,ya야 (formal) and-ka가-ga (familiar);propositive-ta다-da (formal polite),-ca자-ja (formal plain), andey에-e (familiar); and theimperativeo오 (formal polite),-e⁄a la어라/아라-eola/-ala (formal plain), and-key게-ge (familiar).

Style: These distinctions are not made in the intimate and casual styles. Instead, this slot is taken by the intimate suffix-e⁄a어-eo (a아 after anaㅏ oroㅗ) or the casual suffix-ci지-ji.

VII The polite suffixyo요 (-i yo이요 after a consonant) appears in the informal styles. It expresses one's relationship to the audience.

A verb is typically negated in Korean by using asuppletive negative form, if it exists, or by putting a negative adverb in front of it.

There are two possible negative adverbs:mos못mot, andan안.mos is used for when a person or animate being subject tries to accomplish an action, that is, begins and is unable to finish it successfully.an is a more common negator which is used in all other instances. The two prefixes are mutually exclusive.

Derivational endings are attached directly to the verb root, and are followed by the tense suffixes. These derivational suffixes end with the high vowelsiㅣ orwuㅜ which is reduced to a glide in the long stem form. For example, with a following past tense,-(u)si(으)시-(eu)si reduces to-(u)sye-ss(으)셨-(eu)syeot.

Valency in Korean is partly lexical and partly derivational. Many forms can change their valency by the addition of thepassive orcausative derivational suffixes,-i이,-hi히,-li리-ri,-ki기,-wu우-u,-kwu구-gu, or-chwu추-chu, sometimes with additional changes to the stem.

The subject honorific suffix-(u)si derives an honorific verb, that is, a verb which is used when the subject of a sentence is higher in social status than the speaker. Such verbs are used, for example, when speaking of one's elders, one's social superiors (parents, teachers, bosses), or strangers.

The full form-usi으시 is only used after a consonant. Otherwise, the initial vowel is absorbed, becoming-si.

While the honorific suffix is necessary, some verbs have honorific alternatives which must be used in addition to-(u)si. For instance,iss ta있다itda becomeskyey'si ta계시다gyesida.

Following the derivational endings, Korean verbs can contain up to three suffixes in a row which represent a combination of tense, aspect, and mood.

This suffix is an enclitic consonant 'ssㅆ after theinfinitive form of the verb (ending ine⁄a), forminge⁄a'ss았/었 (the final consonant is pronounceds͈ before a vowel andt before a consonant). This suffix, which is conventionally called "past" or "perfective" by various linguists, has many different meanings, depending on the semantics of the verb that it is attached to and the context; it may be a simple past or a present perfect.

Etymologically, 'ss is a contraction of the existential verbiss있 via vowel absorption. The contracted form-e⁄a iss, was originally a present perfect.

A verb can superficially have two copies of the above-mentioned suffix, the second of which, however, is always-ess었-eot and represents a true past tense.^[7] This results in the combinatione⁄a'ss.ess았었/었었-eosseot/-asseot. This combination communicates apast perfect or a moreremote past.

Thefuture suffix is-keyss겠-get, often used to describe future events. It is used, when the speaker has valid reasons to believe something will be certain to happen. For instance, the suffix is used in broadcasting contexts in Korean such as weather forecasts.

But it may be used together with the perfective and pluperfect suffixes, or in a present tense context. If used with the perfective suffix, this makes an inferential or conditional past-e⁄a'ss-keyss았겠/었겠-eotget/-atget "should have, would have, must have." If used with the remote past suffix it makes an inferential or conditional remote past-e⁄a'ss-ess-keyss았었겠/었었겠-eosseotget/-asseotget, though this is rare. Because this infix is occasionally used for aconditional, orinferential tense, depending on context it is sometimes calledirrealis.

Etymologically, the future suffix is the result of the merger of aresultative verb ending-key게 and the existential rootiss있, via vowel absorption, as mentioned above. This contraction and change in meaning has its parallel in the future tense ofVulgar Latin.

Not all combinations of the suffixes in the template above are possible. The most common sequences after the tense suffix (that is, after the root or honorific-usi in the present tense, after the-e⁄ass or-keyss in the past and future) are,

*This indicative-nun는 is only found in the present tense of action verbs.
**The formal-polite imperative almost always takes the subject honorific suffix-(u)si(으)시.

The intimate, intimate polite, casual, and casual polite endings are simpler.

The formal suffix is-(su)pᄇ/습-(seu)p. The short form is used after a vowel and the long form is used after a consonant. (In the Korean writing systemhangul, theㅂ is written at the bottom of the previous syllable. In South Korea, afterㅅ orㅆ, the syllable습was written as읍. This rule was modified at the end of the 80s, and읍니다 is not the standard language. So, nowadays, the syllable습 is written as습 as its own pronunciation.)^[8] This shows deference towards the audience of the conversation, for example when speaking in a formal situation, such asto (but not necessarilyabout) one's elders. If speaking both to and of one's elders, one would use the formal and the honorific suffixes together.

The syntactic moods, for want of a better term, areindicative-nun는-neun,-n(i)니/ㄴ; retrospective (imperfective)-ten던-deon,-t(i)디/ㄷ; andjussive-s(i)시/ㅅ.

*-ni니,-ti디, and-si시 contract to-n'ㄴ,-tㄷ, and-s'ㅅ respectively beforeey에.

None of these are used in the casual or intimate styles, and only the formal plain indicative declarative can occur in the gnomic tense.

The pragmatic moods, for want of a better term, are thedeclarativesta다,la라, andey에;interrogativeskka까,ya야, andka가;propositiveta다,-ca자, and-ey에; and theimperativeo오,-e⁄a la어라/아라, and-key게.

These distinctions are not made in the intimate and casual styles. Instead, this place is taken by the intimate suffix-e⁄a어/아 or the casual suffix-ci지.

The polite suffixyo요 appears in thelower speech levels. It raises the level of politeness of those styles.

Attributive verb endings modify nouns and take the place of attributive adjectives. Korean does not haverelative pronouns. Instead,attributive verbs modify nouns, as adjectives do in English. Where in English one would say "I saw the manwho walks the dog", the structure of Korean is more like "The dog-walking man I saw".

The structure is ROOT + valence +attributive suffix, with little of the complexity of finite verbs above.

Active verbs use the attributive suffix은-eun after a consonant, or-nㄴ after a vowel, for the past tense. For descriptive or stative verbs, often equivalent to adjectives in English, this form is used for generic (gnomic) descriptions; effectively, "eaten food" is food which once was eaten (past), whereas "a pretty flower" is a flower which has become pretty, and still is (present/timeless). To specify the ongoing action for an active verb, the invariable suffix는-neun is used instead. This is not found on descriptive verbs, as it makes no sense to say that *"a flower is being pretty". For the future, the suffix을/ㄹ (-(eu)l with reinforcement of the following consonant) is used, and in the imperfective/retrospective (recalling what once was) it is던-deon.

For example, from the verb먹meok "to eat", the adjective예쁘yeppeu "pretty", and the nouns밥bap "cooked rice" and꽃kkot "flower", we get:

The perfective suffix었-eoss- is sometimes used as well, with the same meaning, on active verbs. It precedes the attributive suffix.

For action verbs,-ess었 is used for completed actions or processes that result in a present state. The individual verb's meaning can help determine which interpretation is appropriate. Hence결혼했다gyeorhon haetda can mean ‘got married’, focusing on the past event, or ‘is married’, focusing on the present state resulting from the past event. But공을 찼다gong-eul chatda ‘kicked the ball’ can only denote a past action and잘 생겼다jal saenggyeotda ‘is handsome’ can only denote the present state. (생기다saenggida is an action verb, meaning ‘get formed/created’.)

Verbs can takeconjunctive suffixes. These suffixes make subordinate clauses.

One very common suffix고-go, can be interpreted as a subordinating conjunction. That is,먹고meokko means approximately "eating,"고기를 먹고gogireul meokko means "eating meat," and내가 고기를 먹고naega gogireul meokko means "I eat meat and..." or "My eating meat."

Another suffix, somewhat similar in meaning, is서-seo which is, however, attached to the long stem of a verb ending in-e⁄a.

Both juxtapose two actions, the action in the subclause and the action in the main clause. The difference between them is that withseo the action in the subclause necessarily came first, while-go conveys more of an unordered juxtaposition.Seo is frequently used to imply causation, and in many common expressions like만나서 반갑습니다mannaseo bangapseumnida (literally, "Since I met you, I'm happy" or "Having met you, I'm happy"). If-go was used instead, the meaning would be closer to "I meet you and I'm happy," that is, without any implied logical connection.

These are both subordinating conjunctive suffixes and can not (in the more formal registers, at least) derive complete sentences of their own without the addition of a main verb, by default the existential verb있다itda.

As a typical right-headedsubject–object–verb language, verbs are typically the last element in a Korean sentence, and the only one necessary. That is, a properly conjugated verb can form a sentence by itself. The subject and the object of a sentence are often omitted when these are considered obvious in context. For example, the sentence:chac.ass.ta찾았다!chajatda! ("[I] found [it]!") consists of only a verb because the context in which this sentence would occur makes the identity of the arguments obvious.

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