- -였-(-yeot-) —used after하다(hada) verbs and adjectives
FromMiddle 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 of어〮잇 (Yale:-é ìs-) with auxiliary잇다〮 (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". Hencedoublet of-어 있다(-eo itda).
| Romanizations |
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| Revised Romanization? | eot |
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| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | eoss |
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| McCune–Reischauer? | ŏt |
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| Yale Romanization? | ess |
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-었-• (-eot-)
- -ed:A general past tense marker going onto the main verb, adjective or copula of the sentence; it often carries aperfect meaning.
- 죽었다. ―Jugeotda. ―He died (and is still dead).
- 부산에갔어요. ―Busan-e gass-eo-yo. ―He's gone to Busan (and he is still likely there or he may not be there anymore).
오늘정말고마웠어...너무재밌었어.- Oneul jeongmal gomawoss-eo... Neomu jaemisseoss-eo.
- Today I was very thankful (and I still am), it was very fun.
전화가왔습니다.- Jeonhwa-ga wat-seumnida.
- A phone call has come in (the phone is still ringing).
나는어제친구를만났어요.- Na-neun eoje chin'gu-reul mannass-eo-yo.
- I met up with my friend yesterday.
- For vowel harmony, contractions, and allomorphy, see-아/어/여(-a/eo/yeo).
- Usually었(-eot-) precedes all verbal endings except the honorific suffix. However, sometimes in the colloquial speech었(-eot-) can be preceded by-겠-(-get-), although this is considered nonstandard and unnatural in most contexts.
- Difference with-었었-(-eosseot-):
- While었(-eot-) carries a perfect aspect meaning,-었었-(-eosseot-) carries a meaning of completion of an action and its difference from the past. Thus, while죽었다(jugeotda) meanshe died and is still dead,죽었었다(jugeosseotda) meanshe died and is no longer in that state. These two suffixes can also be easily compared with the verb가다(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.
