sometimes when you conjugate an adjective it is necessary to change letters based on the ending (for this exercise I will conjugate into informal present tense)
if the word ends in ~하 : change to 해 ex. 하다 = 해요
If the word ends with ㅡ : change to ㅓ ex. 크다 = 커요 UNLESS the character before is a ㅏ then turn to ㅏ ex. 나쁘다 = 나빠요 OR there is a ㄹ at the end turn to ㄹ 라 ex. 빠르다 = 빨라요
if the word ends in ㅂ : change to 워 ex. 뜨겁다 = 뜨거워요
if the word ends in ㅣ : change to ㅕ ex. 느리다 = 느려요
if the word has a ㅏ on top and a ㅎ on the bottom : change to ㅐ ex. 삘갛 = 빨개요
Well, we have a little Sunday surprise, we hope you like it!
You can download all these verb conjugation sheets for free. Please, be aware of paper waste. We strongly encourage you not to print, unless it’s really necessary.
Have fun and please, if you find any mistakes, let us know!
Have we talked about Causative Form? Yes? Maybe? No? Let’s go with no.
Causative is often taught along with passive form, because it’s sort of the opposite. But before I get into that, there’s something I want to mention about Passive form first.
If you’ve lived in Japan for a long period, or just listen to a lot of polite Japanese, you’ll know that passive form has another meaning. For example, I will give four sentences:
晩ご飯をもうたべたの？
晩ご飯をもう食べましたか？
晩ご飯をもう食べられましたか？
お晩ご飯をもう召し上げましたか？
These sentences go in order from least polite to most polite, and they all mean “Have you eaten yet?”. Let’s look at sentence #3. You’ll see the form of 食べる in its passive form. However, it doesn’t have the ‘passive’ meaning. In that case, it’s just a little bit formal, good to use with strangers. Its meaning is its non-passive sense, but the form is the same. This is the case for all verbs, so if you’re in doubt with keigo, using the verb’s passive form is a good way to go.
Now, on to causative! So Causative form is sort of like it says on the tin. But to better explain it….Well, I’m assuming the most of you have had awkward moments when someone is giving you the opportunity to do something, which is really a disguised command. Like “Oh, you can go check on your grandmother next door if you want” is really “Go over your grandmother’s house so we can have some "alone” time.“
Causative form is like that, in that it can be translated as "to make someone do V” or “to let someone do V”. One way it is used is in the context of firing someone; the boss is “letting” their employee quit, when the reality is that they’re “making” them quit really politely (at least, in English terms). Here’s an example sentence:
母親が弟に彼の部屋をかたさせました。
“Mom made my little brother clean his room.” This translates as “made” because it is unlikely that the little brother wanted permission to do so.
友達が私に映画を見させました。
Now, this is tricky to translate. Translating causative form is all about context, really. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where your friend is letting you watch a movie or making you watch one. Unless there is backstory like how you hate horror movies or you really wanted to see your friend’s home made movie, then you can translate accordingly. However, in a sentence from the blue like this, either translation is technically correct.
BUT! Even though Causative form can translate to 'let’, it’s kinda weird to use this form to ask for permission. Like:
(私に)買い物に行かせてくれますか。
While this translates to “Can you let me go shopping?” It’s a little…offish. Like you’re begging. It sort of sounds like the other person is the handler of your fate. Using て-form followed by もいいですか is better when asking for permission. Of course, you can use Causative て form followed by ください, as ください is sort of commandy like “Please let me ~~”. Sort of beggy, but in an assertive way, like the other person has no choice but to give you permission.
Causative form in う verbs is made by changing the う-sound to its あ equivalent, then adding せ followed by る／ます.
言います —> 言わせます
勝ちます —> 勝たせます
売ります —> 売らせます
飲みます —> 飲ませます
死にます —> 死なせます
遊びます —> 遊ばせます
聞きます —> 聞かせます
泳ぎます —> 泳がせます
話します —> 話させます
With る-verbs, you just add させ followed by る／ます.
食べます —> 食べさせます
見ます —> 見させます
着ます(to wear) —> きさせます
起きます —> 起きさせます
開けます —> 開けさせます
Last, the irregulars.
する —> させる
来る —> こさせます
The other reason Causative and Passive forms are often taught together is because of another form that exists called “Causative-Passive” form (or “Passive-Causative” whichever). Any translation of this is “Subject is made to do Verb”. Like, “My mom made me wear this.” In fact, let’s go with that:
私はお母さんにこれを着させられました。
This is the reason why “Causative” is often written first in the “Causative-Passive form” title. You put the verb like you were putting it in Causative form. At that moment, Causative form makes any verb become a る verb, so passive form treats it as such. You CANNOT do a “passive then causative” order here because then it wouldn’t make sense. Let me break it down why it has to be the causative verb that is made passive:
Out of passive, the sentence looks like this:
お母さんが私にこれを着させました。
Really, it is this sentence that literally translates to “My mom made me wear this.” Your mom (が) does something towards (に) you. You want to flip this so that the sentence becomes about you (because isn’t it always?). Passive allows this flip in direction, letting the sentence become about the object/causee rather than the causer. This way, the first sentence really translates to “I was made to wear this by my mom.”
If the sentence was originally passive, it would look like this:
お母さんが私にこれをきられました。
THIS DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE. It’s like making a silent movie for blind people. You can make it, but it won’t mean anything, except you’re a jerk or have no idea what 'blind’ means.
Even if you got rid of the これを, it means “My mom was worn by me”, which is just weird and creepy. There’s really nowhere to go from there.
Just to remember, think that Causative goes before Passive in the alphabet. That’s how I think of it.
I don’t need to make a conjugation chart for this do I? I mean, all verbs in Causative forms are by default る-verbs, and I taught how to make る-verbs Passive in that lesson, so we’re good, right? Cool.
*Note: This lesson is in 존댓말 (formal/polite language), specifically 해요체 (informal polite speech level).
Welcome to future tense conjugation! If you haven’t seen our previous conjugation lessons, I recommend taking a look at those first. All conjugation lessons can be found in the “conjugation” tag of this blog or in the link in bio which will take you to a list of every lesson on this blog.
I referenced a YouTube video by Learn Korean With GO! Billy Korean to help me better understand the future tense forms. This was extremely helpful to me, and I highly recommend watching!
How to Conjugate
If the stem ends in a consonant:
If the stem of the verb ends in a consonant, add the ending 을 거예요.
For example, the stem of 먹다 (to eat) is 먹. Add 을 거예요 to get the future tense conjugation 먹을 거예요.
Exceptions / modifications:
If the stem ends in ㄹ, simply add 거예요 (살다 [to live] -> 살 거예요)
If the stem ends in ㅂ and is a descriptive verb, remove the ㅂ and add 울 거예요 (덥다 [to be hot] -> 더울 거예요)
If the stem ends in ㅎ and is a descriptive verb, remove the ㅎ and add ㄹ 거예요 (빨갛다 [to be red] -> 빨갈 거예요)
If the stem ends in a vowel:
If the stem of the verb ends in a vowel, just add the ending ㄹ 거예여.
For example, the stem of 보다 (to see) is 보. Add ㄹ 거예요 to get the future tense conjugation 볼 거예요.
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I’ve only covered the most common future tense form here, but there are several others. I will make separate posts for these!
Hello everyone, and welcome to another grammar lesson (finally)! In this one, we’ll go over the present progressive tense as well as the past progressive tense.
I strongly suggest taking a look at regular present and past tense first if you haven’t already! They can be found under the “conjugation” and “grammar” tags or the link in bio, which will take you to a list of every lesson on this blog.
*Note: This lesson is in 존댓말 (formal/polite language), specifically 해요체 (informal polite speech level)
Explanation
The present progressive tense is used to describe things that are currently in progress. For example, “I eat” is in the regular present tense, simply stating a fact, but “I am eating” shows that the action is still in progression.
Similarly, “I ate” shows that the action has ended, while “I was eating” specifies that the action was in progression for a period of time.
How to Conjugate
In English, verbs in the progressive tense have the ending “ing” (eating, seeing). In Korean, they have the ending 고 있다 (먹고 있다, 보고 있다).
Unlike some other conjugation rules, this one is the same whether the verb stem ends in a consonant or a vowel, which makes things a tad easier.
Present Progressive Tense
For present progressive tense, simply conjugate the ending 고 있다 into present tense to get 고 있어요, and then add it to the stem of the verb you’re conjugating.
For example, the stem of 먹다 (to eat) is 먹. Add 고 있어요 to get 먹고 있어요 ([I] am eating).
The stem of 보다 (to see) is 보. Add 고 있어요 to get 보고 있어요 ([I] am seeing).
Past Progressive Tense
For past progressive tense, simply conjugate the ending 고 있다 into the past tense to get 고 있었어요, and then add it to the stem of the verb you’re conjugating.
For example, add our ending to the stem of 먹다 (to eat) to get 먹고 있었어요 ([I] was eating).
Add the same ending to the stem of 보다 (to see) to get 보고 있었어요 ([I] was seeing).
Recap
This is a lot, so let’s review real quick!
먹어요 - I eat (regular present tense)
먹었어요 - I ate (regular past tense)
먹고 있어요 - I am eating (present progressive)
먹고 있었어요 - I was eating (past progressive)
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That’s all for now! I hope this was helpful and not too confusing.
