Korean grammar - Irregular past tenses

Irregular past tenses

There are four very common verbs that have irregular past tenses:

• 이다 (to be) ⇒ 이었어요 or 였어요 following a vowel

• 하다 (to do) ⇒ 했어요

• 되다 (to become) ⇒ 됐어요

• 어떻다 (to be how, to be in what state) ⇒ 어땠어요

These verbs do no merge vowels according to the rules laid out in the previous topic.

Examples:
	아버지는 경찰관이었어요. (My) father was a policeman. 이다 (to be) ⇒ 이었어요 (following a consonant)
	형은 야구 선수였어요. (My) older brother was a baseball player. 이다 (to be) ⇒ 였어요 (following a vowel)
	소방관은 친절했어요. The fireman was kind. 하다 (to do) ⇒ 했어요
	할머니는 가난했어요. (My) grandmother was poor. 하다 (to do) ⇒ 했어요
	진희는 직장을 못 구했어요. Jinhee couldn’t find a job. 하다 (to do) ⇒ 했어요
	그녀는 작년에 학생이었어요. Last year she was a student. 이다 (to be) ⇒ 이었어요 (following a consonant)
	미나였어요? Was (that) Mina? 이다 (to be) ⇒ 였어요 (following a vowel)
	민준이가 교수가 됐어요. Minjun became a professor. 되다 (to become) ⇒ 됐어요
	오늘 어땠어요? How are you today? 어떻다 (to be how) ⇒ 어땠어요
	오늘 어땠어요? How are you today? 어떻다 (to be how) ⇒ 어땠어요
	오늘 하루 어땠어요? How was your day? 어떻다 (to be how) ⇒ 어땠어요
	언제 그렇게 됐어요? When did it (like that) happen? 되다 (to become) ⇒ 됐어요 그렇게 means 'like that' This is a set phrase in Korean that should be memorised.
	여행이 취소됐어요. The trip has been cancelled. 취소되다 (to be cancelled) ⇒ 취소됐어요 취소되다 means 'to be cancelled' (to become cancelled)