Korean Past, Present & Future Tense: The Complete Guide

Korean Tenses Are Surprisingly Simple

Unlike English, which has over a dozen tense forms (past simple, past continuous, past perfect, etc.), Korean has just three core tenses. Better yet, Korean tenses don't change based on the subject — "I went," "you went," and "they went" all use the same verb form. If you already know how to conjugate to polite present tense (해요체), learning past and future is just one more step.

Present Tense: -아/어요

The present tense in Korean covers both "I eat" and "I am eating" — there's no separate continuous form in everyday speech. You already know this form if you've learned basic conjugation: remove 다 from the dictionary form, then add 아요 (if the stem's last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ) or 어요 (all others). 하다 becomes 해요.

Past Tense: -았/었어요

To make the past tense, insert 았 or 었 before 어요. The vowel harmony rule is the same as present tense: use 았 when the stem's last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, and 었 for everything else. For 하다 verbs, it becomes 했어요.

Future Tense: -(으)ㄹ 거예요

The most common future tense form adds -(으)ㄹ 거예요 to the verb stem. If the stem ends in a vowel, use -ㄹ 거예요. If it ends in a consonant, use -을 거예요. This expresses plans, intentions, or predictions.

Note: If the stem already ends in ㄹ (like 살다, 만들다), just add 거예요 directly — don't double up the ㄹ.

Another Future Form: -겠-

You'll also hear -겠- used for future meaning, but it carries a nuance of strong will, conjecture, or polite intent. It's commonly used in fixed expressions and formal speech rather than casual plans.

All Three Tenses Side by Side

Here's a comparison of all three tenses with common verbs. Notice how consistent the patterns are.

Time Words to Know

Korean sentences often include time words to clarify when something happened. Unlike English, adding a time word doesn't change the word order — it typically goes at the beginning of the sentence or before the verb.

Negative Past and Future

Negation works the same way in all tenses. Just put 안 before the verb, or use the -지 않다 pattern. The tense marker stays on the main verb (or on 않다 in the long form).

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Don't double-conjugate: 갔었어요 means "had gone" (past perfect), not simple past. For simple past, 갔어요 is enough.
• Don't confuse -겠- with -(으)ㄹ 거예요. Use -(으)ㄹ 거예요 for plans and 겠 for conjecture or formal expressions.
• Time words help but aren't required. Context often makes the tense clear without them.
• Korean present tense can describe habitual actions AND current actions. "밥 먹어요" can mean "I eat rice (in general)" or "I'm eating rice (right now)."

Practice: Convert to Past and Future

Try converting these present tense sentences into past and future. Check your answers below.

What's Next?

With present, past, and future tense under your belt, you can now express when things happen in Korean. The next step is learning connective endings (-고, -서, -면) to join ideas together, and progressive/completion markers (-고 있다, -아/어 있다) for more nuanced time expressions. But for now, practice converting your daily activities into all three tenses — it's the fastest way to internalize the patterns.