-았/었/였
at/eot/yeot
Grammar · 1 sense
Past tense
Examples
어제 배가 아팠어요. 그래서 잠을 못 잤어요.
My stomach hurt yesterday. So I couldn't sleep.
어제 회사 동료하고 저녁을 먹었어요.
I had dinner with my colleague yesterday.
남자 친구를 처음 만났을 때 첫인상이 어땠어요?
What was your first impression when you first met your boyfriend?
When you'd hear it
This pattern is used constantly in everyday conversation, including casual talk with friends and polite speech with coworkers or strangers. It also appears throughout written narratives, messages, and news reports.
What learners get wrong
Learners often use this where Korean uses -고 있었다 for an action in progress. Use -았/었/였어요 for a completed event or past condition, but -고 있었어요 for something that was ongoing at that time.
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