LEARN + KOREAN / 9 of 125 TOPIK I

What Are You Doing? 을/를 해요

Your friend asks what you’re up to: 뭐 해요? This is the first lesson built around action verbs. Put the object before the verb with 을/를, then use the polite ending that fits the sentence.

Picking -아요 or -어요 isn’t random either: it comes down to the last vowel in the verb stem. If that vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, attach -아요. Every other vowel takes -어요. That’s why 먹다 (stem 먹, vowel ㅓ) becomes 먹어요, while a stem like 오 (in 오다, to come) would take -아요. A handful of verbs bend the rule further: ㅂ-stems like 어렵다 (difficult) become 어려워요, not 어려아요, and 르-stems like 빠르다 (fast) double up into 빨라요. You’ll meet more of these as you go.

mwo haeyo?

What are you doing?

In Real Life

을/를 is one of the first things Korean speakers drop in fast, casual conversation. 밥 먹어? (“eating?”) is far more natural between friends than the textbook-complete 밥을 먹어?. The particle matters for clarity when a sentence has more than one noun that could be the object, but with a single obvious noun, context carries the meaning just fine without it.

Eating and Drinking

jeoneun pijareul meogeoyo.

I eat pizza.

mureul masyeoyo.

I drink water.

keopireul masyeoyo.

I drink coffee.

Watching, Reading, Listening

듣다 is ㄷ-irregular: its ㄷ becomes ㄹ before a vowel-starting ending, giving 들어요. It keeps ㄷ before a consonant-starting ending: 듣습니다. 읽다 keeps its written stem in 읽어요 and 읽습니다; its pronunciation changes with the following sound.

tellebijeoneul bwayo.

I watch television.

jigeum chaegeul ilgeoyo.

I'm reading a book right now.

eumageul deureoyo.

I listen to music.

Meeting, Making, Studying

chingureul mannayo.

I'm meeting a friend.

bibimbabeul mandeureoyo.

I'm making bibimbap.

hangugeoreul gongbuhaeyo.

I study Korean.

Hint · 힌트

공부하다, 운동하다, 요리하다, 일하다 combine an activity noun with 하다. This is a productive pattern, but it does not work with every noun. Learn each established verb as a word; for these activity nouns you can also say 공부를 해요 or 운동을 해요.

Vocabulary

Korean	English
먹다 meokda	to eat
마시다 masida	to drink
보다 boda	to watch, to see
읽다 ilkda	to read
듣다 deutda	to listen
만나다 mannada	to meet
만들다 mandeulda	to make
공부하다 gongbuhada	to study
일하다 ilhada	to work
자다 jada	to sleep
쉬다 swida	to rest
놀다 nolda	to play, to hang out
운동하다 undonghada	to exercise
청소하다 cheongsohada	to clean
산책하다 sanchaekhada	to take a walk
씻다 ssitda	to wash up
나가다 nagada	to go out
전화하다 jeonhwahada	to call (on the phone)
얘기하다 yaegihada	to talk, to chat (casual for 이야기하다)
요리하다 yorihada	to cook

YOUR PROGRESS

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