-었-

었 Korean Alternative forms ko -였- used after ko 하다 verbs and adjectives Etymology From ko okm - -엇〮- -és- stative continuous suffix, which is a simplification of -엣〮- -éys- stative continuous suffix. Both forms appeared in the 15th century as contractions of -어〮 잇- -é ìs- with auxiliary 잇다〮 ìs-tá. The past tense meaning developed from a seventeenth-century semantic shift of "one exists in a state of having VERBed" to "VERBed". Hence ko -어 있다 y. Pronunciation Suffix -았- suffix -ed: A general past tense marker going onto the main verb, adjective or copula of the sentence; it often carries a perfect meaning. ko 죽었다. He died (and is still dead). ko 부산-에 갔-어-요. He's gone to Busan (and he is still likely there or he may not be there anymore). ko 오늘 정말 고마웠-어... 너무 재밌었-어. Today I was very thankful (and I still am), it was very fun. ko 전화-가 왔-습니다. A phone call has come in (the phone is still ringing). ko 나-는 어제 친구-를 만났-어-요. I met up with my friend yesterday. Usage notes For vowel harmony, contractions, and allomorphy, see ko -어#Usage_notes -아/어/여. Usually ko -었- precedes all verbal endings except the honorific suffix. However, sometimes in the colloquial speech ko -었- can be preceded by ko -겠-, although this is considered nonstandard and unnatural in most contexts. Difference with ko -었었-: While ko -었- carries a perfect aspect meaning, ko -었었- carries a meaning of completion of an action and its difference from the past. Thus, while ko 죽다 죽었다 means he died and is still dead, ko 죽었었다 means he died and is no longer in that state. These two suffixes can also be easily compared with the verb ko 가다, simple past tense of which expresses that one went somewhere and is still possibly there, while the double past tense usually expresses that one went somewhere, stayed there and is no longer there or came back.