The past: -았/었어요

The same vowel rule, one syllable earlier

The past tense is the present you already know with the marker 았/었 inserted before 어요. The choice follows the vowel rule you learned for -아요/어요: 았어요 after ㅏ or ㅗ, 었어요 after any other vowel, and 하다 becomes 했어요. 먹어요 → 먹었어요, 읽어요 → 읽었어요, 살아요 → 살았어요, 좋아요 → 좋았어요, 공부해요 → 공부했어요. Every merge you know happens again: 가요 → 갔어요, 와요 → 왔어요, 봐요 → 봤어요, 마셔요 → 마셨어요, 배워요 → 배웠어요, 바빠요 → 바빴어요.

Was, were, and the words for when

The copula has its own past: 이었어요 after a consonant, 였어요 after a vowel – 학생이었어요 I was a student, 의사였어요 she was a doctor. 있어요 becomes 있었어요 and 없어요 없었어요. The time words that place a past event are 어제 yesterday, 지난주 last week, 지난달 last month, 작년 last year, and 아까 a little while ago. Only 지난주, 지난달 and 작년 take 에; 어제 and 아까 stand alone.

어제 친구하고 영화를 봤어요Yesterday I watched a movie with a friend.

작년에는 학생이었어요Last year I was a student.