불규칙 활용Korean Irregular Verbs — All Ten Classes
An irregular Korean verb is one whose stem changes in front of a vowel, and there are exactly ten ways it can. 1,133 of the 3,698 verbs and adjectives here belong to a class; each page below gives the rule, what it sounds like, and every verb that follows it.
| Class | Rule | Example | Verbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| ㅂ 불규칙 | ㅂ becomes 우 before a vowel: 춥다 → 추워요. | 새롭다 → 새로워요 | 132 |
| 르 불규칙 | 르 doubles its ㄹ and takes 아/어: 모르다 → 몰라요. | 모르다 → 몰라요 | 69 |
| 으 불규칙 | The stem 으 drops before a vowel ending: 쓰다 → 써요. | 크다 → 커요 | 47 |
| ㄷ 불규칙 | ㄷ becomes ㄹ before a vowel: 듣다 → 들어요. | 듣다 → 들어요 | 9 |
| ㅅ 불규칙 | ㅅ drops before a vowel: 짓다 → 지어요. | 짓다 → 지어요 | 15 |
| ㅎ 불규칙 | ㅎ drops and the vowel changes: 그렇다 → 그래요. | 그렇다 → 그래요 | 26 |
| ㄹ 탈락 | ㄹ drops before ㄴ, ㅂ and ㅅ: 살다 → 삽니다. Regular, but universal. | 알다 → 알아요 | 136 |
| 여 불규칙 | 하다 and every verb built on it: 하다 → 하여 → 해요. | 하다 → 하여요 | 697 |
| 러 불규칙 | The ending takes 러 instead of 어: 이르다 → 이르러. | 푸르다 → 푸르러요 | 1 |
| 우 불규칙 | ㅜ drops before 어. One verb: 푸다 → 퍼요. | 푸다 → 퍼요 | 1 |
자주 묻는 질문Common questions
What makes a Korean verb irregular?
One thing only: the stem changes shape in front of a vowel. 춥다 is 춥습니다 in front of a consonant and 추워요 in front of a vowel, because its ㅂ becomes 우. Every class on this page is a different answer to the same question — what happens to this consonant when a vowel arrives.
Which irregular class should I learn first?
여, because every 하다 verb is one and there are thousands of them — though it is really a single paradigm rather than a rule. After that ㅂ and 르, which are large, genuinely irregular, and full of everyday words: 춥다, 덥다, 어렵다, 모르다, 부르다, 빠르다.
How do I know if a verb is irregular?
From its 받침 and then from the dictionary — the shape is a hint, not a rule. 걷다 (to walk) is ㄷ-irregular and 걷다 (to collect) is regular, and they are spelled identically. Every verb on this site carries its class, taken from the dictionary rather than guessed.