ㄹ 탈락Korean ㄹ dropping Verbs

ㄹ drops before ㄴ, ㅂ and ㅅ: 살다 → 삽니다. Regular, but universal.

136 verbs and adjectives follow this pattern.

규칙The rule, worked through

The stem changes in front of a vowel and stays put in front of a consonant. Both are shown.

Verb+ 습니다 (consonant)+ 아/어 (vowel)+ 으니 (vowel)
알다to know 압니다 알아 아니
살다to live 삽니다 살아 사니
만들다to make 만듭니다 만들어 만드니

전체 목록All 136 ㄹ dropping verbs

Showing 1–40 of 136 verbs

알다 to know 알아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 살다 to live 살아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 만들다 to make 만들어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 들다 to enter 들어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 들다 to hold, carry, lift 들어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 말다 to not do something, to stop doing 말아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 말다 to mix (rice) into soup 말아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 4 열다 to open 열어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 길다 to be long 길어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 길다 to grow 길어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 3 놀다 to play 놀아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 힘들다 to be hard, difficult 힘들어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 풀다 to untie, to loosen 풀어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 2 끌다 to pull, to drag 끌어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 3 말다 to not do something, to stop doing 말아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 울다 to cry 울어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 팔다 to sell 팔아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 걸다 to hang, to suspend 걸어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 멀다 to be far 멀어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 달다 to give (me) 달아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 돌다 to revolve, rotate, spin, turn 돌아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 2 벌다 to earn (money) 벌어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 2 썰다 to cut, to chop, to slice 썰어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 2 흔들다 to shake, wave 흔들어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 2 불다 to blow 불어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 1 이끌다 to lead 이끌어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 3 떨다 to tremble 떨어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 3 늘다 to increase 늘어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 2 밀다 to push 밀어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 2 내밀다 to thrust out 내밀어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 4 줄어들다 to diminish or decrease 줄어들어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 4 달다 to attach 달아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 5 드물다 to be rare 드물어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 4 물다 to bite 물어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 3 틀다 to turn, twist, wrench 틀어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 2 몰다 to drive 몰아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 4 낯설다 strange, unfamiliar 낯설어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 3 날다 to fly 날아요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 2 뛰어들다 to plunge into, to dive into 뛰어들어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 4 거칠다 to be rough 거칠어요 ㄹ 탈락 TOPIK 4

Showing 1–40 of 136 verbs

자주 묻는 질문Common questions

What is the ㄹ dropping in Korean?

ㄹ drops before ㄴ, ㅂ and ㅅ: 살다 → 삽니다. Regular, but universal. 136 verbs and adjectives in this dataset follow it.

When does the ㄹ 탈락 change happen?

In front of a vowel, and only there. The dictionary form and every consonant-initial ending — -고, -지, -습니다 — leave the stem exactly as it is; it is 아/어 and 으 endings that trigger the change.