Verbs - Future [Will]

We're going to learn how to form a future tense of verbs in this lesson.

Please have a look at the table below.

Informal
will do won't do
Written Form 할 거다 하지 않을 거다
안 할 거다
Spoken Form 할 거야 하지 않을 거야
안 할 거야

Note: The bold letters indicate which of the two alternatives in the negative form is more commonly used in each of the written and spoken forms, i.e.:
  • 하지 않을 거다 is more commonly used than 안 할 거다 in written Korean.
  • 안 할 거야 is more commonly used than 하지 않을 거야 in spoken Korean.


Conjugation rules

First of all, take 다 off the plain form of verbs and then:

I) Will

1. For verbs whose final character has no final consonant, attach ㄹ 거다 to them.

E.g.
  • 하다 → 할 거다 = will do
  • 가다 → 갈 거다 = will go
  • 오다 → 올 거다 = will come
  • 만나다 → 만날거다 = will meet
  • 자라다 → 자랄거다 = will grow


2. For verbs whose final character has a final consonant, attach 을 거다 to them.

E.g.

  • 먹다 → 먹을 거다 = will eat
  • 앉다 → 앉을 거다 = will sit 
  • 읽다 → 읽을 거다 = will read
  • 입다 → 입을 거다 = will wear
  • 잡다 → 잡을 거다 = will catch

Note: The rule 3 overrides the rule 2.



3. For verbs whose final character has ㄹ as a final consonant, just attach 거다 to them.

E.g.

  • 밀다 → 밀거다 = will push
  • 날다 → 날거다 = will fly
  • 살다 → 살거다 = will live

Irregular form

  • 듣다 → 들을 거다 = will listen


II) Won't

Simply attach 지 않을 거다 to verbs.

E.g. 

  • 하다 → 하지 않을 거다 = won't do
  • 가다 → 가지 않을 거다 = won't go
  • 오다 → 오지 않을 거다 = won't come
  • 사다 → 사지 않을 거다 = won't buy
  • 먹다 → 먹지 않을 거다 = won't eat
  • 입다 → 입지 않을 거다 = won't wear
  • 앉다 → 앉지 않을 거다 = won't sit
  • 밀다 → 밀지 않을 거다 = won't push


Example sentences

  • 집에 갈 거야? = Will you go home?
  • 사라는 수영 할 거야 = Sarah will swim
  • 다윗은 골리앗 이길 거야 = David will beat Goliath
  • 난 방에서 기타 칠 거야 = I will play the guitar in my room
  • 존은 박물관에 들어갈 거야 = John will enter the museum

집 = home
존 = John
들어가다 = enter
기타 = guitar
치다 = play (the instrument)
사라 = Sarah
수영 = swim
다윗 = David
골리앗 = Goliath


Question Form

Raise the tone of your voice at the last syllable to turn it into a question form.


  • 축구 할 거야? = Will you do(play) soccer?
  • 벌써 갈 거야? = Will you go(leave) already? 
  • 씻을 거야? = Will you wash? (Will you take a shower?/Will you take a bath?)
  • 올림픽 볼 거야? = Will you watch the Olympics?
  • 학교 안 갈 거야? = Won't you go to school?
  • 점심 안 먹을 거야? = Won't you have lunch?
  • 이 책 안 읽을 거야? = Won't you read this book?


Polite Form

Let's briefly go over the differences between the informal and polite forms again.

While the informal form in the examples above is used by people who are of the same age and/or close, or when older people are talking to younger people in informal situations, the polite form is commonly used by younger people addressing older people, and in any formal situations.


Polite Written Form
Will do
Won't do

할 겁니다
하지 않을 겁니다
안 할 겁니다

Polite Spoken Form
Will do
Won't do

할 거예요
하지 않을 거예요
안 할 거예요


Note: The bold letters indicate which of the two alternatives in the negative form is more commonly used in each of the written and spoken forms, i.e.:

  • 하지 않을 겁니다 is more commonly used than 안 할 겁니다 in written Korean.
  • 안 할 거예요 is more commonly used than 하지 않을 거예요 in spoken Korean.


Conjugations rules

I) Informal → Polite (Written)

Simply change 거다 to 겁니다.

 
E.g.
  • 할 거다 → 할 겁니다 = will do
  • 갈 거다 → 갈 겁니다 = will go
  • 먹을 거다 → 먹을 겁니다 = will eat
  • 마시지 않을 거다 → 마시지 않을 겁니다 = won't drink
  • 달리지 않을 거다 → 달리지 않을 겁니다 = won't run


II) Informal → Polite (Spoken)

Simply change 야 to 예요.

E.g.

  • 할 거야 → 할 거예요 = will do 
  • 올 거야 → 올 거예요 = will come
  • 들어갈 거야 → 들어갈 거예요 = will enter (go in)
  • 안 볼 거야 → 안 볼 거예요 = won't see/watch
  • 안 달릴 거야 → 안 달릴 거예요 = won't run


Example sentences
 
  • 집에 갈 거예요? = Will you go home?
  • 사라는 수영 할 거예요. = Sarah will swim.
  • 다윗은 골리앗 이길 거예요. = David will beat Goliath.
  • 존은 박물관에 들어갈 거예요. = John will enter the museum. 
  • 저는 거실에서 기타 칠 거예요. = I will play the guitar in the living room.

    • 씻을 거예요? = Will you wash? (Will you take a shower?/Will you take a bath?)
    • 벌써 갈 거예요? = Will you go(leave) already? 
    • 축구 할 거예요? = Will you do(play) soccer?
    • 월드컵 볼 거예요? = Will you watch the World Cup? 

      • 학교 안 갈 거예요? = Won't you go to school?
      • 점심 안 먹을 거예요? = Won't you have lunch?
      • 이 책 안 읽을 거예요? = Won't you read this book?


      19 comments:

      1. Even though you might not get this, I just wanted to say thank you for all of the great material. I haven't yet found another resouce like this. Thanks!!

        ReplyDelete
      2. Hi Mr Park,

        can i ask what's the difference between the future tense
        거다 (eg. 갈 거예요.) and 겠 (eg. 가겠어요.) ?

        Thank you so much :) This is an awesome site.

        Rgds,
        Nick

        ReplyDelete
      3. Hi Nick,

        Well, the difference is very subtle. However, I'd say that 갈 거예요 is a lot common in conversational (spoken) Korean.

        가겠어요 is probably more common in written Korean such as literature (novels).

        가겠어요 may also be used in dramas and movies but it's not really common in everyday speeches.

        In formal speeches, "가겠습니다." could also be used instead of "가겠어요".

        ReplyDelete
      4. Annyeong haseyo!
        kamsahamnida..
        Your site is very useful to me.. since i'm studying korean...
        but I want to know...
        how you say 'would'
        since 'will' is already there..
        how about 'would'?

        another thing... do you have collection of expressions?

        thank you... I hope this won't be a bother... - jrae

        ReplyDelete
      5. Hi, then how about verb ending 'ㅂ'? For example 줍다, I will pick up should be 주울 거에요 or 줍을 거에요?

        ReplyDelete
      6. 주울 거에요 is correct. :)

        ReplyDelete
      7. Maybe it's a stupid question, but why 야 is added to 거 in informal spoken form? I mean, if the dictionary form is 거다, in informal spoken language it should change to 거 (similarly as 가다 change to 가, not 가야). Thanks!

        ReplyDelete
      8. Hi LiDi,

        I cannot think of a reason why you put 야 to 거 in informal spoken form.

        But I guess it's similar to the ones like 먹다 and 살다.

        먹다 changes to 먹어 = eat
        살다 changes to 살아 = live

        Also, notice that although 가다 changes to 가.
        오다 changes to 와. (not 오)
        달리다 changes to 달려. (not 달리)

        So the rules differ even for different verbs.

        So we see that 거다 changes to 거야 (not 거).

        And it's just the pattern to be learned just like any other verb patterns.

        I hope this answered your question. :)

        ReplyDelete
      9. Hi, in your korean grammar pdf file, you wrote the rule 야 to 에요. However, in the blog entry is 야 to 예요. Which is the correct one?

        And in some other websites, they have rules such as
        * If the noun ends with a vowel, use 예요 or 야.
        * If the noun ends with a consonant, use 이에요 or 이야.

        Why are there differing rules?
        Thks:)

        ReplyDelete
      10. Hi,

        Grammatically, 예요 is correct. However, many many Koreans use 에요 instead of 예요, so I entered 에요 initially.

        The reason why many write 에요 instead of 예요 is that 예요 is actually pronounced 에요.

        For example,
        블로그예요 is pronounced: 블로그에요.


        Additionally, this lesson is only for verbs so don't worry about the difference in the use of 예요, 이에요.

        For nouns, however,
        * If the noun ends with a vowel, use 예요 or 야.
        * If the noun ends with a consonant, use 이에요 or 이야.

        나무예요 = It's a tree
        책상이에요 = It's a desk

        You're welcome. :-)

        ReplyDelete
      11. Hi luke,
        Can you translate this sentence:
        어느 책이 유미 씨 거예요?

        What does the 거예요 mean in this case?
        Thanks.

        ReplyDelete
      12. Hi

        어는 책이 유미 씨 거예요? = Which book is Yumi's?

        거예요 is a simplified form of 것이에요

        것 means "a thing"

        So 유미씨의 것 = Yumi's (thing)

        유미씨거 is a simplified form of 유미씨의 것.

        유미씨거에요 = It's Yumi's

        어느 책이 유미씨거에요? = Which book is Yumi's?

        ReplyDelete
      13. Conjugation~해요체
        1. Remove “-다”
        2. Add Honorific affix “시”or ”으시”, if applicable
        3. If the last letter is ㅂ, change it to 우.
        4. If the result ends in a vowel followed by 르, insert an extra ㄹ, making the end ㄹ르.
        5. If the last vowel is now ㅡ, change it to ㅏ if the next-to-last vowel is ㅗ or ㅏ. Otherwise, change ㅡ to ㅓ.
        6. If the last vowel is now ㅗ or ㅏ, add ㅏ요. Otherwise, add ㅓ요.
        Korean spelling rules:
         If the result ends in ㅏㅏ요, that collapses to ㅏ요.
         If the result ends in ㅗㅏ요, that collapses to ㅘ요.
         If the result ends in ㅜㅓ요, that collapses to ㅝ요.
         If the result ends in 시ㅓ요, that collapses to 세요.
         If the result ends in ㅣㅓ요, that collapses to ㅕ요.
         If the result ends in 하ㅏ요, that collapses to 해요.

        Isn't this how you conjugate? That's the way I always do, and it works fine. All your rules for each different tense, etc. get jumbled and confusing. If you have this up, then you'll have, like, one rule: 1. Add ㅆ어 (for spoken)
        가다-->가-->갔어
        쓰다-->쓰-->썼

        ReplyDelete
      14. Hi Julia,

        Thanks a lot for your comment with a really condensed and simpler version of the rules.

        However, I'm not quite convinced whether your list of conjugation rules is any easier to follow?

        I'll leave your comment as it is, and invite other people's comments/feedback on it.

        Definitely, conjugation rules can be daunting to learn. Actually, native speakers don't even think about these rules because we've picked them up by rote-learning since we were young. The rules on this blog are purely my creations to help new learners get a grasp of these conjugations, and see some patterns in that so that they can apply those rules to many other words they may encounter.

        How about other people who make use of the conjucation rules in this blog? Do you find them really that jumbled and confusing?

        I may revise them if a sufficient number of people find them in the same way. (Possibly if there are more people finding the conjugations difficult/confusing to follow than not?) So please leave your comments/feedback! (though it may be delayed indefinitely as I've done so in the past since this blog is purely a production and result of my working at my spare time & I'm usually kept busy with many other things going on in my life! x))

        :-)

        ReplyDelete
      15. Hi Luke,

        I was consulting the 'won't' with my father in law, and I found his comment interesting. In a conversation with older people, when asked by an older person, it may seem disrespectful to respond with 'won't' sentences. Usually as a younger person, we would try our best to achieve their request.

        However, thank you for the rules, I find them very useful to know how 'won't' is used.

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. Hi Anonymous,

          I agree entirely with your father in law.
          Although there is such a thing as a polite form of "won't", it is rarely, if ever, used in response to a request by an older person because of its inherent nuance of disrespect.

          However, it's perfectly fine if you're talking about something else.

          For example, about your plans for the future, whether you'll do something or not do something.

          Cheers. :-)

          Delete
      16. Hi,

        Just wanted to ask this:

        What's the difference between 저는 and 나는?

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. Hi neko-kyunnn,

          저는 and 나는 both mean "I am."

          However, 저는 is a polite form, and 나는 is a informal form.

          Cheers. :-)

          Delete

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