Present Tense — 아요 / 어요 / 해요

A Korean dictionary lists every verb and adjective ending in -다: 가다 “to go”, 먹다 “to eat”, 좋다 “to be good”. That form is a label, not a sentence — you can never say 저는 밥을 먹다. Before a verb can end a sentence it has to be conjugated, and the first conjugation every learner needs is the polite present, -아요/어요.

Drop the -다. What is left is the stem. Now look at the last vowel of that stem: if it is ㅏ or ㅗ, add 아요. Anything else takes 어요. Verbs built on 하다 are the one big exception — they become 해요.

When the stem already ends in a vowel, the 아 or 어 has nowhere to sit, so the two vowels merge into a single syllable. These are not seven separate rules to memorise — say them out loud and you will hear why they collapse.

Korean has one present tense where English has two. 먹어요 covers both “I eat” (every day) and “I am eating” (right this minute); the time word or the situation tells you which. If you speak Nepali this is familiar — म खान्छु and म खाँदै छु both land on the same Korean form here.

• 저는 매일 한국어를 공부해요.

  I study Korean every day.

  म हरेक दिन कोरियन भाषा पढ्छु।

• 지금 밥을 먹어요.

  I am eating right now.

  म अहिले भात खाँदै छु।

• 친구가 커피를 마셔요.

  My friend drinks coffee.

  साथी कफी पिउँछ।

• 날씨가 정말 좋아요.

  The weather is really nice.

  मौसम साँच्चै राम्रो छ।

아요/어요 is the everyday polite ending you use with friends, shopkeepers and colleagues. There is a second present tense, -ㅂ니다/습니다, that you will hear in announcements, on the news, at work and in the army. Same tense — a different level of formality.