TOPIK I Grammar · Ch.3 Irregular Conjugation 02

TOPIK I Grammar · Ch.3 Irregular Conjugation 02

'ㅡ/르/ㄹ/ㅎ' Irregulars - Four Patterns That Finish the Set

바쁘다 becomes 바빠요, 모르다 becomes 몰라요, 살다 becomes 삽니다, 하얗다 becomes 하얘요. Four more families and you have the main irregular patterns of TOPIK I - and they include some of the highest-frequency words in the language.

Key point Four shape changes: ㅡ drops before 아/어 (바쁘다 → 바빠요), 르 doubles the ㄹ (모르다 → 몰라요), stem-final ㄹ drops before ㄴ·ㅂ·ㅅ (살다 → 삽니다), and ㅎ drops with a vowel change (하얗다 → 하얘요).

How to use it

Think of how English spelling reacts to endings - stop becomes stopped, study becomes studied. You don't consider these separate verbs; they're predictable shape changes triggered by what follows. These four Korean families work the same way.

For ㅡ-verbs, one detail matters: after dropping ㅡ, look at the vowel before it to choose 아 or 어. 바쁘다 has ㅏ in 바, so 바빠요; 예쁘다 has ㅖ in 예, so 예뻐요. The 르 family adds one extra step - the ㄹ doubles onto the previous syllable: 모르다 → 몰라요, 빠르다 → 빨라요.

The ㄹ family reacts to a different trigger. It doesn't react to 아/어 at all - 살아요 keeps its ㄹ. It reacts to endings that start with ㄴ, ㅂ, or ㅅ: 살다 → 삽니다, 알다 → 아세요. Finally, the ㅎ family - color words plus the 어떻다·이렇다·그렇다 group - drops the ㅎ and blends the vowels: 하얗다 → 하얘요, 어떻다 → 어때요.

At a glance

Family	What happens	Examples
ㅡ drop	ㅡ disappears before 아/어	바쁘다→바빠요 · 예쁘다→예뻐요 · 쓰다→써요
르 → ㄹㄹ	one more ㄹ appears	모르다→몰라요 · 다르다→달라요
ㄹ drop	before ㄴ·ㅂ·ㅅ only	살다→삽니다 · 알다→아세요
ㅎ drop	ㅎ leaves, vowel changes	하얗다→하얘요 · 어떻다→어때요

Exam point  Color adjectives are all ㅎ-family: 파랗다·노랗다·빨갛다 change the same way (파래요·노래요·빨개요).

Examples

요즘 일이 많아서 바빠요. I'm busy these days with a lot of work. - 바쁘다: ㅡ dropped; the ㅏ before it chose 아.

죄송해요, 잘 몰라요. Sorry, I don't really know. - 모르다: the ㄹ doubled.

겨울 하늘이 정말 파래요. The winter sky is really blue. - 파랗다: ㅎ dropped and the vowels blended.

Common mistakes

❌ 일이 바쁘어요. → ⭕ 일이 바빠요. The ㅡ can't stay - it always drops before 아/어. And the replacement vowel comes from the syllable before ㅡ (바 has ㅏ), not from a default.

❌ 서울에 살습니다. → ⭕ 서울에 삽니다. -습니다 starts with ㅅ, so the ㄹ of 살다 must drop - and with no final consonant left, the ending becomes -ㅂ니다. You cannot see this change in 살아요, so it surprises learners exactly when they switch to formal endings.

Quick check

Change each word to the form the sentence needs.

1. 예쁘다 → 꽃이 정말 (      ). (-아/어요)
2. 다르다 → 두 단어는 뜻이 (      ). (-아/어요)
3. 살다 → 저는 서울에 (      ). (-ㅂ니다)

Show answers

1. 예뻐요 (ㅡ drops)   2. 달라요 (르 → ㄹㄹ)   3. 삽니다 (ㄹ drops before ㅂ니다)

💡 Study tip - Anchor each family to one word you'll say every day. 바빠요 (= I'm busy), 몰라요 (= I don't know), 삽니다 (= I live), 어때요? (= how about it?) - four sentences you'll need this week. Use each one out loud once a day, and you learn the pattern behind it at the same time.