Attributive (Noun-Modifying) Forms Table: -는 / -(으)ㄴ / -(으)ㄹ / -던 | Korean Grammar

"The book I read," "the book I'm reading," "the book I'll read" — English hangs the relative clause after the noun and marks the tense on the verb inside it. Korean does the reverse: the modifying clause comes before the noun, and the tense lives in a special attributive (관형사형) ending on the verb. 읽은 책 / 읽는 책 / 읽을 책 — same noun 책, three tenses, all decided by the ending that precedes it. This is how Korean builds every relative clause, and the endings are a small closed set. This page tables the four core forms and untangles the trap that snares every learner: verbs and adjectives form the present modifier differently.

The four core attributive endings

Ending	Tense / aspect	On a verb	On an adjective
-는	present (verbs only)	먹는 (사람) meongneun — who eats	— (adjectives can't; but 있다/없다 do)
-(으)ㄴ	verb PAST · adjective PRESENT	먹은 (사람) meogeun — who ate	좋은 (사람) joeun — who is good
-(으)ㄹ	prospective / future	먹을 (사람) meogeul — who will eat	좋을 (것) joeul — that'll be good
-던	retrospective / past habitual	먹던 (것) meokdeon — used to eat	좋던 (시절) joteon — that were good
-았/었던	completed retrospective	먹었던 (일) meogeotdeon — that had happened	좋았던 (기억) joatdeon — that were good

Read the modifier as carrying the whole clause: 제가 어제 산 책 = "the book [that I] bought yesterday." Everything before 책 is the relative clause, and its tense is packed into 산 (past of 사다). The head noun always comes last.

저기 김밥 먹는 사람 누구예요?

jeogi gimbap meongneun saram nuguyeyo?

Who's that person eating gimbap over there? (present verb 먹는)

아까 산 우유 어디 있어요?

akka san uyu eodi isseoyo?

Where's the milk I bought earlier? (past verb 사다 → 산)

내일 만날 사람이 있어요.

naeil mannal sarami isseoyo

I have someone I'm meeting tomorrow. (prospective 만나다 → 만날)

어릴 때 자주 가던 식당이에요.

eoril ttae jaju gadeon sikdang-ieyo

It's a restaurant I often went to as a kid. (retrospective 가던)

The trap: -는 for verbs, -(으)ㄴ for adjectives — in the present

Here is the single confusing thing about this system. To make a present modifier:

a verb uses -는: 가는 (going), 먹는 (eating), 읽는 (reading).
an adjective uses -(으)ㄴ: 좋은 (good), 예쁜 (pretty), 작은 (small).

But -(으)ㄴ is also the verb's PAST modifier. So 먹은 (verb, "ate") and 좋은 (adjective, "good/is good") wear the identical -(으)ㄴ shape while meaning completely different tenses. The ending doesn't tell you the tense until you know whether the word is an action verb or a descriptive verb.

이거 정말 좋은 생각이에요.

igeo jeongmal joeun saenggagieyo

This is a really good idea. (adjective present 좋은)

어제 예쁜 옷을 하나 샀어요.

eoje yeppeun oseul hana sasseoyo

I bought a pretty outfit yesterday. (adjective 예쁘다 → 예쁜)

제가 읽은 책 중에서 이게 제일 재미있었어요.

jega ilgeun chaek jung-eseo ige jeil jaemiisseosseoyo

Of the books I've read, this one was the most fun. (past verb 읽다 → 읽은)

💡

Sort the word first, then the ending tells you the tense. If it's an action verb: -는 = now, -(으)ㄴ = past, -(으)ㄹ = future. If it's an adjective: -(으)ㄴ = now. So 먹은 사람 = "the person who ate," but 좋은 사람 = "a good person" — the same ending, opposite tense logic.

Tense lives in the modifier

Because the tense sits in the ending, you can swap the whole time reference of a relative clause by changing one syllable in front of the noun — the reverse of English word order.

어제 읽은 책, 지금 읽는 책, 내일 읽을 책 — 다 달라요.

eoje ilgeun chaek, jigeum ingneun chaek, naeil ilgeul chaek — da dallayo

The book I read yesterday, the one I'm reading now, the one I'll read tomorrow — all different.

어제 만난 사람 기억나요?

eoje mannan saram gieongnayo?

Do you remember the person we met yesterday? (past verb 만나다 → 만난)

여기 마실 물 좀 주세요.

yeogi masil mul jom juseyo

Could I get some water to drink here? (prospective 마시다 → 마실)

있다 and 없다 pattern like verbs

The existence words 있다 / 없다 and the compounds built on them (맛있다, 재미있다) take the verbal -는, not the adjectival -(으)ㄴ — so it is 맛있는 음식, 재미있는 영화, never ×맛있은. They look like adjectives in meaning but conjugate their modifier like verbs.

맛있는 거 먹으러 가요.

masinneun geo meogeureo gayo

Let's go eat something tasty. (있다-compound → verbal -는)

The 으 buffer, vowel stems, and ㄹ-stems

-(으)ㄴ and -(으)ㄹ insert the buffer 으 after a consonant stem (먹은, 먹을; 좋은, 좋을) but attach the bare ㄴ/ㄹ to a vowel stem (가 → 간, 갈; 오 → 온, 올). A ㄹ-stem drops its ㄹ before -는 and -(으)ㄴ and then takes no added consonant: 살다 → 사는 (living), 산 (lived), 살 (will live). See the 으-insertion table for the full trigger list.

Common Mistakes

1. Using -는 to make an adjective present. Adjectives form the present modifier with -(으)ㄴ, not -는.

❌ 그분은 정말 좋는 사람이에요.

Wrong — an adjective's present modifier is -(으)ㄴ: 좋은 사람.

✅ 그분은 정말 좋은 사람이에요.

geubuneun jeongmal joeun saramieyo

She's a really good person.

2. Adding 으 to a vowel stem. A vowel stem takes the bare ㄴ (가 + ㄴ → 간), no buffer.

❌ 아까 가은 사람이 누구예요?

Wrong — 가다 is a vowel stem, so the past modifier is 간, not 가은: 간 사람.

✅ 아까 간 사람이 누구예요?

akka gan sarami nuguyeyo?

Who was that person who just left?

3. Treating 맛있다 as an adjective for the modifier. 있다-compounds take verbal -는.

❌ 여기 맛있은 음식이 많아요.

Wrong — 맛있다 takes the verbal -는: 맛있는 음식.

✅ 여기 맛있는 음식이 많아요.

yeogi masinneun eumsigi manayo

There's a lot of tasty food here.

4. Keeping ㄹ before -는. A ㄹ-stem drops its ㄹ: 살다 → 사는, not ×살는.

❌ 서울에 살는 친구가 있어요.

Wrong — ㄹ-stem 살다 drops ㄹ before -는: 사는 친구.

✅ 서울에 사는 친구가 있어요.

Seoure saneun chinguga isseoyo

I have a friend who lives in Seoul.

Key Takeaways

Attributive endings turn a clause into a pre-nominal modifier (Korean's relative clause); the tense sits in the ending, before the noun.
Verbs: -는 (present), -(으)ㄴ (past), -(으)ㄹ (prospective), -던 / -았던 (retrospective).
Adjectives: present modifier is -(으)ㄴ (좋은, 예쁜) — the same shape as a verb's past, so 먹은 (ate) vs 좋은 (good) look parallel but differ in tense and class.
있다 / 없다 and their compounds take the verbal -는 (맛있는, not ✗맛있은).
The buffer 으 appears after a consonant stem (먹은, 먹을); vowel stems take bare ㄴ/ㄹ (간, 갈); ㄹ-stems drop ㄹ (사는, 산, 살).

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