좋다 (to be good): Descriptive Verb (Adjective) Paradigm | Korean Grammar

Korean has no separate class of "adjectives" that sit before nouns the way English good, tall, happy do. What English calls an adjective, Korean calls a descriptive verb (형용사) — a word that conjugates for tense, mood, and politeness exactly like an action verb. 좋다 does not mean "good"; it means "to be good." It carries its own copula meaning, so you never add 이다 to it: 날씨가 좋아요 is a complete sentence — literally "the weather is-good."

We build the paradigm on 좋다 (stem 좋-). Its final consonant is ㅎ, but — crucially — 좋다 is regular, not a member of the ㅎ-irregular class of 그렇다 / 빨갛다. The harmony vowel of 좋- is ㅗ, so it takes -아: 좋 + 아요 → 좋아요, pronounced [조아요] because the ㅎ weakens away before a vowel. The whole point of this page is to show where an adjective marches in lockstep with the verbs — and the three places where it deliberately breaks step.

The full paradigm

Rows are tense/mood; columns are the four speech levels. Cells that do not exist for an adjective are marked "—" and explained below.

Tense / mood	합니다체 (formal)	해요체 (polite)	해체 (intimate)	한다체 (plain/written)
Present	좋습니다 joseumnida	좋아요 joayo	좋아 joa	좋다 jota
Past	좋았습니다 joatseumnida	좋았어요 joasseoyo	좋았어 joasseo	좋았다 joatda
Future / conjecture (-겠)	좋겠습니다 joketseumnida	좋겠어요 jokesseoyo	좋겠어 jokesseo	좋겠다 joketda
Future (-ㄹ 거)	좋을 겁니다 joeul geomnida	좋을 거예요 joeul geoyeyo	좋을 거야 joeul geoya	좋을 것이다 joeul geosida
Negation — 안 (short)	안 좋습니다 an joseumnida	안 좋아요 an joayo	안 좋아 an joa	안 좋다 an jota
Negation — 지 않다 (long)	좋지 않습니다 jochi anseumnida	좋지 않아요 jochi anayo	좋지 않아 jochi ana	좋지 않다 jochi anta
Imperative	—	—	—	—
Propositive (let's)	—	—	—	—

Watch the ㅎ across the readings. Before a vowel the ㅎ deletes: 좋아요 → [조아요] joayo, 좋은 → [조은] joeun. Before ㄱ / ㄷ it aspirates the following stop: 좋고 → [조코] joko, 좋다 → [조타] jota, 좋던 → [조턴] joteon, 좋겠다 → [조켇따] joketda. Before ㅈ it gives ㅊ: 좋지 → [조치] jochi. And before ㅅ the ㅅ tenses (좋습니다 → [조씀니다]), which Revised Romanization does not write, so the reading stays joseumnida. Every one of these is the regular ㅎ behaviour — none of it changes the spelling of the stem, which is exactly what separates 좋다 from the ㅎ-irregular colour adjectives.

The three cells where an adjective is not a verb

1. Present attributive is -(으)ㄴ, never -는

To modify a noun in the present, an action verb uses -는 (먹는 사람 "a person who eats"), but a descriptive verb uses -(으)ㄴ: 좋다 → 좋은. 좋은 사람 = "a good person"; ×좋는 사람 does not exist.

그분은 정말 좋은 사람이에요.

geubuneun jeongmal joeun saramieyo

He/she is a really good person. (좋은, not ×좋는)

2. No imperative and no propositive

You cannot command or propose a state. English cannot either — "Be good!" only works because good is being coerced into an action ("behave"). Pure 좋다 has no imperative (×좋으세요) and no propositive (×좋읍시다); the "—" cells above are genuinely empty. When you want "let's make it good / let's be happy," Korean switches to a verb of becoming or doing: 좋아지다 ("become good"), 행복하게 살자 ("let's live happily").

3. Plain present stays bare -다

In 한다체, an action verb takes -ㄴ다/는다 (간다, 먹는다), but an adjective's plain present is the dictionary form itself: 좋다. There is no ×좋는다 and no ×좋ㄴ다. This makes the plain present the single cleanest test for the action-vs-descriptive divide — if a 다-word stays bare in narration, it is an adjective.

The stem-based forms

Function	Form	Meaning
and (listing)	좋고 (joko)	is good and…
and so / because	좋아서 (joaseo)	because it's good
if / when	좋으면 (joeumyeon)	if it's good
because (reason)	좋으니까 (joeunikka)	since it's good
attributive — present	좋은 (joeun)	(a) good (thing)
attributive — prospective	좋을 (joeul)	(a thing) that will be good
attributive — retrospective	좋던 (joteon)	(a thing) that used to be good

Since 좋- ends in a consonant, the connectives 좋으면 / 좋으니까 and the attributive 좋은 all insert the linking 으 — while 좋아서 uses the 아/어 harmony slot (one more reason to keep -아서 apart from -(으)면). There is deliberately no present -는 attributive in this table; that row belongs to action verbs only.

The forms in real sentences

오늘 날씨가 정말 좋아요.

oneul nalssiga jeongmal joayo

The weather is really nice today.

저는 뜨거운 커피보다 아이스가 좋아요.

jeoneun tteugeoun keopiboda aiseuga joayo

I prefer iced coffee to hot. (좋다 = 'X is good/preferable to me')

그 카페 분위기가 좋아서 자주 가요.

geu kape bunwigiga joaseo jaju gayo

That café has a nice atmosphere, so I go often. (좋아서 = because it's good)

와, 그거 진짜 좋은 생각이다!

wa, geugeo jinjja joeun saenggagida!

Wow, that's a really good idea! (좋은 + noun; 한다체 copula 이다)

주말에 날씨가 좋으면 등산 갈까요?

jumare nalssiga joeumyeon deungsan galkkayo?

If the weather's nice this weekend, shall we go hiking? (좋으면)

옛날에는 사이가 참 좋았어요.

yennareneun saiga cham joasseoyo

We used to get along really well back then. (past 좋았어요)

내일은 날씨가 좋겠어요.

naeireun nalssiga jokesseoyo

The weather will probably be nice tomorrow. (-겠 conjecture)

그 회사는 복지가 좋다고 들었어요.

geu hoesaneun bokjiga jotago deureosseoyo

I heard that company has good benefits. (plain 좋다 quoted with -고)

💡

좋다 versus 좋아하다: 좋다 is a descriptive verb ("X is good/likable," so the thing liked takes 이/가 — 저는 커피가 좋아요), while 좋아하다 is an action verb ("[someone] likes X," so the thing takes 을/를 — 저는 커피를 좋아해요). Both translate as "I like," but only the action verb 좋아하다 can command (커피 좋아해!) or take -는 (좋아하는 커피). See 좋다 vs 좋아하다.

How this differs from English

An English adjective is an inert word; you prop it up with be to make a sentence ("the weather is nice") and freeze it before a noun ("a nice day"). A Korean descriptive verb does its own predicating — 좋다 already contains "is" — and then it inflects to modify a noun (좋은 날). For an English speaker the reflex to fight is inserting a copula (×날씨가 좋다 이다) or treating 좋다 as if it needed a helping verb. It does not: it is the verb. The flip side is that everything you learned about attaching endings to a verb stem transfers directly — you just have to remember the three cells above where an adjective quietly declines the invitation.

Common Mistakes

1. Using -는 for the present attributive (×좋는 사람). Adjectives take -(으)ㄴ.

❌ 그분은 좋는 사람이에요.

Wrong — the present attributive of an adjective is -은: 좋은 사람.

✅ 그분은 좋은 사람이에요.

geubuneun joeun saramieyo

He/she is a good person.

2. Adding -ㄴ다/는다 in the plain present (×좋는다 / ×좋ㄴ다). Adjectives stay bare -다.

❌ 오늘은 날씨가 정말 좋는다.

Wrong — an adjective's plain present is the bare 좋다, never ×좋는다.

✅ 오늘은 날씨가 정말 좋다.

oneureun nalssiga jeongmal jota

The weather is really nice today. (한다체)

3. Trying to command or propose a state (×좋으세요 / ×좋읍시다). Use a verb of becoming instead.

❌ 앞으로 사이가 좋읍시다.

Impossible — an adjective has no propositive; say 앞으로 사이좋게 지내요 ('let's get along').

✅ 우리 앞으로 사이좋게 지내요.

uri apeuro saijoke jinaeyo

Let's get along from now on. (proposal via the action verb 지내다)

4. Barring 못 with an adjective, then reaching for it anyway. 못 (inability) cannot negate a pure state — ×못 좋다. Use 안 or 지 않다.

❌ 오늘은 기분이 못 좋아요.

Wrong — 못 marks inability and can't negate a state; say 안 좋아요.

✅ 오늘은 기분이 안 좋아요.

oneureun gibuni an joayo

I'm not in a good mood today.

Key Takeaways

좋다 = "to be good" — a descriptive verb that conjugates like a verb and needs no copula (날씨가 좋아요).
좋다 is regular (harmony ㅗ → 아, so 좋아요), not a ㅎ-irregular; the ㅎ only causes predictable sound changes (조아요, 조타, 조코).
Three adjective-only breaks: present attributive 좋은 (not ×좋는); no imperative/propositive; plain present bare 좋다 (not ×좋는다).
Connectives split by trigger: 좋아서 (아/어 slot) vs 좋으면 / 좋으니까 / 좋은 (으-linked).
못 is barred on a pure state (×못 좋다); negate with 안 좋다 or 좋지 않다.

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