보다 is one stem doing an unreasonable amount of work. As a main verb it covers see, watch, read, meet, taste, and take (an exam) — 영화를 보다 (watch a film), 신문을 보다 (read a paper), 시험을 보다 (sit an exam), 맛을 보다 (taste). Then it grammaticalizes into the auxiliary -아/어 보다 ("try ~ing"), so you meet 보다 not only on its own but bolted onto nearly every other verb: 먹어 봐요 (try eating), 가 봤어요 (have been / tried going). English keeps all of this apart across half a dozen words; Korean runs it through one verb. This sheet lays out the full paradigm, then the two extensions — the humble 뵙다 and the auxiliary — that make 보다 a verb you use in almost every conversation.
The stem at a glance
- Dictionary form: 보다 · stem: 보- · ends in: the vowel ㅗ (no batchim)
- Harmony vowel: ㅗ is a bright vowel, so -아/어 endings take 아 — but 보 + 아 immediately contracts to 봐 (ㅗ + ㅏ → ㅘ). The uncontracted 보아요 is dated/literary; everyday Korean is 봐요.
- Vowel-stem signature: no 으 buffer (보세요, 본, 볼, 보면 — never ×보으세요), and the formal present is -ㅂ니다 (봅니다), not -습니다.
Full paradigm: finite forms by speech level
The everyday default is 해요체; reach for the formal or intimate column only when the situation calls for it.
| Mood / tense | 합니다체 (formal) | 해요체 (informal-polite) | 반말 (intimate) | 한다체 (plain / written) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | 봅니다 bomnida | 봐요 bwayo | 봐 bwa | 본다 bonda |
| Present question | 봅니까? bomnikka | 봐요? bwayo | 봐? bwa | 보냐? / 보니? bonya / boni |
| Past | 봤습니다 bwatseumnida | 봤어요 bwasseoyo | 봤어 bwasseo | 봤다 bwatda |
| Future — 겠 (will / intend) | 보겠습니다 bogetseumnida | 보겠어요 bogesseoyo | 보겠어 bogesseo | 보겠다 bogetda |
| Future — (으)ㄹ 거예요 | 볼 겁니다 bol geomnida | 볼 거예요 bol geoyeyo | 볼 거야 bol geoya | 볼 것이다 bol geosida |
| Negative — 안 (don't) | 안 봅니다 an bomnida | 안 봐요 an bwayo | 안 봐 an bwa | 안 본다 an bonda |
| Negative — 못 (can't) | 못 봅니다 mot bomnida | 못 봐요 mot bwayo | 못 봐 mot bwa | 못 본다 mot bonda |
| Negative — long 지 않다 | 보지 않습니다 boji anseumnida | 보지 않아요 boji anayo | 보지 않아 boji ana | 보지 않는다 boji anneunda |
| Imperative | 보십시오 bosipsio | 보세요 boseyo | 봐 bwa | 봐라 bwara |
| Propositive (let's) | 봅시다 bopsida | 봐요 bwayo | 보자 boja | 보자 boja |
주말에 넷플릭스에서 영화 봤어요.
jumare netpeullikseueseo yeonghwa bwasseoyo
I watched a movie on Netflix over the weekend.
저 다음 주에 토픽 시험 봐요.
jeo da-eum jue topik siheom bwayo
I'm taking the TOPIK exam next week. (시험을 보다 = to sit an exam)
이 서류 좀 봐 주시겠어요?
i seoryu jom bwa jusigesseoyo
Could you take a look at these documents for me? (formal request)
Level-invariant forms: connectives, attributives, nominal
| Category | Form | Reading | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connective — and | 보고 | bogo | "watches and…" |
| Connective — so / then | 봐서 | bwaseo | "watches and then…" (보 + 아서 → 봐서) |
| Connective — if / when | 보면 | bomyeon | "if / when one sees" |
| Connective — because | 보니까 | bonikka | "since / on seeing" (often "it turns out…") |
| Attributive — present | 보는 | boneun | "(the show) one watches" |
| Attributive — past | 본 | bon | "(the film) one saw" (보 + ㄴ → 본) |
| Attributive — prospective | 볼 | bol | "(the film) one will watch" |
| Attributive — retrospective | 보던 | bodeon | "(the drama) one used to watch" |
| Nominal — gerund | 보기 | bogi | "watching / reading" (the activity) |
| Nominal — fact / nominal | 봄 | bom | "the seeing (of)" — homograph of 봄 "spring" |
어제 본 드라마 진짜 재미있었어요.
eoje bon deurama jinjja jaemiisseosseoyo
The drama I watched yesterday was really good. (past attributive 본)
일기 예보를 보니까 내일 비 온대요.
ilgi yeboreul bonikka naeil bi ondaeyo
Looking at the forecast, it says it'll rain tomorrow. (보니까 = 'on checking, it turns out')
Extension 1 — the humble 뵙다 / 봬요 (meeting a superior)
When the person you are seeing outranks you, 보다 is too plain. Korean supplies a dedicated humble verb, 뵈다 / 뵙다 ("to see/meet [a superior]"), which lowers the speaker to raise the listener. This is not honorific -시- (that would raise the subject); 뵙다 is the humble suppletive, used constantly in first meetings and sign-offs.
The one thing to nail is the spelling: 봬 = 뵈어, so you write 봬 only where 뵈어 fits — 봬요 (= 뵈어요), 뵀어요 (= 뵈었어요). Before a consonant ending the stem stays 뵈-/뵙- (뵙겠습니다, 뵐게요).
| Form | Reading | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 봬요 | bwaeyo | "I'll see you" (= 뵈어요) |
| 뵀어요 | bwaesseoyo | "I saw / met you" (= 뵈었어요) |
| 뵐게요 | boelgeyo | "I'll see you (then)" — promise |
| 뵙겠습니다 | boepgetseumnida | set formal sign-off / greeting |
처음 뵙겠습니다. 잘 부탁드립니다.
cheoeum boepgetseumnida. jal butakdeurimnida
Nice to meet you (for the first time). I look forward to working with you. (formal)
그럼 내일 회의 때 뵐게요.
geureom naeil hoe-ui ttae boelgeyo
Then I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow. (humble promise to a superior)
Extension 2 — the auxiliary -아/어 보다 ("try doing")
Attach 보다 to another verb's -아/어 form and it stops meaning "see." It now means "do X and see how it goes" → "try X." This is one of the most frequent patterns in the language: 먹어 보다 (try eating), 가 보다 (try going / have been), 입어 보다 (try on), 해 보다 (give it a go). The imperative 해 보세요 ("give it a try") is everyday advice; the past 가 봤어요 doubles as "I've been there."
이 떡볶이 진짜 맛있어요. 한번 먹어 보세요.
i tteokbokki jinjja masisseoyo. hanbeon meogeo boseyo
This tteokbokki is really good. Give it a try.
저 제주도 가 봤어요. 정말 좋았어요.
jeo Jejudo ga bwasseoyo. jeongmal joasseoyo
I've been to Jeju Island. It was wonderful. (가 봤어요 = 'have been')
일단 저한테 물어보고 결정하세요.
ildan jeohante mureobogo gyeoljeonghaseyo
Check with me first, then decide. (물어보다 'ask and see' has fused into one word)
Common Mistakes
1. Leaving -아요 uncontracted as ×보아요. In everyday Korean the two vowels merge to 봐요.
❌ 저 매일 아침에 뉴스 보아요.
Wrong — 보 + 아요 contracts to 봐요; 보아요 sounds stiff and dated.
✅ 저 매일 아침에 뉴스 봐요.
jeo maeil achime nyuseu bwayo
I watch the news every morning.
2. Writing the sign-off as ×뵈요. 봬 = 뵈어, so it must be 봬요.
❌ 그럼 다음 주에 뵈요.
Wrong — the contraction of 뵈어요 is 봬요, not 뵈요.
✅ 그럼 다음 주에 봬요.
geureom da-eum jue bwaeyo
See you next week, then. (humble)
3. Using plain 보다 for meeting a superior. Lower yourself with the humble 뵙다.
❌ 어제 사장님을 봤어요.
Marked — for meeting a superior, the humble 뵈다 is expected: 사장님을 뵀어요.
✅ 어제 사장님을 뵀어요.
eoje sajangnimeul bwaesseoyo
I met the company president yesterday. (humble)
4. Inserting a 으 buffer. 보- ends in a vowel, so no 으 anywhere.
❌ 이거 한번 보으세요.
Wrong — a vowel stem takes no 으; the honorific is 보세요.
✅ 이거 한번 보세요.
igeo hanbeon boseyo
Take a look at this. (polite)
Key Takeaways
- 보다 is a ㅗ vowel stem that contracts 보 + 아 → 봐: 봐요, 봤어요, 봐서, 봐라. No 으 buffer; formal present is 봅니다.
- One stem covers see / watch / read / meet / taste / take-an-exam — the meaning comes from the object (영화를, 신문을, 시험을, 맛을).
- The humble 뵙다 / 봬요 replaces 보다 for meeting a superior; spell 봬 only where 뵈어 fits (봬요, 뵀어요).
- The auxiliary -아/어 보다 turns any verb into "try ~ing" (먹어 봐요, 가 봤어요) — told apart from main-verb 보다 by the -아/어 in front.
Related Topics
- Auxiliary Verbs on -아/어 (주다·보다·버리다·놓다·두다·있다): Reference TableTOPIK 3 — The -아/어 + auxiliary-verb construction in one grid: the main verb takes the 아/어 connective, and a light verb (주다·보다·버리다·놓다·두다·있다) rides on top to add benefactive, attemptive, completive, resultative, or preparatory aspect.
- Humble Verbs (겸양어): Plain → Humble TableTOPIK 3 — The lookup table for Korean's humble verbs — 주다 → 드리다, 보다/만나다 → 뵙다/뵈다, 묻다 → 여쭙다/여쭈다, 데리다 → 모시다, 말하다 → 말씀드리다 — where the SPEAKER lowers their own action to elevate a higher-status object, a separate axis from the subject-honorific -(으)시-.
- Conjugation Sheet: 가다 / 오다 (go / come)TOPIK 1 — A side-by-side cheat sheet for the motion pair 가다 (go) and 오다 (come). Both contract in the present — 가 + 아 → 가요, 오 + 아 → 와요 — and 오다 has irregular imperatives (와라, archaic 오너라). Includes the purpose pattern -(으)러 가다/오다 and the crucial deixis difference from English go/come.
- -아/어 보다: Trying and Having ExperiencedTOPIK 2 — The attemptive auxiliary -아/어 보다 means 'try doing' in the present and 'have done (before)' in the past — one auxiliary, two meanings that English splits into 'try' and 'have ever'.
- The Vowel-Contraction TableTOPIK 1 — The obligatory stem-vowel + 아/어 fusions that produce every 해요체 and past form — 가+아→가, 오+아→와, 주+어→줘, 마시+어→마셔 — plus the 되/돼 spelling test. The uncontracted forms are simply wrong.