Conjugation Sheet: 보다 (see / watch / try) | Korean Grammar

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)

우리 이따가 같이 뉴스 보자.

uri ittaga gachi nyuseu boja

Let's watch the news together later. (반말 propositive)

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)

💡

Write 봬 only where you could substitute 뵈어. Sign-offs are the classic trap: "see you tomorrow" is 내일 봬요 (= 뵈어요), never ×내일 뵈요. It is the exact same 되/돼 logic — 봬 : 뵈 :: 돼 : 되.

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)

💡

The boundary is the -아/어 in front. 하늘을 봐요 is main-verb 보다 ("look at the sky"), but 한번 해 봐요 is auxiliary 보다 ("try doing it") — the preceding -아/어 form (해) is what flips 보다 from "see" to "attempt." Same surface 봐요, two grammatical roles.

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.

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