Conjugation Sheet: 하다 (to do) | Korean Grammar

하다 ("to do / make") is the single highest-leverage word to master in Korean, because it is not just a common verb — it is a machine that manufactures other verbs. Korean glues 하다 onto a (usually Sino-Korean) noun to build a verb: 공부 + 하다 → 공부하다 ("study"), 좋아 + 하다 → 좋아하다 ("like"), 시작 + 하다 → 시작하다 ("begin"). Every one of them conjugates exactly like the sheet below. Learn 하다 once and you have effectively conjugated several thousand verbs. This page is the quick-reference card; for the exhaustive tense-by-tense grid see the complete 하다 paradigm.

One mechanical fact runs the whole card. 하다 is the lone member of the 여-irregular: its -아/어 forms are not ×하아 or ×하어 but the contraction 하 + 여 → 해. That is why the present is 해요 and the past is 했어요.

Speech levels: the four columns

Tense	합니다체 (formal)	해요체 (polite)	반말 (intimate)	한다체 (plain/written)
Present	합니다 hamnida	해요 haeyo	해 hae	한다 handa
Past	했습니다 haetseumnida	했어요 haesseoyo	했어 haesseo	했다 haetda
Future — 겠 (will/intend)	하겠습니다 hagetseumnida	하겠어요 hagesseoyo	하겠어 hagesseo	하겠다 hagetda
Future — (으)ㄹ 거예요	할 겁니다 hal geomnida	할 거예요 hal geoyeyo	할 거야 hal geoya	할 거다 hal geoda
Progressive — 고 있다	하고 있습니다 hago itseumnida	하고 있어요 hago isseoyo	하고 있어 hago isseo	하고 있다 hago itda

The only cell here that is not built on 해 is the 한다체 present: 하 + ㄴ다 → 한다 (a vowel stem, so -ㄴ다, not -는다). Everything with an -아/어 in it — 해요, 해, 했어요, 했습니다 — comes from 하 + 여 → 해. The -겠 future and 고 있다 progressive glue onto the bare stem 하-, so they stay perfectly regular.

💡

Two facts drive this whole sheet. (1) Every -아/어 slot is 해: present 해(요), past 했-, connective 해서, obligation 해야 — never ×하아/×하어. (2) -겠 and 고 있다 attach to the bare 하-. Nail those two and everything else is lookup.

주말에 보통 뭐 해요?

jumare botong mwo haeyo

What do you usually do on weekends? (present — 해요)

어제는 하루 종일 청소했어요.

eojeneun haru jong-il cheongsohaesseoyo

Yesterday I cleaned all day. (past — 청소하다 → 청소했어요)

저는 마케팅 일을 합니다.

jeoneun maketing ireul hamnida

I work in marketing. (formal 합니다체)

The other rows: connectives, modifiers, negatives, honorific, moods

These are level-invariant (they attach the same way regardless of politeness). Again, only the -아/어 forms take 해; the rest attach to 하-.

Form type	Form(s)	Reading	Function
Connective — and	하고	hago	"do, and…"
Connective — so/because	해서	haeseo	"do and so…" (하 + 여서 → 해서)
Connective — if	하면	hamyeon	"if one does"
Connective — since	하니까	hanikka	"since one does"
Connective — but	하지만	hajiman	"but"
Attributive — present	하는	haneun	"that does / is doing"
Attributive — past	한	han	"that did"
Attributive — prospective	할	hal	"to do / that will do"
Attributive — retrospective	하던	hadeon	"that used to do"
Negative — short 안	안 해요	an haeyo	"doesn't do" (won't)
Negative — long 지 않다	하지 않아요	haji anayo	"doesn't do"
Negative — 못 (can't)	못 해요	mot haeyo	"can't do"
Honorific — dictionary/polite	하시다 · 하세요	hasida · haseyo	"(an honored one) does"
Imperative	해 · 하세요 · 하십시오	hae · haseyo · hasipsio	"do it" (rising formality)
Propositive	하자 · 해요 · 합시다	haja · haeyo · hapsida	"let's do it"
Nominal	하기 · 함	hagi · ham	"doing" (gerund / written -음)

제가 할게요, 걱정 마세요.

jega halgeyo, geokjeong maseyo

I'll do it, don't worry. (반말 promise 할게 → polite 할게요)

열심히 공부해서 시험에 붙었어요.

yeolsimhi gongbuhaeseo siheome buteosseoyo

I studied hard, so I passed the exam. (공부하다 → 공부해서)

저는 요즘 운동을 자주 하지 않아요.

jeoneun yojeum undong-eul jaju haji anayo

I don't exercise much these days. (long negative 하지 않아요)

The honorific and progressive traps

Two cells trip learners up, so pin them here. The honorific present is 하세요 (하시 + 어요 → 하세요), and the honorific formal is 하십니다 (하시 + ㅂ니다 → 하십니다). But when 하다 sits inside the progressive 고 있다, you do not honorify 있다 as ×있으세요 — you swap in its suppletive honorific 계시다, giving 하고 계세요 ("[an honored person] is doing").

아버지는 매일 아침에 운동하세요.

abeojineun maeil achime undonghaseyo

My father exercises every morning. (honorific 운동하세요)

사장님은 지금 회의하고 계세요.

sajangnimeun jigeum hoeuihago gyeseyo

The boss is in a meeting right now. (honorific progressive 하고 계세요)

Why English speakers should care most about this verb

English has no equivalent to Korean's "noun + light verb 하다" machine. We do have a faint echo — "do the dishes," "make a decision," "take a shower" — but it is scattered and unpredictable, and none of those "do/make/take" verbs stamps a uniform conjugation onto the noun. Korean does exactly that: attach 하다 to almost any action noun and the result inflects identically. So mastering this one sheet is not learning one verb; it is unlocking a productive rule that conjugates a huge slice of the whole lexicon at once.

우리 이따가 같이 저녁 준비하자.

uri ittaga gachi jeonyeok junbihaja

Let's make dinner together later. (준비하다 → 반말 propositive 준비하자)

Common Mistakes

1. Regularizing the present as ×하아요/×하어요. 하 + 여 fuses to 해, so the present is 해요, full stop.

❌ 저는 요리를 잘 하아요.

Wrong — the present of 하다 is 해요, not ×하아요.

✅ 저는 요리를 잘 해요.

jeoneun yorireul jal haeyo

I'm good at cooking.

2. Spelling the past as ×핬어요. The past is built on the contraction 했-, not a squeezed ×핬.

❌ 어제 숙제를 다 핬어요.

Wrong spelling — it's 했어요 (하 + 였 → 했).

✅ 어제 숙제를 다 했어요.

eoje sukjereul da haesseoyo

I finished all my homework yesterday.

3. Spelling the future copula as ×거에요. After the vowel-final 거, the copula is 예요: 할 거예요.

❌ 내일 뭐 할 거에요?

Wrong — after a vowel it's 예요: 할 거예요.

✅ 내일 뭐 할 거예요?

naeil mwo hal geoyeyo

What are you going to do tomorrow?

4. Putting 안 in front of a noun+하다 verb (×안 공부해요). With 공부하다 and its kin, short-negation 안 goes inside, between the noun and 하다: 공부 안 해요.

❌ 저는 요즘 안 공부해요.

Wrong placement — 안 splits the compound: 공부 안 해요.

✅ 저는 요즘 공부 안 해요.

jeoneun yojeum gongbu an haeyo

I don't study these days.

5. Honorific progressive as ×하고 있으세요. Raise the subject by swapping 있다 → 계시다: 하고 계세요.

❌ 할머니께서 요리하고 있으세요.

Wrong — the honorific of 있다 here is 계시다: 하고 계세요.

✅ 할머니께서 요리하고 계세요.

halmeonikkeseo yorihago gyeseyo

Grandma is cooking. (honorific progressive)

Key Takeaways

Every -아/어 cell of 하다 is 해 (여-irregular: 하 + 여 → 해): 해요, 해, 했어요, 했습니다, 해서, 해야 — never derive ×하아/×하어.
-겠 and 고 있다 attach to the bare 하-: 하겠어요, 하고 있어요 (honorific 하고 계세요).
The 한다체 present is 한다 — the one non-해 cell (vowel stem → -ㄴ다).
Future splits: -겠 = will / on-the-spot intention + formal; 할 거예요 = plan / prediction (spell 거예요).
With noun+하다 verbs, short-negation 안 goes inside the compound: 공부 안 해요, not ×안 공부해요.
This one sheet propagates to every noun+하다 verb (공부하다, 운동하다, 시작하다, 사랑하다) — the highest return on any memorized paradigm in Korean.

Now practice Korean

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Korean→