해요체: The Informal-Polite Conjugation Table | Korean Grammar

해요체 is the register you will speak most: the informal-polite style for strangers, shopkeepers, coworkers, classmates, and nearly every adult you are neither intimate with nor formally addressing from a podium. It is polite but warm — the default temperature of adult conversation. Its formation is a three-step machine you can run on any stem: drop -다, add -아 (if the last stem vowel is ㅏ/ㅗ) or -어 (otherwise) by vowel harmony, then add 요. This page is the look-up grid, with special attention to the contractions, because 해요체 is exactly where they surface.

One ending, four jobs

The signature fact of 해요체 is that the single form -아/어요 covers a statement, a question, and a soft suggestion. You do not swap endings — intonation and context do the disambiguating. 가요 falling is "I'm going"; 가요 rising is "Are you going?"; 같이 가요 is "Let's go." The one place the register uses a different ending is the gentle command, which borrows the honorific -(으)세요 (가세요 "please go").

Mood	가다 (go)	먹다 (eat)	하다 (do)	좋다 (adj. be good)
Statement	가요 gayo	먹어요 meogeoyo	해요 haeyo	좋아요 joayo
Question (rising)	가요? gayo	먹어요? meogeoyo	해요? haeyo	좋아요? joayo
Past -았/었어요	갔어요 gasseoyo	먹었어요 meogeosseoyo	했어요 haesseoyo	좋았어요 joasseoyo
Command -(으)세요	가세요 gaseyo	드세요 deuseyo	하세요 haseyo	—
Suggestion (let's)	가요 gayo	먹어요 meogeoyo	해요 haeyo	—

The command row uses -(으)세요 because a bare 먹어요 aimed at someone can sound like nagging; 드세요 (honorific "please eat," from 드시다) is what a host actually says. Adjectives, as always, have no command or suggestion — you cannot order or propose a state.

The contractions: where 해요체 bites

Adding -아/어 to a vowel-final stem forces the two vowels to fuse, and this is the part learners most often get wrong. The stem vowel and the ending vowel collapse into a single syllable:

Stem + 아/어요	Contracts to	Reading	Rule
가 + 아요	가요	gayo	ㅏ + ㅏ → ㅏ (identical vowel absorbs)
서 + 어요	서요	seoyo	ㅓ + ㅓ → ㅓ
오 + 아요	와요	wayo	ㅗ + ㅏ → ㅘ
배우 + 어요	배워요	baewoyo	ㅜ + ㅓ → ㅝ
주 + 어요	줘요	jwoyo	ㅜ + ㅓ → ㅝ
마시 + 어요	마셔요	masyeoyo	ㅣ + ㅓ → ㅕ
보내 + 어요	보내요	bonaeyo	ㅐ + ㅓ → ㅐ (ending absorbed)
되 + 어요	돼요	dwaeyo	ㅚ + ㅓ → ㅙ
하 + 여요	해요	haeyo	하 takes -여, 하여 → 해

Note that 하다 does not take -아 or -어 at all — it takes the archaic -여, and 하여 fuses to 해 (see 하다 → 해). For the full contraction inventory, see the contraction table.

The forms in real sentences

저 지금 학교에 가요.

jeo jigeum hakgyo-e gayo

I'm going to school now.

이 버스 강남 가요?

i beoseu gangnam gayo?

Does this bus go to Gangnam? (statement form, asked as a question)

우리 이따가 같이 점심 먹어요.

uri ittaga gachi jeomsim meogeoyo

Let's have lunch together later. (suggestion — same -어요 form)

사장님, 여기 앉으세요.

sajangnim, yeogi anjeuseyo

Sir, please sit here. (command -(으)세요)

어제 친구랑 영화 봤어요.

eoje chin-gurang yeonghwa bwasseoyo

I watched a movie with a friend yesterday. (past 봤어요)

비 와요? 우산 가져가세요.

bi wayo? usan gajeogaseyo

Is it raining? Take an umbrella. (오다 → 와요)

한국어 배워요? 발음이 정말 좋아요.

hangugeo baewoyo? bareumi jeongmal joayo

Are you learning Korean? Your pronunciation is really good. (배우다 → 배워요)

이번 주말에 뭐 해요?

ibeon jumare mwo haeyo?

What are you doing this weekend? (하다 → 해요)

💡

The gift of 해요체: a statement and its question are the same string of syllables. 밥 먹어요 is both "I'm eating" and "Are you eating?" — only your pitch decides. This means you can ask anything the moment you can say it, with no new question form to learn. Compare the formal 합니다체, which does switch endings (갑니다 → 갑니까?).

How this differs from English

Two English reflexes cause trouble. First, English inverts or adds do to make a question ("You go" → "Do you go?"), so learners hunt for a matching move in 해요체 — but there is none: the words stay put and the melody rises. You genuinely do not change the sentence to ask. Second, English forces a progressive ("I am eating") whenever an action is in progress, and learners bolt extra machinery onto 먹어요 to match. But 먹어요 already covers "I eat / I'm eating"; reach for -고 있어요 only when you specifically want to stress in the middle of. Say 밥 먹어요, not a padded equivalent.

Common Mistakes

1. Picking the wrong harmony vowel (×읽아요). The last stem vowel decides 아 vs 어; ㅣ is not ㅏ/ㅗ, so it takes -어.

❌ 저는 매일 밤 책을 읽아요.

Wrong — 읽- has ㅣ, so it takes -어요: 읽어요.

✅ 저는 매일 밤 책을 읽어요.

jeoneun maeil bam chaegeul ilgeoyo

I read a book every night.

2. Leaving a vowel-stem form un-contracted (×오아요, ×주어요). The two vowels must fuse.

❌ 밖에 비가 많이 오아요.

Wrong — 오 + 아요 → 와요, never ×오아요.

✅ 밖에 비가 많이 와요.

bakke biga mani wayo

It's raining hard outside.

3. Trying to conjugate 하 by harmony (×하아요 / ×하어요). 하 takes -여, contracting to 해.

❌ 지금 뭐 하아요?

Wrong — 하 + 여 → 해; the form is 해요.

✅ 지금 뭐 해요?

jigeum mwo haeyo?

What are you doing right now?

4. Speaking the dictionary form (×가다). 가다 is a citation form, not a spoken sentence; the polite present is 가요.

❌ 저 지금 집에 가다.

Wrong — 가다 is the dictionary form; the spoken present is 가요.

✅ 저 지금 집에 가요.

jeo jigeum jibe gayo

I'm going home now.

Key Takeaways

해요체 = the everyday polite present: stem + 아/어 by harmony + 요; the default for most adult conversation.
One ending, four jobs: -아/어요 is statement, question (rising pitch), and suggestion — only the gentle command switches to -(으)세요.
Contractions are compulsory: 오 → 와요, 주 → 줘요, 배우 → 배워요, 마시 → 마셔요, 되 → 돼요, 하 → 해요; never ×오아요 or ×하아요.
Questions reuse the statement form — no word-order change, no added do; the melody asks.
Warmer than 합니다체, politer than 반말 — the safe default for anyone you owe politeness.

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