ㅂ Exceptions (돕다·곱다 → 도와/고와) and Regular ㅂ Verbs

The main ㅂ-irregular page gave you the workhorse rule: ㅂ softens to 우, and the ending is always 워. This page handles the two loose ends that page deliberately postponed. First, the two verbs that break the 워 rule and go to 와 instead — 돕다 and 곱다. Second, and more important for avoiding fossilized errors, the regular ㅂ stems: a whole set of common verbs that end in ㅂ but keep it, and which you cannot tell apart from the irregulars by looking. Getting this boundary right is what separates learners who guess from learners who know.

The two exceptions: 돕다 and 곱다 → 와

Exactly two ㅂ-irregular verbs take 오 instead of 우 before an 아/어 ending, and so surface with 와 rather than 워:

• 돕다 ("help") → 도 + 오
  • 아요 → 도와요
• 곱다 ("be lovely / fine") → 고 + 오
  • 아요 → 고와요

That is the complete list — no third member. Every other ㅂ-irregular in the language goes to 워.

But only before 아/어 — 으-forms are normal 우

Here is the subtlety worth its own line: the 와 form appears only before 아/어 endings. In front of an 으-initial ending, 돕다 and 곱다 behave like perfectly ordinary ㅂ-irregulars, with plain 우:

So the exception is narrow: 돕다/곱다 deviate from the class only at the 아/어 join, and only to swap 워 for 와. Everywhere else they are textbook ㅂ-irregulars.

The boundary that matters most: regular ㅂ stems

Now the high-value part. Not every ㅂ-final stem is irregular. A large set of everyday verbs end in ㅂ and keep it — the ㅂ simply liaises onto the following vowel like any regular batchim, giving a [ㅂ]-sound, not 우:

You cannot predict it from spelling — but there's a heuristic

The uncomfortable truth: 좁다 (regular) and 춥다 (irregular) are structurally identical — a single syllable, a vowel, a final ㅂ — yet they behave differently. Whether a ㅂ stem is irregular is a vocabulary fact you attach to each word, exactly like the ㄷ-irregular boundary. There is no rule that derives it.

That said, a genuinely useful rough heuristic cuts your uncertainty in half:

• Most ㅂ-final adjectives are irregular: 춥다, 덥다, 맵다, 쉽다, 어렵다, 무겁다, 가깝다, 아름답다, 반갑다.
• Most single-syllable ㅂ-final verbs are regular: 입다, 잡다, 씹다, 뽑다, 접다, 업다.
• The notable irregular verbs — the ones that break that verb heuristic — are 돕다 and 굽다. Learn those two as exceptions and the heuristic holds up well.

The modern-standard note: 아름답다 → 아름다워요

Older Korean allowed 와 on more stems (you may see 아름다와, 반가와 in pre-1988 texts and some song lyrics), but the modern standard forces 워 on everything except 돕다/곱다. So 아름답다 ("be beautiful") is 아름다워요, and 반갑다 ("be glad to meet") is 반가워요 — not the archaic 와 forms.

Common Mistakes

1. Making a regular verb irregular. 입다 keeps its ㅂ; it does not soften to 우.

2. Making regular 좁다 irregular. Despite looking like 춥다, 좁다 keeps its ㅂ.

3. Applying the normal 워 rule to 돕다. 돕다 is the exception — it goes to 와, not 워.

4. Forcing archaic 와 onto a regular 워 adjective. Only 돕다/곱다 take 와; everything else is 워.

Key Takeaways

• Exactly two verbs go to 와 instead of 워: 돕다 → 도와요, 곱다 → 고와요 — and only before 아/어. Before 으-endings they are normal (도우면, 고우면).
• Regular ㅂ verbs keep their ㅂ: 좁다 → 좁아요, 입다 → 입어요, 잡다 → 잡아요, 접다 → 접어요.
• You can't predict irregular vs regular from spelling, but the heuristic holds: ㅂ adjectives tend irregular, single-syllable ㅂ verbs tend regular — with 돕다, 굽다 as the irregular-verb exceptions.
• The modern standard is 워 for everything except 돕다/곱다: 아름다워요, 반가워요, not the archaic 와 forms.