Irregular stems 르 and ㅎ, and the full irregular table
A2 불규칙 활용 르·ㅎ와 전체 정리 39 / 68
In short
Two more stem classes finish the irregular picture. A 르 stem doubles its ㄹ before an 아/어 ending: 모르다 -> 몰라요 (mollayo, I don’t know), 부르다 -> 불러요 (bulleoyo, I sing). A ㅎ adjective drops its ㅎ and turns the vowel into ㅐ: 그렇다 -> 그래요 (geuraeyo, that’s right), 빨갛다 -> 빨개요 (ppalgaeyo, it’s red). As always, the look-alikes stay regular: 따르다 -> 따라요, 좋다 -> 좋아요.
The rule
Step 1 - 르 불규칙: the ㄹ doubles, and the vowel before 르 chooses 아/어
When a stem ending in 르 meets an 아/어 ending, the 으 of 르 disappears, a ㄹ is added as a 받침 to the syllable in front, and the ending itself starts with ㄹ - so you hear a double ㄹ. Which vowel? Look at the vowel in the syllable before 르: ㅏ or ㅗ takes 라, everything else takes 러.
모르 + 아요 -> 몰라요 (ㅗ before 르 -> 라) - 부르 + 어요 -> 불러요 (ㅜ before 르 -> 러)
Before a -(으)- ending or a plain consonant, a 르 stem is completely regular, because there is no 아/어 to trigger the doubling: 모르면 (moreumyeon), 모릅니다 (moreumnida). The modifier endings behave the same way - 모르는 (moreuneun), 다른 (dareun), 빠른 (ppareun) - and the ㄴ of -는 takes nothing away here, because a 르 stem has no ㄹ 받침 for the ㄹ row’s deletion rule to remove.
Step 2 - The regular 으-stems that only look like 르 stems
따르다 (ttareuda, follow, pour) and 들르다 (deulleuda, drop by) end in 르 too, but they are ordinary 으-elision stems (lesson 10): the 으 simply drops and no extra ㄹ is added. So 따르다 -> 따라요 (one ㄹ), while the 르-irregular 다르다 -> 달라요 (two ㄹ). The added ㄹ is the whole difference. (Watch 들르다 -> 들러요: the ㄹ 받침 in 들 is already part of the stem, so nothing was doubled - compare the genuinely 르-irregular 흐르다 -> 흘러요, where the ㄹ of 흘 is new.)
Step 3 - ㅎ 불규칙: drop the ㅎ, and the vowel becomes ㅐ
Almost every ㅎ-final adjective is irregular. Two things happen at once:
- Before an 아/어 ending, the ㅎ drops and the vowel merges to ㅐ: 그렇 + 어요 -> 그래요, 빨갛 + 아요 -> 빨개요. A stem whose vowel is ㅑ gives ㅒ: 하얗 + 아요 -> 하얘요 (hayaeyo, it’s white).
- Before a -(으)- ending, the ㅎ and the 으 both drop: 그렇 + (으)면 -> 그러면 (geureomyeon, if so), 그렇 + (으)ㄴ -> 그런 (geureon, such).
Before a plain consonant nothing changes in the spelling: 그렇고 (geureoko), 그렇습니다 (geureoseumnida).
Step 4 - The ㅎ regulars: 좋다, 넣다, 놓다
The class has a clean boundary: ㅎ 불규칙 is an adjective-only class. Every ㅎ-final verb is regular (넣다, 놓다, 낳다, 쌓다), and among the ㅎ-final adjectives 좋다 is the single regular one. These keep the ㅎ in spelling, keep the 으, and never change the vowel: 좋다 -> 좋아요 (joayo), 넣다 -> 넣어요 (neoeoyo, put in), 놓다 -> 놓아요 (noayo, put down). The ㅎ-irregular pattern is for the colours and the 이렇다/그렇다/저렇다/어떻다 family - never for these three.
Forms & patterns
르 불규칙 - and its regular 으-stem look-alikes:
| Dictionary form | 해요 form | Past | -(으)면 | Vowel rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 모르다 (not know) | 몰라요 (mollayo) | 몰랐어요 (mollasseoyo) | 모르면 (moreumyeon) | ㅗ -> 라 |
| 빠르다 (be fast) | 빨라요 (ppallayo) | 빨랐어요 (ppallasseoyo) | 빠르면 (ppareumyeon) | ㅏ -> 라 |
| 부르다 (call, sing) | 불러요 (bulleoyo) | 불렀어요 (bulleosseoyo) | 부르면 (bureumyeon) | ㅜ -> 러 |
| 다르다 (be different) | 달라요 (dallayo) | 달랐어요 (dallasseoyo) | 다르면 (dareumyeon) | ㅏ -> 라 |
| 고르다 (choose) | 골라요 (gollayo) | 골랐어요 (gollasseoyo) | 고르면 (goreumyeon) | ㅗ -> 라 |
| 흐르다 (flow) | 흘러요 (heulleoyo) | 흘렀어요 (heulleosseoyo) | 흐르면 (heureumyeon) | ㅡ -> 러 |
| regular 따르다 (follow, pour) | 따라요 (ttarayo) | 따랐어요 (ttarasseoyo) | 따르면 (ttareumyeon) | single ㄹ |
| regular 들르다 (drop by) | 들러요 (deulleoyo) | 들렀어요 (deulleosseoyo) | 들르면 (deulleumyeon) | no ㄹ added |
ㅎ 불규칙 - and its three regular look-alikes:
| Dictionary form | 해요 form | Past | -(으)ㄴ modifier | -(으)면 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 그렇다 (be so) | 그래요 (geuraeyo) | 그랬어요 (geuraesseoyo) | 그런 (geureon) | 그러면 (geureomyeon) |
| 이렇다 (be like this) | 이래요 (iraeyo) | 이랬어요 (iraesseoyo) | 이런 (ireon) | 이러면 (ireomyeon) |
| 어떻다 (be how) | 어때요 (eottaeyo) | 어땠어요 (eottaesseoyo) | 어떤 (eotteon) | 어떠면 (eotteomyeon) |
| 빨갛다 (be red) | 빨개요 (ppalgaeyo) | 빨갰어요 (ppalgaesseoyo) | 빨간 (ppalgan) | 빨가면 (ppalgamyeon) |
| 파랗다 (be blue) | 파래요 (paraeyo) | 파랬어요 (paraesseoyo) | 파란 (paran) | 파라면 (paramyeon) |
| 하얗다 (be white) | 하얘요 (hayaeyo) | 하얬어요 (hayaesseoyo) | 하얀 (hayan) | 하야면 (hayamyeon) |
| regular 좋다 (be good) | 좋아요 (joayo) | 좋았어요 (joasseoyo) | 좋은 (joeun) | 좋으면 (joeumyeon) |
| regular 넣다 (put in) | 넣어요 (neoeoyo) | 넣었어요 (neoeosseoyo) | 넣은 (neoeun) | 넣으면 (neoeumyeon) |
| regular 놓다 (put down) | 놓아요 (noayo) | 놓았어요 (noasseoyo) | 놓은 (noeun) | 놓으면 (noeumyeon) |
The full seven-class table - one row per class, three ending types, plus the regular look-alike:
| Class | Example | + 아/어 (해요) | + -(으) (면) | + ㅂ/ㅅ/ㄴ | Regular look-alike |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ㅂ | 덥다 (deopda) | 더워요 (deowoyo) | 더우면 (deoumyeon) | 덥습니다 (deopseumnida) | 입다 -> 입어요 (ibeoyo) |
| ㄷ | 듣다 (deutda) | 들어요 (deureoyo) | 들으면 (deureumyeon) | 듣습니다 (deutseumnida) | 받다 -> 받아요 (badayo) |
| ㅅ | 짓다 (jitda) | 지어요 (jieoyo) | 지으면 (jieumyeon) | 짓습니다 (jitseumnida) | 웃다 -> 웃어요 (useoyo) |
| ㄹ | 살다 (salda) | 살아요 (sarayo) | 살면 (salmyeon) | 삽니다 (samnida) | (all ㄹ stems behave alike) |
| 으 | 쓰다 (sseuda) | 써요 (sseoyo) | 쓰면 (sseumyeon) | 씁니다 (sseumnida) | 바쁘다 -> 바빠요 (bappayo) |
| 르 | 모르다 (moreuda) | 몰라요 (mollayo) | 모르면 (moreumyeon) | 모릅니다 (moreumnida) | 따르다 -> 따라요 (ttarayo) |
| ㅎ | 그렇다 (geureota) | 그래요 (geuraeyo) | 그러면 (geureomyeon) | 그렇습니다 (geureoseumnida) | 좋다 -> 좋아요 (joayo) |
Read the table as one question: does an 아/어 or an 으 reach the stem? If yes, the class fires; if only a plain consonant arrives (-고, -지만, -습니다 aside from the ㄹ row), the stem is written straight from the dictionary.
Examples
- 저는 그 사람을 잘 몰라요. (Jeoneun geu sarameul jal mollayo.) - I don’t know that person well.
- 이 기차는 정말 빨라요. (I gichaneun jeongmal ppallayo.) - This train is really fast.
- 친구가 노래를 불러요. (Chinguga noraereul bulleoyo.) - My friend is singing a song.
- 제 생각은 조금 달라요. (Je saenggageun jogeum dallayo.) - My opinion is a little different.
- 저는 규칙을 잘 따라요. (Jeoneun gyuchigeul jal ttarayo.) - I follow the rules well.
- 그래요, 저도 그렇게 생각해요. (Geuraeyo, jeodo geureoke saenggakaeyo.) - That’s right, I think so too.
- 이 사과는 정말 빨개요. (I sagwaneun jeongmal ppalgaeyo.) - This apple is really red.
- 오늘 하늘이 아주 파래요. (Oneul haneuri aju paraeyo.) - The sky is very blue today.
- 요즘 날씨가 어때요? (Yojeum nalssiga eottaeyo?) - How’s the weather these days?
Common mistakes
- 다르어요 (dareueoyo) -> 달라요 (dallayo) - 다르다 is 르-irregular, so the ㄹ doubles before 아/어. It is not a plain 으-stem.
- 딸라요 (ttallayo) -> 따라요 (ttarayo) - 따르다 is a regular 으-stem, so only a single ㄹ appears. Doubling belongs to 다르다 -> 달라요, not here.
- 그렇어요 (geureoeoyo) -> 그래요 (geuraeyo) - ㅎ-irregular: the ㅎ drops and the vowel becomes ㅐ. Never keep the ㅎ before a vowel.
- 좋애요 (joaeyo) -> 좋아요 (joayo) - 좋다 is regular. The ㅎ-irregular vowel change is only for colours and the 그렇다 family, never for 좋다/넣다/놓다.
- 빨갛은 (ppalga-eun) -> 빨간 (ppalgan) - before the modifier -(으)ㄴ the ㅎ and the 으 both drop.
Tips
- The 르 vowel test: look at the vowel in the syllable before 르. ㅏ or ㅗ gives 라 (몰라, 빨라, 달라, 골라); anything else gives 러 (불러, 흘러). The ㄹ always doubles.
- Single ㄹ vs double ㄹ is the entire regular/irregular split: 따르다 -> 따라요 (one), 다르다 -> 달라요 (two). Memorise the pair and you will never write *딸라요.
- ㅎ-irregular in one line: drop the ㅎ, and the ending vowel turns to ㅐ. Only 좋다 and the ㅎ-final verbs (넣다, 놓다, 낳다, 쌓다) keep the ㅎ and stay regular.
- Don’t confuse 어때요 (from 어떻다, how is it?) with the adverb 어떻게 (eotteoke, how, in what way) - same root, different jobs.