🇰🇷 Korean · A2 · Talking about yesterday
How was it?
Vocabulary
- 어땠어요?How was it?
- 좋았어요was good
- 나빴어요was bad
- 맛있었어요was delicious
- 비쌌어요was expensive
- 쌌어요was cheap
- 복잡했어요was crowded/busy
- 조용했어요was quiet
- 흥미로웠어요was interesting
- 지루했어요was boring
- 어려웠어요was difficult
- 쉬웠어요was easy
Describing the Past with Adjectives: -았/었어요
In Korean, descriptive verbs (adjectives) also conjugate into the past tense using -았/었어요, just like action verbs.
- 좋다 (to be good) → 좋았어요 (was good)
- 나쁘다 (to be bad) → 나빴어요 (was bad)
- 맛있다 (to be delicious) → 맛있었어요 (was delicious)
- 비싸다 (to be expensive) → 비쌌어요 (was expensive)
- 복잡하다 (to be crowded) → 복잡했어요 (was crowded)
To ask "How was it?", say 어땠어요?
- 음식이 어땠어요? — How was the food?
- 날씨가 어땠어요? — How was the weather?
You can also add 아주 (very) or 별로 (not really) to modify:
- 아주 좋았어요 — it was very good
- 별로 안 좋았어요 — it wasn't really good
Expressions
- 어땠어요?General question: how was it?
- 정말 좋았어요!It was really good!
- 음식이 맛있었어요.The food was delicious
- 사람이 너무 많았어요.There were too many people
- 별로 안 좋았어요.It wasn't really good
- 생각보다 재미있었어요.It was more fun than I thought
- 다음에 또 가고 싶어요.I want to go again next time
Common mistakes
좋았었어요좋았어요Double past (-았었어요) is not used here; simple -았어요 is correct
비싸었어요비쌌어요비싸다 contracts in the past: 비싸 + 았어요 = 비쌌어요
Quick quiz
Question 1 of 5
How do you say “was crowded/busy” in Korean?
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