-아요/어요: The Polite Ending You Will Use Most

해요체 is the polite, everyday ending. It is what you hear in cafes, between colleagues, in most dramas, and from your friend’s mother. If you learn one register first, learn this one.

Building it

Take the dictionary form, strip -다, and look at the last vowel of what remains.

ㅏ or ㅗ → add -아요
anything else → add -어요
하다 → becomes 해요

가다  → 가 (ㅏ)  → 가 + 아요  → 가요      (the vowels merge)
좋다  → 좋 (ㅗ)  → 좋 + 아요  → 좋아요
먹다  → 먹 (ㅓ)  → 먹 + 어요  → 먹어요
공부하다          → 공부해요

When the stem already ends in the same vowel you are adding, the two merge rather than doubling: 가 + 아요 becomes 가요, not 가아요.

The irregulars worth knowing now

Three patterns cover most of what beginners hit.

ㅡ drops. If the stem ends in ㅡ, delete it and look at the vowel before it.

• 바쁘다 → 바빠요 (previous vowel ㅏ, so -아요)
• 예쁘다 → 예뻐요 (previous vowel ㅖ, so -어요)
• 쓰다 → 써요 (nothing before it, defaults to -어요)

ㅂ becomes 워. Mostly adjectives about how something feels.

• 춥다 → 추워요 (cold)
• 덥다 → 더워요 (hot)
• 어렵다 → 어려워요 (difficult)
• 맵다 → 매워요 (spicy)

ㄷ becomes ㄹ. A short list, but high-frequency.

• 듣다 → 들어요 (listen)
• 걷다 → 걸어요 (walk)

Note that 받다 → 받아요 is regular. Not every ㄷ verb changes, which is why this one has to be memorised verb by verb.

One form, four jobs

The same 해요 form does all of these, separated only by intonation:

This is a genuine gift to beginners: one conjugation, and you can already state, ask, suggest and request.

What to learn next

Once 해요체 is automatic, the past tense is the same rule with 았/었 inserted — 먹어요 → 먹었어요. From there you can attach connectors like -아서 / -어서 and -(으)니까, which both build off this same stem.