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Lesson 130: the future tense

V-(으)ㄹ 거예요 — the third tense, and the one that completes the set. Plus the weekend vocabulary to use it on, and the whole tense system on one line.

  • korean
  • grammar
  • verbs
  • vocabulary

The last of the three tenses. V-(으)ㄹ 거예요 marks a plan, or something that will happen soon.

과거 past쉬었어요쉬 + 었어요
현재 present쉬어요쉬 + 어요
미래 future쉴 거예요쉬 + ㄹ 거예요
쉬다 — to rest

It is pronounced [쉴 꺼예요] — the 거 tenses to ㄲ after the ㄹ. This is consistent across every verb, so 갈 거예요 is [갈 꺼예요] and 먹을 거예요 is [머글 꺼예요]. The spelling never shows it.

The rule

The same consonant/vowel split as everything else in 1B:

-을 거예요-ㄹ 거예요
Stem ends in a consonantStem ends in a vowel, or in ㄹ
먹다 → 먹을 거예요가다 → 갈 거예요
읽다 → 읽을 거예요사다 → 살 거예요
찍다 → 찍을 거예요쉬다 → 쉴 거예요
듣다 → 들을 거예요살다 → 살 거예요 · 놀다 → 놀 거예요

Two familiar irregulars in the last row:

  • 듣다 → 들을 거예요 — the ㄷ-irregular again, as in 127.
  • 살다 → 살 거예요 — the stem already ends in ㄹ, so nothing is added. Note that this makes 살다 (to live) and 사다 (to buy) both come out as 살 거예요, and only context separates them.

The whole system

Three tenses, one stem, three endings — which is all lesson 131’s review session comes down to.

과거 — past현재 — present미래 — future
MarksSomething completedA fact, a habit, or right nowA plan, or the near future
Ending-았어요/었어요/했어요-아요/어요/해요-ㄹ/을 거예요
가다갔어요가요갈 거예요
먹다먹었어요먹어요먹을 거예요
하다했어요해요할 거예요

The present tense covers more ground than English’s does — it takes the progressive (“I’m eating”) and often the near future too. So 가요 can mean “I go”, “I’m going” and “I’m going later”; 갈 거예요 is what you use when the planned quality is the point.

과거 past했어요
현재 present해요
미래 future할 거예요
하다 — to do — the irregular that is regular everywhere

Vocabulary: 주말 활동, weekend activities

KoreanEnglish
여행(을) 하다 / 가다to travel / to go on a trip
구경(을) 하다to look around
사진(을) 찍다to take photos
집에서 쉬다to rest at home
낮잠(을) 자다to have a nap
운동(을) 하다to exercise
축구 / 야구 / 농구 / 배구를 하다football / baseball / basketball / volleyball
놀다to play, to hang out
놀러 가다to go out for fun
음악(을) 듣다to listen to music
쇼핑하다to shop
친구(를) 만나다to meet a friend
게임하다to game
영화(를) 보다to watch a film

놀러 가다 is 놀다 + 가다 — “to go in order to play”. The -러 ending means “in order to”, and it is worth recognising even though 1B does not teach it properly: 밥 먹으러 가요 is “I’m going to eat”.

놀다 does not translate as “to play” in the childish sense. Adults 놀다 — it covers going out, hanging around, and generally not working, and 놀러 오세요 (“come round”) is a normal invitation.

Dialogue

마크: 민수 씨, 주말에 뭐 할 거예요? Minsu, what are you doing at the weekend?

민수: 축구(를) 할 거예요. 마크 씨는 뭐 할 거예요? I’m going to play football. What about you, Mark?

마크: 저는 약속이 없어요. 그래서 집에서 쉴 거예요. I don’t have any plans. So I’m going to rest at home.

민수: 그러면 (우리) 같이 축구(를) 해요. Then let’s play football together.

The last two lines are 129 in use — 그래서 joining a reason to its result, then 그러면 taking Mark’s answer as the premise for a suggestion. And the suggestion itself is 해요, the 128 “let’s” rather than a statement.

주말 takes the particle; 오늘 and 내일 would not (125).

Practice

뭐 — what

Q: 주말에 뭐 할 거예요? A: 집에서 쉴 거예요. — I’ll rest at home. A: 영화관에서 영화(를) 볼 거예요. — I’ll see a film at the cinema.

어디 — where

Q: 주말에 어디에 갈 거예요? A: 헬스장에 갈 거예요. — I’ll go to the gym. A: 센토사에 갈 거예요. — I’ll go to Sentosa. A: 말레이시아에 갈 거예요. — I’ll go to Malaysia.

어디 갈 거예요 with 에, because 가다 is a direction verb; 어디에서 뭐 할 거예요 with 에서, because that one is about an action’s location (122).


That is the end of the new material. Lessons 131 and 132 are the review session and the test — see the course overview for what the assessment covers.