Irregular Korean Verbs With ‘르’ (르 불규칙)

In this lesson, you will learn how to conjugate irregular verbs with 르 (르 불규칙). In a previous lesson, you learned about ㅡ irregular verbs. Although 르 irregular verbs also end in ㅡ, they are different and follow different conjugation rules.

Below you will find a list of 르 irregular verbs and will learn how to conjugate irregular verbs with 르.

르 Irregular (르 불규칙)

Verbs and adjectives that end in 르 are irregular. This means that when they are conjugated with various endings, they do not follow the normal conjugation rules. For example, the adjective 빠르다 (to be fast) ends in 르 and so it is irregular. When conjugating 빠르다 in the present tense it becomes 빨라요 and not 빨르어요.

Here is a list of 르 irregular verbs in Korean (르 불규칙):

How To Conjugate ‘르’ Irregular Verbs (르 불규칙)

If you have read the previous lesson about ㅡ irregular verbs, then learning how to conjugate 르 irregular verbs is not very difficult. Here are the key things to remember when conjugating irregular verbs that end in 르:

1. Irregular verbs and adjectives ending in 르 only behave irregularly when an ending starting with 아 or 어 is attached.

For example, endings such as 아요/어요 (present tense), 았어요/었어요 (past tense), etc, start with 아 or 어. So, when these endings are attached to 르 irregular verbs and adjectives it makes them behave irregularly. That is to say, they are conjugated differently than regular verbs and adjectives.

When 르 irregular verbs and adjectives are conjugated with endings which do not start with 아 or 어, they do not behave irregularly and are just conjugated the same as normal verbs and adjectives.

2. When conjugating irregular 르 verbs and adjectives with endings starting with 아 or 어, ㅡ is always dropped and an additional ㄹ is added.

Take the verb 모르다, for example. When conjugated in the present tense, 모르다 becomes 몰라요. This is because ㅡ is dropped and an additional ㄹ is added before the ending 아요.

3. The vowel that comes before 르 determines whether 아 or 어 is used in the ending.

For example, when you want to conjugate an irregular 르 verb with the ending 아서/어서 (so), you must choose to add 아서 or 어서. The one you should choose is determined by the vowel which precedes 르 in the verb/adjective stem.

If the vowel before 르 is ㅏ or ㅗ, then the ending starting with 아 should be used.

For example, the vowel before 르 in 빠르다 (to be fast) is ㅏ. So, the ending starting with 아 should be used.

빠르다 = to be fast
빨라요 = fast (present tense)
빨랐어요 = was fast (past tense)
빨라서… = fast, so…

If the vowel before 르 is NOT ㅏ or ㅗ, then the ending starting with 어 should be used.

For example, the vowel before 르 in the verb 부르다 (to sing/call) is ㅜ. As this is not ㅏ or ㅗ, we should choose the ending starting with 어.

부르다 = to sing/call
불러요 = sing/call (present tense)
불렀어요 = sang/called (past tense)
불러서… = sing, so…

4. The last thing to know about 르 irregular verbs is that there are a few exceptions.

There are a few exceptions to the above conjugation rules. The following verbs all look like irregular 르 verbs, but they are actually irregular ㅡ verbs. And so they should be conjugated the same way as irregular ㅡ verbs (i.e. no additional ㄹ is added).

따르다 = to follow
치르다 = to pay
들르다 = to drop in

Irregular 르 Examples

Here are some examples of irregular verbs and adjectives that end in 르 conjugated with some common endings.

Irregular 르 Example Sentences

Here are some example sentences which include irregular 르 verbs.

• BTS 를 정말 몰라요? (모르다) = You really don’t know BTS?
• 제 친구는 화초를 길러요. (기르다) = My friend grows plants.
• 머리를 얼마나 자주 잘라요? (자르다) = How often do you get your haircut?
• 택시가 버스보다 더 빨라요. (빠르다) = Taxis are faster than buses.
• 목이 아파서 노래를 못 불러요 (부르다) = I have a sore throat so I can’t sing.

More Korean Irregular Verb Lessons

There are seven types of irregular verbs in Korean. For more lessons on Korean Irregular verbs, click on the links below.

ㅂ Irregular
ㅡ Irregular
르 Irregular
ㄷ Irregular
ㄹ Irregular
ㅅ Irregular
ㅎ Irregular