-었었-

Korean

Alternative forms

• 였었 (-yeosseot-) — used after 하다 (hada) verbs and adjectives

Etymology

Formed through doubling the past tense suffix 었 (-eot-).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ʌ̹s͈ʌ̹t̚]
• Phonetic hangul: [어썯]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	eosseot
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	eoss'eoss
McCune–Reischauer?	ŏssŏt
Yale Romanization?	ess.ess

Suffix

Ablaut/harmonic pair

Yin-form	었었 (-eosseot-)
Yang-form	았었 (-asseot-)

었었 • (-eosseot-)

1. -ed: A past tense marker going onto the main verb, adjective or copula of the sentence; it carries a meaning of finished action, however the state has also become different from the past.

   한국에 갔었어요. ― Han'gug-e gasseoss-eo-yo. ― I went to Korea (but I am no longer there, I came back).

   전화가 왔었습니다.

   Jeonhwa-ga wasseot-seumnida.

   A phone call came in (the phone is no longer ringing though).

   오늘 아침에 바람이 많이 불었었다.

   Oneul achim-e baram-i mani bureosseot-da.

   Today, in the morning, it was very windy (but it's no longer windy).

   작년에 우리 공원에서 해바라기가 잘 피었었다.

   Jangnyeon-e uri gong'won-eseo haebaragi-ga jal pieosseot-da.

   Last year, at our park, sunflowers grew well (but that's no longer the case).

Usage notes

• For vowel harmony, contractions, and allomorphy, see 아/어/여 (-a/eo/yeo); do note, however, that the second 었 (-eot-) does not change forms.
• 었었 (-eosseot-) precedes all verbal endings except the honorific suffix.
• Difference with 었 (-eot-):
  • While 었 (-eot-) carries a perfect aspect meaning, 었었 (-eosseot-) carries a meaning of completion of an action and its difference from the past. Thus, while 죽었다 (jugeotda) means he died and is still dead, 죽었었다 (jugeosseotda) means he died and is no longer in that state. These two suffixes can also be easily compared with the verb 가다 (gada), simple past tense of which expresses that one went somewhere and is still possibly there, while the double past tense usually expresses that one went somewhere, stayed there and is no longer there or came back.