Building a Conjugation Map with 먹다

Remove -다 from 먹다 to identify the stem 먹- . Unlike the vowel-final stem 가- , 먹- ends in the final consonant ㄱ .

This final consonant matters only when an ending's selection rule checks for a final consonant. Other endings may attach directly, while -아요/-어요 requires a check of the stem's last vowel.

The map in this lesson shows how the regular stem 먹- combines with each type of ending introduced earlier.

Some endings attach directly to the stem regardless of whether it has a final consonant.

먹- + -고 = 먹고

먹- + -지만 = 먹지만

These attach exactly the same way they do for vowel stems like '가다' ( 가고 , 가지만 ).

To build the basic 해요-style form, check the last vowel of the stem.

The last vowel of 먹- is ㅓ . Because it is not ㅏ or ㅗ , select -어요 .

먹- + -어요 → 먹어요

Since 먹- ends in a consonant, there is no vowel-to-vowel contraction in this combination.

Parentheses in forms such as -(으)면 , -(으)세요 , and -(으)ㄹ 거예요 indicate that the ending has forms selected according to how the stem ends.

Because 먹- ends in ㄱ , select -으면 , -으세요 , and -을 거예요 . The 으 or 을 is part of the selected form rather than a cushion added freely for pronunciation.

먹- + -으면 → 먹으면

먹- + -으세요 → 먹으세요

먹- + -을 거예요 → 먹을 거예요

The ending tells you which part of the stem to check.

With -고 and -지만 , both stems combine directly: 가고 and 먹고 , 가지만 and 먹지만 .

With -(으)면 and -(으)세요 , vowel-final 가- selects -면 and -세요 , while ㄱ -final 먹- selects -으면 and -으세요 .