When ㅗ Meets ㅏ: The ㅘ Contraction

When a verb or adjective stem ends in the vowel ㅗ , it takes the -아요 ending.

When ㅗ and ㅏ meet with no consonant between them, they combine into the complex vowel ㅘ .

This makes pronunciation faster and smoother.

Let's look at the verb 보다 .

Find the stem: 보

Check the vowel: ㅗ

Add the ending: -아요 → 보아요

Contract the vowels: 보 + 아요 = 봐요

Both 보아요 and 봐요 are possible, but the contracted form 봐요 is much more common in everyday conversation.

The same rule applies to 오다 .

Find the stem: 오

Check the vowel: ㅗ

Add the ending: -아요 → 오아요

Contract the vowels: 오 + 아요 = 와요

This rule also applies to longer words that end in 오다 , such as 돌아오다 becoming 돌아와요 .

Contraction produces the usual everyday forms practiced in this lesson.

For 보다 , 보아요 is a possible full form, while 봐요 is much more common in ordinary conversation.

For 오다 , 오 + 아요 shows the combination step that produces 와요 . The everyday form practiced here is 와요 .