으려고 하다 grammar lesson
The literal meaning of this (으려고 하다 grammar) in English is ‘Intend to’ so it is used to show plan or intention of an individual. This Korean grammar is slightly similar to the 으러 grammar but they are used in different situations. let’s see some examples-
어디에 가요?” (Where are you going?)
몸이 안 좋아서 집에 가려고 해요. (Because I don’t feel good, I intend to go home.)
Here in this phrase, we learned how to use today’s grammar which is ‘가려고 해요’ (intend to go/plan to go).
Now let’s find out more about ‘Verbs-(으)려고 하다 grammar which expresses intention or desire to do a certain action. ‘(으)려고 하다’ attaches after the verb stems. And it indicates that the subject has an intention or mind to do something. For example-
집에 가려고 해요. (=I intend to go home.) ‘려고 해요’ goes after the verb 가다 (= to go), and the sentence indicates that the person has an intention to go home.
Let’s look at another example.
밥을 먹으려고 해요.” (I intend to have a meal.)‘으려고 해요’ goes after the verb ‘먹다 (= to have/eat), and the sentence indicates that the person has an intention to have a meal.
(으)려고 하다 conjugation
When you look at the conjugation information, remove ‘다’ from the basic form of a verb and add ‘(으)려고 하다.’ And when you actually say it, you need to add other endings like ‘여요’ after that. For example, ‘먹다’(to have/eat) becomes ‘먹으려고 해요.’
‘가다’(to go) becomes ‘가려고 해요.’
‘만들다’ (to make) becomes ‘만들려고 해요.’
으려고 하다 Korean grammar rule
Then, when do we use ‘으려고 하다’ and ‘려고 하다’? Let’s find out together.
When a verb stem has the final consonant, ‘으려고 하다’ is used. For example, when you remove ‘다’ from the basic form of the verb ‘먹다’(to have/eat), there is the final consonant ‘ㄱ.’ Then, you need to use ‘으려고 하다.’ So, ‘먹다’ becomes ‘먹으려고 하다.’
On the other hand, when a verb stem does not have the final consonant, ‘려고 하다’ is used. For example, when you remove ‘다’ from the basic form of the verb ‘가다’(to go), there is no final consonant. Then, you need to use ‘려고 하다.’ So, ‘가다’ becomes ‘가려고 하다.’
When the verb stem ends with the final consonant ‘ㄹ,’ ‘려고 하다’ is used. For example, when you remove ‘다’ from the basic form of the verb ‘만들다’(to make), there is the final consonant ‘ㄹ.’ Then, you need to use ‘려고 하다.’ So, ‘만들다’ becomes ‘만들려고 하다.’
One additional usage is that ‘(으)려고 하다’ is also used for past intentions. In this case, ‘(으)려고 했다’ is used. For example, “민조 씨는 공부하려고 해요.”(Minjo plans to study.)
The sentence is talking about the present intention of Minjo.
If we change it to the past tense, you can say: “민조 씨는 어제 공부 하려고 했어요. 그런데 아파서 못했어요.” (=Minjo planned to study yesterday. But she couldn’t do that because she was ill.). ‘(으)려고 했다’ is used to express the past intention: to study
으려고 하다 grammar examples
Let’s look at one more example.
Mr: A asks: “어제 영화 봤어요?” (=Did you go to see a movie yesterday?)
Mr: B replies: “아니요 보려고 했지만 못 봤어요. 영화표가 없었어요.” (“=No, I intended to see a movie, but I could not. Because the tickets were sold out.)
Here again, ‘(으)려고 했다’ is used to express the past intention: to go to see a movie. Like this, ‘(으)려고 했다’ can be used to express the past intention.
으려고 하다 grammar practice
Now, let’s do some practice.
‘내일은 일찍 일어나다’ (tomorrow I early to get up) How would you say it?
‘내일은 일찍 일어나려고 해요.’ (=I plan to get up early tomorrow.)
‘매일 책을 읽다’ (every day I to read some books) How would you say it?
‘매일 책을 읽으려고 해요.’ (Every day I plan to read some books.)
‘한국에서 살다’ (I to live in Korea) How would you say it?
‘한국에서 살려고 해요.’ (I intend to live in Korea.)
Let’s look at short conversations.
Mr: A asks: “한국에 가면 무엇을 하려고 해요?” (=When you go to Korea what’s your plan?)
Mr: B replies: “한국어를 배우려고 해요.” (=I plan to learn Korean.)
Mr: A asks: “주말에 뭐 할 거예요?” (=What will you do this weekend?)
Mr: B replies: “부모님이 한국에 오셔서 공항에 가려고 해요.” (I’m planning to go to the airport as my parents are coming to Korea.)
Difference between 려고 하다 and 으려고 하다 grammar
| 려고 grammar example |
| 가다 → 가려고 |
| 오다 → 오려고 |
| 자다 → 자려고 |
| 놀다 → 놀려고 |
| 만들다 → 만들려고 |
| 쉬다 → 쉬려고 |
| 읽다 → 읽으려고 |
| 취직하다 → 취직하려고 해요 |
| 살다 → 살려고 |
| 보다 → 보려고 해요 |
| 만나다 → 만나려고 해요 |
| 으려고 grammar example |
| 먹다 → 먹으려고 |
| 씻다 → 씻으려고 해요 |
| 듣다 → 들으려고 |
| 묻다 → 물으려고 해요 |
| 받다 → 받으려고 하다 |
| 돕다 → 도우려고 해요 |
(으)려고 하다 grammar Summary
So, when the verb stem has the final consonant, ‘으려고 하다’ is used. ‘먹다’ becomes ‘먹으려고 하다.’
On the other hand, either the verb stem does not have the final consonant or the verb stem has ‘ㄹ’ final consonant ‘려고 하다’ is used. So, ‘가다’ becomes ‘가려고 하다.’ And ‘만들다’ becomes ‘만들려고 하다.’
In past tense ‘(으)려고 했다’ is used. 이야기 하려고 하다 is present tense and 이야기 하려고 했다is past tense.
