Present Tense (현재)

FORMAL PRESENT TENSE

In order to form the formal present tense, we need to check if the verb stem ends in 받침 or not.

가다 = 가(+다)    no 받침
먹다 = 먹(+다)   ends in 받침

If there is no 받침then right after the verb stem we add -ㅂ니다 .

Base Form	Formal
가다	갑니다

If there is 받침 then right after the verb stem we add -습니다 .

Base Form	Formal
먹다	먹습니다

However there is one exception to this rule!

If the 받침 is ㄹ then you remove it and add -ㅂ니다 instead. For me it works to think of ㄹas a vowel instead of a consonant.

Base Form	Formal
만들다	만듭니다

POLITE PRESENT TENSE

Ok now off to the polite conjugation. Here we have a lot of exceptions, which may at first seem hard, but the more you use the verbs it will become easier to remember the right usage.

Remember we talked about the verb stem ending, right? The same goes here BUT this time you check out the final vowel of the verb stem. Yes, regardless of the existence of 받침 you check the vowel.

So the basic rule is this:

If the final vowel is ㅏ or  ㅗ then you add +아요 .
가다 =>가요 (to go)
자다 => 자요 (to sleep)

If the final vowel is NOT ㅏor ㅗ then you add +어요.
먹다 =>먹어요 (to eat)
배우다 => 배워요 (to study)

All the verbs that end in 하다, conjugate to 해요.

Please note that the majority of the verbs that end in 하다 are NOUN+하다 . However exceptions, such as 피곤하다, do exist.
피곤하다 => 피곤해요 (to be tired)
수영(을)하다 =>  수영(을)해요 (to swim)

Some exceptions, that cannot be categorized, follow:

쓰다 =>써요 (to write)
크다 => 커요 (to be big)
예쁘다 => 예뻐요 (to be pretty)

1) Verbs with ㄷ 받침 stem change the ㄷ to ㄹ. 
걷다 => 걸어요 (to walk)
듣다 => 들어요 (to hear)
묻다 => 물어요 (to ask)

Verbs that DO NOT follow this exception, are as follows:
받다 (to receive)
묻다 (to bury)
닫다 (to close)
믿다 (to believe)

If you know any other verbs that I left out, please contact me so I can update the list^^

2) Verbs with ㅂ 받침 stem change the ㅂ to 워요.
덥다 => 더워요 (to be hot (for weather))
춥다 => 추워요 (to be cold (for weather))
맵다 => 매워요 (to be spicy)
가볍다 => 가벼워요 (to be light)
쉽다 => 쉬워요 (to be easy)

3) Verbs whose stem ends with 르 lose the ㅡ and get an extra ㄹon the previous syllable.
부르다 => 불러요 (to sing, call someone)
모르다 => 몰라요 (to not know)
자르다 => 잘라요 (to cut)
다르다 => 달라요  (to be different)
빠르다 => 빨라요 (to be fast)

4) Verbs whose stem ends with ㅡ they lose the ㅡ.
아프다 => 아파요 (to hurt,be in pain)
바쁘다 => 바빠요 (to be busy)
나쁘다 => 나빠요 (to be bad)

5) Verbs whose stem ends with ㅅ they lose the ㅅ.
잇다 => 이어요 (to link,join)
낫다 => 나아요 (to recover, get well)
긋다 => 그어요 (to underline)

6) Verbs whose ending is 이다 change to 여요.
마시다 => 마셔요 (to drink)
보이다 => 보여요 (to be seen,visible)


CASUAL PRESENT TENSE

Casual speech is pretty straightforward.  You simply remove the -요 from the polite form speech.