Connective Ending -고

Frequently asked questions

When is 연결어미 -고 used?

The ending -고 connects two verbs or adjectives, meaning "and" or "and then". It attaches directly to the verb/adjective stem (remove 다).

How is 연결어미 -고 formed?

Key point: -고 does NOT change based on vowel harmony (unlike -아/어). It always stays -고 regardless of the verb stem. The tense is marked only on the FINAL verb.

What are common mistakes with 연결어미 -고?

Learners try to conjugate the first verb for tense — only the final verb takes tense. Also confusing -고 with -아/어서 which also means 'and then' but implies reason. EN speakers: Straightforward — maps to English 'and'. May over-use -고 where -아/어서 (because/so) is more natural. DE speakers: German 'und' maps well. But German allows tense on both verbs (Ich aß und trank), while Korean marks tense only on the final verb. RU speakers: Russian 'и' maps well for listing. Sequence is trickier — Russian uses separate conjugated verbs, Korean keeps first verb unconjugated. CS speakers: Czech 'a' maps well. Like Russian, Czech conjugates both verbs for tense, but Korean only conjugates the last one.