I have traveled
Someone at a party asks where you've been all year, and you freeze — because you only know how to say where you ARE, not where you WENT.
Unfreeze my past tenseThe words — I have traveled
Five words. One past tense rule. Let's watch Hilal ruin everyone's weekend.
Meaningtrip / travel
힐랄은 여행을 많이 했어요. 가방이 없어요!
Hilal traveled a lot. He has no bag!
Meaningwent / came
지자는 부산에 갔어요. 그리고 서울에 왔어요.
Zeeza went to Busan. And then he came to Seoul.
Meaningdid (past of 해요)
누줌은 주말에 축구를 했어요.
Nujoom played soccer on the weekend.
Meaninglived (past of 살아요)
사마는 서울에 살았어요. 지금은 부산에 살아요.
Sama lived in Seoul. Now he lives in Busan.
Watch out — I have traveled
Zeeza says 쿠웨이트에서 왔어요. One small block is doing ALL the work here — don't trust your eyes.
왔어요왔어요 = came, 갔어요 = went — a pair built the same way from 와요 and 가요. Zeeza's 어디에서 왔어요? ('where are you from?') was this past all along.
The scene — I have traveled
Zeeza finds an old photo album and will not let anyone leave the room until his whole life story has been told, slide by slide.
- 저는 쿠웨이트에서 왔어요.I came from Kuwait.
- 오! 정말요?Oh! Really?
- 서울에 살았어요. 여름에 부산에 갔어요.I lived in Seoul. In summer I went to Busan.
- 부산이요? 좋아요!Busan? Great!
- 여행을 많이 했어요! 사마 씨는요?I traveled a lot! What about you, Sama?
The idea — I have traveled
The past comes from the present: drop 요, put ㅆ under the last block, add 어요 — so 가요 becomes 갔어요 (went), 살아요 becomes 살았어요 (lived), and 해요 becomes 했어요 (did).
Next time someone asks where you've been, you can answer in one clean line — no matter where that was.
Questions about I have traveled
How do you say 'I went' in Korean?
'I went' is 갔어요 (gasseoyo), the past form of 가요 (go).
How is the Korean past tense formed?
Drop 요 from the present form, add ㅆ under the last block, then add 어요 — so 가요 becomes 갔어요 and 해요 becomes 했어요.
What does 왔어요 mean in Korean?
왔어요 means 'came,' the past form of 와요, and appears in 어디에서 왔어요? ('where are you from?').
How do you say 'I lived in Seoul' in Korean?
'I lived in Seoul' is 서울에 살았어요, using 살았어요, the past of 살아요 (live).
You've seen the idea. Now make it stick.
The journey continues in Zeeza — free to start, made to adapt to how you learn.
- Hear it and choose
- Fill the idea in from memory
- Say it after the voice
- …and more, adapted to you