미국에 갔었어요.
I have been to the U.S.
(I went to, and have already returned from, the U.S.)
중국에서 살았었어요.
I (have) lived in China.
(I don’t live in China now.)
아버지가 뚱뚱했었어요.
My father was overweight.
(He’s not overweight now.)
Usage:
This pattern is used to express something or a situation that occurred in the past but did not continue or something separate from the present because it occurred much earlier than when the speaker is describing it. It approximates to ‘did/had (in the past)’ in English.
– It is formed by adding -았었어요 to the stems of verbs and adjectives with stems ending in the vowel ㅏ or ㅗ.
– Otherwise, -었었어요 is added. For verbs ending in 하다, 했었어요 is added.
What is the difference between Verb/ Adj 았/었어요 and Verb/ Adj 았/었었어요
Verb/ Adj 았/었어요
Expresses that something simply occurred in the past or that an action or situation that ended in the past has remained that way.
– 댄 씨는 작년에 한국에 왔어요.
=> Dane may still be in Korea. We don’t know what happened after he came to Korea. He may be in some place other than Korea.- 댄 씨는 서울에서 1년 살았어요.
Dane has been living in Seoul for one year.
He previously lived in Seoul for one year, but we don’t know where he lives now.
Verb/ Adj 았/었었어요
Expresses a past occurrence that does not continue to the present.
– 댄 씨는 작년에 한국에 왔었어요.
=> Dane came to Korea and later left; he is not in Korea now.
– 댄 씨는 서울에서 1년 동안 살았었어요.
=> Dane previously lived in Seoul for one year, but now he does not live in Seoul.
Conversation:
A: 담배를 안 피워요? You don’t smoke?
B: 작년에는 담배를 피웠었어요. 그렇지만 지금은 안 피워요. I smoked last year. But I don’t smoke now.
A: 요즘 바다에 사람이 없어요. There’s nobody at the seaside these days.
B: 여름에는 사람이 많았었어요. There were many people (there) in the summer.
A 주말에 뭐 했어요? What did you do over the weekend?
B 롯데월드에 갔었어요. 아주 재미있었어요. I went to Lotte World. It was really interesting.