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봤어요 (bwa-sseo-yo) is the polite past tense form of the verb “보다” (to see or to watch). It can mean “I saw,” “you saw,” “he/she saw,” etc., or “I watched,” “you watched,” “he/she watched,” “they watched,” etc., depending on the context, as Korean often omits the subject when it’s clear.
To form 봤어요, you start with the verb stem 보- from 보다 and add the past tense marker -았어요. The -았 is used because the verb stem contains the vowel ㅗ, following the verb conjugation rule. 보 + 았어요 = 보았어요 but for easier pronunciation it changes to 봤어요.
보다 Conjugation in Polite Past Tense:
Verb → 보다 (bo-da)
Verb Stem → 보 (bo)
Last Vowel → ㅗ (o)
Verb Ending Used → 았어요 (a-sseo-yo)
Polite Past Tense → 보 + 았어요 = 보았어요 changes to 봤어요 (bwa-sseo-yo) which means ‘saw’ or ‘watched.’
Korean Verb Conjugation Rules for Polite Past Tense
았어요: Used if the last vowel in the verb stem is ㅏ or ㅗ.
었어요: Used if the last vowel in the verb stem is anything other than ㅏ or ㅗ.
였어요: Used only for 하다 verbs.
