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봐요 (bwa-yo) is the polite present tense form of the verb “보다” (to see or to watch). It can mean “I see,” “you see,” “he/she sees,” etc., or “I watch,” “you watch,” “he/she watches,” “they watch,” etc., depending on the context, as Korean often omits the subject when it’s clear.
To form 봐요, you take the verb stem 보- from 보다 and add the polite present tense ending -아요. The -아요 is used here because the stem contains the vowel ㅗ, following the verb conjugation rule. 보 + 아요 = 보아요 but for easier pronunciation it changes to 봐요.
보다 Conjugation in Polite Present Tense:
Verb → 보다 (bo-da)
Verb Stem → 보 (bo)
Last Vowel → ㅗ (o)
Verb Ending Used → 아요 (a-yo)
Polite Present Tense → 보 + 아요 = 보아요 changes to 봐요 (bwa-yo) which means ‘sees’ or ‘watches.’
Korean Verb Conjugation Rules for Polite Present Tense
아요: Used if the last vowel in the verb stem is ㅏ or ㅗ.
어요: Used if the last vowel in the verb stem is anything other than ㅏ or ㅗ.
여요: Used only for 하다 verbs.
