잘못하다

Korean

Etymology

잘못 (jalmot) +‎ 하다 (-hada, “to do”, light verb deriving active verbs).

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
Phonetic hangul:

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	jalmothada
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	jalmoshada
McCune–Reischauer^?	chalmothada
Yale Romanization^?	cal.moshata

Verb

잘못하다 • (jalmothada) (infinitive 잘못해 or 잘못하여, sequential 잘못하니)

(transitive or intransitive with 면 (-myeon) and 다가는 (-daganeun)) to err; to make a mistake; to do something improperly or incorrectly
(transitive or intransitive) to do something wrong

Usage notes

It is very commonly confused with other constructions with the same constituents.

내 가 잘못했여요.

Nae-ga jalmothaessyeoyo.

I was wrong.

노래 를 잘 못해요.

Norae-reul jal mothaeyo.

I'm not very good at singing.

그 작업 을 잘못 했어요.

Geu jageob-eul jalmot haesseoyo.

I erroneously did that operation.

바빠서 공부 를 잘 못 해요.

Bappaseo gongbu-reul jal mot haeyo.

I cannot study well because I'm busy.

When used intransitively in certain inflected forms such as 잘못했습니다, this can also have the meaning "I'm sorry."

Conjugation

Selected forms of the verb 잘못하다 (jalmothada): vowel-stem, 하(ha)-irregular

Sentence-final forms
		Formal non-polite (해라체)	Informal non-polite (해체)	Informal polite (해요체)	Formal polite (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	잘못한다 jalmothanda	잘못해 jalmothae	잘못해요 jalmothaeyo	잘못합니다 jalmothamnida
Indicative	Past	잘못했다 jalmothaetda	잘못했어 jalmothaesseo	잘못했어요 jalmothaesseoyo	잘못했습니다 jalmothaetseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	잘못하느냐 jalmothaneunya	잘못해 jalmothae	잘못해요 jalmothaeyo	잘못합니까 jalmothamnikka
Interrogative	Past	잘못했느냐 jalmothaenneunya	잘못했어 jalmothaesseo	잘못했어요 jalmothaesseoyo	잘못했습니까 jalmothaetseumnikka
Hortative		잘못하자 jalmothaja	잘못해 jalmothae	잘못해요 jalmothaeyo	잘못하십시다 jalmothasipsida
Imperative		잘못해라, 잘못하여라 jalmothaera, jalmothayeora	잘못해 jalmothae	잘못해요 jalmothaeyo	잘못합시오 jalmothapsio
Assertive		잘못하겠다 jalmothagetda	잘못하겠어 jalmothagesseo	잘못하겠어요 jalmothagesseoyo	잘못하겠습니다 jalmothagetseumnida
Connective forms
Cause/Reason		잘못해 jalmothae	잘못해서, 잘못하여서 jalmothaeseo, jalmothayeoseo	잘못하니 jalmothani	잘못하니까 jalmothanikka
Contrast		잘못하지만 jalmothajiman	잘못하는데 jalmothaneunde	잘못하더니 jalmothadeoni
Conjunction		잘못하고 jalmothago
Condition		잘못하면 jalmothamyeon	잘못해야, 잘못하여야 jalmothaeya, jalmothayeoya
Motive		잘못하려고 jalmotharyeogo
Noun and determiner forms
Verbal nouns		잘못함 jalmotham	잘못하기 jalmothagi
Past-tense verbal nouns		잘못했음, 잘못하였음 jalmothaesseum, jalmothayeosseum	잘못했기, 잘못하였기 jalmothaetgi, jalmothayeotgi
Determiners	Past	잘못한 jalmothan
	Present	잘못하는 jalmothaneun
	Future	잘못할 jalmothal

Sentence-final forms with honorific
		Formal non-polite (해라체)	Informal non-polite (해체)	Informal polite (해요체)	Formal polite (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	잘못하신다 jalmothasinda	잘못하셔 jalmothasyeo	잘못하세요, 잘못하셔요 jalmothaseyo, jalmothasyeoyo	잘못하십니다 jalmothasimnida
Indicative	Past	잘못하셨다 jalmothasyeotda	잘못하셨어 jalmothasyeosseo	잘못하셨어요 jalmothasyeosseoyo	잘못하셨습니다 jalmothasyeotseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	잘못하시느냐 jalmothasineunya	잘못하셔 jalmothasyeo	잘못하세요, 잘못하셔요 jalmothaseyo, jalmothasyeoyo	잘못하십니까 jalmothasimnikka
Interrogative	Past	잘못하셨느냐 jalmothasyeonneunya	잘못하셨어 jalmothasyeosseo	잘못하셨어요 jalmothasyeosseoyo	잘못하셨습니까 jalmothasyeotseumnikka
Imperative		잘못하시라 jalmothasira	잘못하셔 jalmothasyeo	잘못하세요 jalmothaseyo	잘못하십시오 jalmothasipsio
Assertive		잘못하시겠다 jalmothasigetda	잘못하시겠어 jalmothasigesseo	잘못하시겠어요 jalmothasigesseoyo	잘못하시겠습니다 jalmothasigetseumnida
Connective forms with honorific
Cause/Reason		잘못하셔 jalmothasyeo	잘못하셔서 jalmothasyeoseo	잘못하시니 jalmothasini	잘못하시니까 jalmothasinikka
Contrast		잘못하시지만 jalmothasijiman	잘못하시는데 jalmothasineunde	잘못하시더니 jalmothasideoni
Conjunction		잘못하시고 jalmothasigo
Condition		잘못하시면 jalmothasimyeon	잘못하셔야 jalmothasyeoya
Motive		잘못하시려고 jalmothasiryeogo
Noun and determiner forms with honorific
Verbal nouns		잘못하심 jalmothasim	잘못하시기 jalmothasigi
Past-tense verbal nouns		잘못하셨음 jalmothasyeosseum	잘못하셨기 jalmothasyeotgi
Determiners	Past	잘못하신 jalmothasin
	Present	잘못하시는 jalmothasineun
	Future	잘못하실 jalmothasil

Related terms

잘못되다 (jalmotdoeda, “to go awry”)