-어하다

From Middle Korean 어〮 ᄒᆞ다〮 (Yale: -é hò-tá), equivalent to 어 (-eo) +‎ 하다 (hada). In Middle Korean, it combined much more commonly with verbs.

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

어하다 • (-eohada)

1. to consider, to find; attached to various adjectives, primarily those conveying an emotion or sensation, to form transitive verbs. The connotation of the verb is that one's experience of the emotion or sensation can be seen by an external observer.

   ‎기쁘다 (gippeuda, “to be happy”) + ‎어하다 (-eohada) → ‎기뻐하다 (gippeohada, “to rejoice”)

   ‎좋다 (jota, “to be good”) + ‎어하다 (-eohada) → ‎좋아하다 (joahada, “to like”)

   ‎맵다 (maepda, “to be spicy”) + ‎어하다 (-eohada) → ‎매워하다 (maewohada, “to find spicy”)

   ‎무섭다 (museopda, “to be scary”) + ‎어하다 (-eohada) → ‎무서워하다 (museowohada, “to fear”)

2. Attached to certain verbs to give it a durative sense.

   ‎못 잊다 (mot itda, “to be unable to forget”) + ‎어하다 (-eohada) → ‎못 잊어하다 (mot ijeohada, “to keep being unable to forget”)