Adjectives · 하다 word

부지런하다 conjugation

to be hard-working; diligent · bujireonhada · sounds like [부지런하다]

Short answer: “Hard-working” in Korean is 부지런하다 (bujireonhada), which also means diligent. Polite present: 부지런해요 (bujireonhaeyo); past: 부지런했어요 (bujireonhaesseoyo); future: 부지런할 거예요. It is a 하다 adjective: 하 + 아/어 always becomes 해.

Present부지런해요[부지런해요] · bujireonhaeyo
Past부지런했어요[부지런해써요] · bujireonhaesseoyo
Future부지런할 거예요[부지런할 꺼예요] · bujireonhal geoyeyo
Negative안 부지런해요[안 부지런해요] · an bujireonhaeyo

Opposite: 게으르다 — to be lazy

부지런하다 in sentences

제 동생은 부지런해요.My younger sibling is hard-working.
부지런한 사람이 성공해요.Hard-working people succeed.

All forms of 부지런하다

Present
Polite (해요) is the everyday safe choice; formal (합니다) is for news, announcements and work; casual (반말) is for close friends and younger people.
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
polite-아/어요	부지런해요	[부지런해요]	bujireonhaeyo
formal-(스)ㅂ니다	부지런합니다	[부지런함니다]	bujireonhamnida
casual-아/어	부지런해	[부지런해]	bujireonhae
plain (written)-다	부지런하다	[부지런하다]	bujireonhada
formal question-(스)ㅂ니까?	부지런합니까?	[부지런함니까]	bujireonhamnikka?

Past
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
polite-았/었어요	부지런했어요	[부지런해써요]	bujireonhaesseoyo
formal-았/었습니다	부지런했습니다	[부지런핻씀니다]	bujireonhaetseumnida
casual-았/었어	부지런했어	[부지런해써]	bujireonhaesseo
plain (written)-았/었다	부지런했다	[부지런핻따]	bujireonhaetda

Future
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
polite — will probably be-(으)ㄹ 거예요	부지런할 거예요	[부지런할 꺼예요]	bujireonhal geoyeyo
formal-(으)ㄹ 겁니다	부지런할 겁니다	[부지런할 껌니다]	bujireonhal geomnida
casual-(으)ㄹ 거야	부지런할 거야	[부지런할 꺼야]	bujireonhal geoya

Negative
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
not (short)안 …	안 부지런해요	[안 부지런해요]	an bujireonhaeyo
did not안 …았/었어요	안 부지런했어요	[안 부지런해써요]	an bujireonhaesseoyo
not (long)-지 않아요	부지런하지 않아요	[부지런하지 아나요]	bujireonhaji anayo

Honorific
Add -(으)시- when the subject is someone you respect (a teacher, a customer, an older person) — not yourself.
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
honorific — present-(으)세요	부지런하세요	[부지런하세요]	bujireonhaseyo
honorific — past-(으)셨어요	부지런하셨어요	[부지런하셔써요]	bujireonhasyeosseoyo
honorific — formal-(으)십니다	부지런하십니다	[부지런하심니다]	bujireonhasimnida

Connecting
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
… and-고	부지런하고	[부지런하고]	bujireonhago
… so / and then-아/어서	부지런해서	[부지런해서]	bujireonhaeseo
if …-(으)면	부지런하면	[부지런하면]	bujireonhamyeon
… but-지만	부지런하지만	[부지런하지만]	bujireonhajiman
because …-(으)니까	부지런하니까	[부지런하니까]	bujireonhanikka
… and / but (background)-(으)ㄴ데	부지런한데	[부지런한데]	bujireonhande
even if …-아/어도	부지런해도	[부지런해도]	bujireonhaedo
while …-(으)면서	부지런하면서	[부지런하면서]	bujireonhamyeonseo

Describing a noun
These go before a noun: “the food (that) I ate”, “a cold day”.
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
(that is) …-(으)ㄴ	부지런한	[부지런한]	bujireonhan
(that) will …-(으)ㄹ	부지런할	[부지런할]	bujireonhal

Useful patterns
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
can be …-(으)ㄹ 수 있어요	부지런할 수 있어요	[부지런할 쑤 이써요]	bujireonhal su isseoyo
cannot be …-(으)ㄹ 수 없어요	부지런할 수 없어요	[부지런할 쑤 업써요]	bujireonhal su eopseoyo
have to be …-아/어야 해요	부지런해야 해요	[부지런해야 해요]	bujireonhaeya haeyo
it’s OK if it’s …-아/어도 돼요	부지런해도 돼요	[부지런해도 돼요]	bujireonhaedo dwaeyo
…ly (adverb)-게	부지런하게	[부지런하게]	bujireonhage
becomes …-아/어지다	부지런해져요	[부지런해저요]	bujireonhaejeoyo
…ing (noun)-기	부지런하기	[부지런하기]	bujireonhagi

How 부지런하다 changes

Every 하다 word works the same way: 하 + 여 becomes 해 → 부지런해요, 부지런했어요. With other endings 하 stays as it is: 부지런합니다, 부지런하면.

How every verb type works → · Why it sounds like that →

Questions

How do you say “hard-working” in Korean?

“Hard-working” is 부지런하다 (bujireonhada), pronounced [부지런하다]. In a sentence: 제 동생은 부지런해요. — My younger sibling is hard-working.

What is the past tense of 부지런하다?

부지런했어요 (bujireonhaesseoyo) is the polite past tense of 부지런하다 (“to be hard-working”). Formal: 부지런했습니다; casual: 부지런했어.

How do you say 부지런하다 politely?

Everyday polite: 부지런해요 (bujireonhaeyo). Formal: 부지런합니다. Casual, with close friends: 부지런해.

How do you say “not hard-working” in Korean?

안 부지런해요 or 부지런하지 않아요. Both mean the same; the first is more common in speech.

Is 부지런하다 irregular?

No. Every 하다 word works the same way: 하 + 여 becomes 해 → 부지런해요, 부지런했어요. With other endings 하 stays as it is: 부지런합니다, 부지런하면.

More 하다 words like 부지런하다

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Forms follow 한글 맞춤법 (Korean spelling rules); pronunciation follows 표준 발음법 and romanization follows 국어의 로마자 표기법 (Revised Romanization). Last updated October 16, 2026. How we check