Adjectives · 하다 word

친절하다 conjugation

to be kind; friendly · chinjeolhada · sounds like [친절하다]

Short answer: “Kind” in Korean is 친절하다 (chinjeolhada), which also means friendly. Polite present: 친절해요 (chinjeolhaeyo); past: 친절했어요 (chinjeolhaesseoyo); future: 친절할 거예요. It is a 하다 adjective: 하 + 아/어 always becomes 해.

Present친절해요[친절해요] · chinjeolhaeyo
Past친절했어요[친절해써요] · chinjeolhaesseoyo
Future친절할 거예요[친절할 꺼예요] · chinjeolhal geoyeyo
Negative안 친절해요[안 친절해요] · an chinjeolhaeyo

친절하다 in sentences

직원들이 친절해요.The staff are friendly.
여행하면서 친절한 사람들을 만났어요.I met kind people while travelling.

All forms of 친절하다

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	친절해요	[친절해요]	chinjeolhaeyo
formal-(스)ㅂ니다	친절합니다	[친절함니다]	chinjeolhamnida
casual-아/어	친절해	[친절해]	chinjeolhae
plain (written)-다	친절하다	[친절하다]	chinjeolhada
formal question-(스)ㅂ니까?	친절합니까?	[친절함니까]	chinjeolhamnikka?

Past
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
polite-았/었어요	친절했어요	[친절해써요]	chinjeolhaesseoyo
formal-았/었습니다	친절했습니다	[친절핻씀니다]	chinjeolhaetseumnida
casual-았/었어	친절했어	[친절해써]	chinjeolhaesseo
plain (written)-았/었다	친절했다	[친절핻따]	chinjeolhaetda

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

Negative
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
not (short)안 …	안 친절해요	[안 친절해요]	an chinjeolhaeyo
did not안 …았/었어요	안 친절했어요	[안 친절해써요]	an chinjeolhaesseoyo
not (long)-지 않아요	친절하지 않아요	[친절하지 아나요]	chinjeolhaji 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	친절하세요	[친절하세요]	chinjeolhaseyo
honorific — past-(으)셨어요	친절하셨어요	[친절하셔써요]	chinjeolhasyeosseoyo
honorific — formal-(으)십니다	친절하십니다	[친절하심니다]	chinjeolhasimnida

Connecting
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
… and-고	친절하고	[친절하고]	chinjeolhago
… so / and then-아/어서	친절해서	[친절해서]	chinjeolhaeseo
if …-(으)면	친절하면	[친절하면]	chinjeolhamyeon
… but-지만	친절하지만	[친절하지만]	chinjeolhajiman
because …-(으)니까	친절하니까	[친절하니까]	chinjeolhanikka
… and / but (background)-(으)ㄴ데	친절한데	[친절한데]	chinjeolhande
even if …-아/어도	친절해도	[친절해도]	chinjeolhaedo
while …-(으)면서	친절하면서	[친절하면서]	chinjeolhamyeonseo

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	친절한	[친절한]	chinjeolhan
(that) will …-(으)ㄹ	친절할	[친절할]	chinjeolhal

Useful patterns
Form	Korean	Sounds like	Romanized
can be …-(으)ㄹ 수 있어요	친절할 수 있어요	[친절할 쑤 이써요]	chinjeolhal su isseoyo
cannot be …-(으)ㄹ 수 없어요	친절할 수 없어요	[친절할 쑤 업써요]	chinjeolhal su eopseoyo
have to be …-아/어야 해요	친절해야 해요	[친절해야 해요]	chinjeolhaeya haeyo
it’s OK if it’s …-아/어도 돼요	친절해도 돼요	[친절해도 돼요]	chinjeolhaedo dwaeyo
…ly (adverb)-게	친절하게	[친절하게]	chinjeolhage
becomes …-아/어지다	친절해져요	[친절해저요]	chinjeolhaejeoyo
…ing (noun)-기	친절하기	[친절하기]	chinjeolhagi

How 친절하다 changes

Every 하다 word works the same way: 하 + 여 becomes 해 → 친절해요, 친절했어요. With other endings 하 stays as it is: 친절합니다, 친절하면.

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

Questions

How do you say “kind” in Korean?

“Kind” is 친절하다 (chinjeolhada), pronounced [친절하다]. In a sentence: 직원들이 친절해요. — The staff are friendly.

What is the past tense of 친절하다?

친절했어요 (chinjeolhaesseoyo) is the polite past tense of 친절하다 (“to be kind”). Formal: 친절했습니다; casual: 친절했어.

How do you say 친절하다 politely?

Everyday polite: 친절해요 (chinjeolhaeyo). Formal: 친절합니다. Casual, with close friends: 친절해.

How do you say “not kind” in Korean?

안 친절해요 or 친절하지 않아요. Both mean the same; the first is more common in speech.

Is 친절하다 irregular?

No. Every 하다 word works the same way: 하 + 여 becomes 해 → 친절해요, 친절했어요. With other endings 하 stays as it is: 친절합니다, 친절하면.

More 하다 words like 친절하다

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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