Describing Past Actions in Korean: Sleepy Cat Story & Past Progressive 🐱

In this beginner Korean lesson, you’ll follow a short and funny story about Minjun trying to teach a new trick to his sleepy cat, Cheese. You will learn useful vocabulary for everyday situations and see how to describe actions that were happening in the past using the -고 있었어요 grammar pattern.

💬 Video Transcript

Minjun (Narrator): 오늘은 날씨가 아주 좋았어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): The weather was very nice today.)

Minjun (Narrator): 하지만 저는 집에 있었어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): But I was at home.)

Minjun (Narrator): 제 고양이 치즈도 집에 있었어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): My cat, Cheese, was also at home.)

Minjun (Narrator): 치즈는 소파 위에서 자고 있었어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): Cheese was sleeping on the sofa.)

Minjun (Narrator): 저는 심심했어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): I was bored.)

Minjun (Narrator): 그래서 좋은 생각이 났어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): So, I had a good idea.)

Minjun (Narrator): ‘치즈에게 새로운 것을 가르쳐야지!’
(Minjun (Narrator): ‘I should teach Cheese something new!’)

Minjun (Narrator): 저는 치즈에게 갔어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): I went to Cheese.)

Minjun: 치즈, 일어나. 손!
(Minjun: Cheese, wake up. Paw!)

Minjun (Narrator): 저는 제 손을 내밀었어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): I held out my hand.)

Minjun (Narrator): 하지만 치즈는 그냥 잤어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): But Cheese just slept.)

Minjun (Narrator): 눈도 뜨지 않았어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): He didn’t even open his eyes.)

Minjun: 치즈, 손 줘!
(Minjun: Cheese, give me your paw!)

Minjun (Narrator): 그래도 치즈는 움직이지 않았어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): Still, Cheese didn’t move.)

Minjun (Narrator): 그때, 제 친구 서연이가 우리 집에 왔어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): Just then, my friend Seoyeon came to our house.)

Seoyeon: 민준, 뭐 해?
(Seoyeon: Minjun, what are you doing?)

Minjun: 응, 치즈에게 ‘손’을 가르치고 있어.
(Minjun: Oh, I’m teaching Cheese ‘paw’.)

Minjun (Narrator): 서연이가 웃었어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): Seoyeon laughed.)

Seoyeon: 치즈는 잠자는 것을 좋아하잖아.
(Seoyeon: But Cheese loves sleeping.)

Minjun: 음… 간식이 있으면 어떨까?
(Minjun: Hmm… What if there’s a snack?)

Minjun (Narrator): 저는 부엌으로 가서 치즈가 가장 좋아하는 간식을 가져왔어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): I went to the kitchen and brought Cheese’s favorite snack.)

Minjun (Narrator): 간식 냄새에 치즈가 드디어 눈을 떴어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): At the smell of the snack, Cheese finally opened his eyes.)

Minjun (Narrator): 저는 간식을 들고 말했어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): I held the snack and said.)

Minjun: 치즈, 손!
(Minjun: Cheese, paw!)

Minjun (Narrator): 치즈는 제 손을 봤어요. 그리고 간식을 봤어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): Cheese looked at my hand. And he looked at the snack.)

Minjun (Narrator): 그리고 그냥 간식을 먹었어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): And he just ate the snack.)

Minjun (Narrator): 손은 주지 않았어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): He didn’t give his paw.)

Minjun (Narrator): 저와 서연이는 크게 웃었어요.
(Minjun (Narrator): Seoyeon and I laughed out loud.)

Minjun (Narrator): 치즈는 정말 재미있는 고양이예요.
(Minjun (Narrator): Cheese is a really funny cat.)

📝 Essential Vocabulary

Here are some key words from the story that will help you understand the dialogue. Listen to the pronunciation and practice saying them out loud.

🔍 Grammar Focus

Let’s explore two important grammar points from the story that are essential for beginners.

1. Past Progressive: -고 있었어요 (was/were -ing)

This pattern is used to describe an action that was in progress at a certain point in the past. It’s the past tense equivalent of -고 있어요 (am/is/are -ing). You attach it to a verb stem.

From the script:

• 치즈는 소파 위에서 자고 있었어요.
• (Cheese was sleeping on the sofa.)

Here, the verb stem is 자- (from 자다, to sleep). We add -고 있었어요 to show that the action of sleeping was ongoing when Minjun was bored.

2. Simple Past Tense: -았/었어요

This is the standard way to talk about actions or states that happened and were completed in the past. The form changes slightly based on the final vowel of the verb stem.

• If the last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, you add 았어요.
• If the last vowel is anything else, you add 었어요.
• For verbs ending in 하다, it becomes 했어요.

Examples from the script:

• 오늘 날씨가 아주 좋았어요.

• (The weather was very nice today.)

• Here, 좋다 (to be good) ends with the vowel ㅗ, so it becomes 좋았어요.

• 저는 심심했어요.

• (I was bored.)

• 심심하다 (to be bored) is a 하다 verb, so it becomes 심심했어요.

• 서연이가 웃었어요.

• (Seoyeon laughed.)

• 웃다 (to laugh) ends with the vowel ㅜ, so it becomes 웃었어요.

🌍 Cultural Tip

🃏 Flip & Learn

Review the key vocabulary and phrases from our story with these flashcards.

💡 Key Takeaways

Here are the most important points to remember from this lesson:

• Past vs. Past Progressive: Use -았/었어요 for completed actions in the past (e.g., 왔어요 - came) and -고 있었어요 for actions that were ongoing at a specific time in the past (e.g., 자고 있었어요 - was sleeping).
• Essential Verbs: This story introduced many common verbs like 자다 (to sleep), 가르치다 (to teach), and 웃다 (to laugh), which are fundamental for building your Korean vocabulary.
• The Power of Snacks: As seen with Cheese the cat, 간식 (snack) can be a very persuasive word in Korean, too!
• Common Commands: The phrase 손! or 손 줘! is a common way to ask a pet for its paw, similar to “Shake!” or “Paw!” in English.

🎯 Practice Quiz

Test your understanding of the vocabulary and grammar from the story.

✍️ Fill in the Blanks

Let’s test your spelling and memory! Fill in the missing words below. Use correct spelling.