-아/어 버리다
go and do it — finished, and you have feelings about it
Marks an action as completely done, with nothing left over. What it really adds is the speaker’s reaction: relief that it’s over, or regret that it happened.
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When to use it
The vowel follows the -아요/어요 rule: 먹어 버리다, 가 버리다, 해 버리다. In speech it contracts to 먹어 버렸어 or even 먹어버렸어.
The action is finished and irreversible. Beyond that, the ending carries emotion, and which emotion depends on the situation. Relief: 숙제를 다 해 버렸어요 (I got the homework out of the way). Regret: 동생이 케이크를 다 먹어 버렸어요.
Because the emotion is the point, a neutral fact sounds odd with it. 어제 학교에 가 버렸어요 as a plain report is strange; it would only work if going was somehow a loss or a release.
Unlike -아/어 놓다, it works with intransitive verbs too: 친구가 가 버렸어요.
How to attach it
| Stem type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Last vowel ㅏ or ㅗ | -아 버리다 | 가다 → 가 버렸어요 |
| Any other vowel | -어 버리다 | 먹다 → 먹어 버렸어요 |
| 하다 verbs | 해 버리다 | 해 버렸어요 |
| Relief | burden gone | 다 해 버렸어요 |
| Regret | something lost | 잊어 버렸어요 |
| Intransitive too | allowed | 친구가 가 버렸어요 |
In use
숙제를 다 해 버렸어요.
I’ve got all the homework out of the way.
동생이 케이크를 다 먹어 버렸어요.
My brother went and ate the whole cake.
약속 시간을 잊어버렸어요.
I completely forgot the appointment.
친구가 인사도 없이 가 버렸어요.
My friend just left without saying goodbye.
고민하다가 그냥 사 버렸어요.
I agonised over it and then just bought it.
기차가 벌써 떠나 버렸어요.
The train had already gone.
Compared with
-고 말다
Both mark completion with feeling, but -고 말다 almost always means the outcome was unintended and unwelcome. -아/어 버리다 can just as easily mean relief.
다 해 버렸어요. (glad it’s done) / 울고 말았어요. (I ended up crying)
-았/었-
The plain past reports; 버리다 adds that you feel something about it. Dropping 버리다 makes the sentence factual and flat.
케이크를 다 먹었어요. (he ate it all) / 다 먹어 버렸어요. (he went and ate the lot)
-아/어 놓다
놓다 leaves a result for later use; 버리다 clears something away for good. Opposite attitudes to the same finished action.
만들어 놓았어요. (made it, ready to use) / 다 써 버렸어요. (used it all up)
Watch out
숙제를 다 하어 버렸어요.
숙제를 다 해 버렸어요.
하다 becomes 해 before 버리다, as it does before 놓다 and 두다.
어제 학교에 가 버렸어요. — as a plain report
어제 학교에 갔어요.
버리다 requires that you feel something about the completion. For a neutral fact, use the plain past.
표를 미리 사 버렸어요. — meaning “bought in advance, ready”
표를 미리 사 뒀어요.
버리다 suggests finality or impulse. To say you bought them so they’d be ready, use 놓다 or 두다.
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