-아/어 두다
do it and keep it that way
Almost the same as -아/어 놓다. The difference is how long you expect the result to sit there before anyone needs it.
Build it
Pick a verb
When to use it
The vowel follows the -아요/어요 rule: 사 두다, 적어 두다, 해 두다. The past contracts to 뒀어요 in speech.
Like 놓다, it takes transitive verbs and leaves a result in place deliberately. Where they differ is duration: 두다 means put away and keep, while 놓다 leans toward getting something ready for immediate use.
In practice the overlap is wide and most speakers treat them as interchangeable. The cases where 두다 is clearly the better fit involve storing: 비밀번호를 적어 뒀어요, 고기를 냉동실에 얼려 뒀어요.
On its own 두다 means “put, place” — which is exactly where the auxiliary sense of setting something aside comes from.
How to attach it
| Stem type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Last vowel ㅏ or ㅗ | -아 두다 | 사다 → 사 두다 |
| Any other vowel | -어 두다 | 적다 → 적어 두다 |
| 하다 verbs | 해 두다 | 준비해 두다 |
| Spoken contraction | -아/어 뒀다 | 사 뒀어요 |
| Transitive only | needs an object | 표를 사 뒀어요 |
| Near-synonym | -아/어 놓다 | 사 놓았어요 |
In use
비밀번호를 수첩에 적어 뒀어요.
I’ve written the password down in my notebook.
고기를 냉동실에 얼려 뒀어요.
I’ve frozen the meat and put it away.
필요할 것 같아서 미리 사 뒀어요.
I bought it in advance in case I’d need it.
중요한 서류는 여기에 보관해 두세요.
Please keep important documents here.
저녁 재료를 미리 손질해 뒀어요.
I prepped the ingredients for dinner ahead of time.
배운 것을 잘 기억해 두세요.
Keep what you’ve learned firmly in mind.
Compared with
-아/어 놓다
놓다 prepares for something imminent; 두다 stores for a while. Most of the time either works, and the choice is a matter of feel rather than rule.
문을 열어 놓았어요. (open now, for the air) / 표를 사 뒀어요. (bought and kept)
-아/어 있다
-아/어 있다 reports a state with no agent behind it; 두다 names someone who arranged it. Intransitive versus transitive.
불이 켜져 있어요. (the light is on) / 불을 켜 뒀어요. (I left it on)
두다 alone
As an ordinary verb it means to put or place. The auxiliary meaning grows straight out of that.
가방을 여기에 두세요. (put your bag here) / 적어 두세요. (write it down and keep it)
Watch out
중요한 서류는 보관하어 두세요.
중요한 서류는 보관해 두세요.
하다 becomes 해 before 두다, as it does before 놓다 and 보다.
불이 켜 뒀어요.
불을 켜 뒀어요.
This construction needs a transitive verb and an object. For the state alone, use 불이 켜져 있어요.
어제 친구를 만나 뒀어요.
어제 친구를 만났어요.
만나다 leaves nothing stored away. 두다 needs a result that can be kept for later.
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