-아/어지다
become, get — a change of state
Turns an adjective into a change. Where the adjective describes how something is, this describes it becoming so — and it is written as one word.
Build it
Pick an adjective
When to use it
The vowel follows the -아요/어요 rule with the usual merges: 좋아지다, 예뻐지다, 커지다. Adjectives in 하다 give 해지다: 건강해지다, 조용해지다.
Note the spelling: 지다 fuses onto the adjective and is written without a space. 좋아 지다 is an error.
The change is usually gradual, which makes it the natural way to talk about weather, health, skills, and feelings shifting over time: 날씨가 따뜻해졌어요.
Attached to certain verbs it produces something close to a passive: 만들어지다 (be made), 켜지다 (be switched on), 알려지다 (become known). This is a smaller, lexical set rather than a general rule — you learn these one by one.
How to attach it
| Stem type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Last vowel ㅏ or ㅗ | -아지다 | 좋다 → 좋아지다 |
| Any other vowel | -어지다 | 예쁘다 → 예뻐지다 |
| 하다 adjectives | 해지다 | 건강하다 → 건강해지다 |
| Merging | as in -아요/어요 | 크다 → 커지다 |
| Spacing | one word | 좋아지다 — not 좋아 지다 |
| Verbs take | -게 되다 | 가게 되다 |
In use
요즘 날씨가 따뜻해졌어요.
The weather has got warmer lately.
운동을 시작하고 건강해졌어요.
I’ve become healthier since I started exercising.
한국어 실력이 많이 좋아졌어요.
My Korean has improved a lot.
저녁이 되니까 조용해졌어요.
It got quiet once evening came.
이 빵은 매일 아침에 만들어져요.
This bread is made every morning.
시간이 지나면 괜찮아질 거예요.
It’ll get better with time.
Compared with
-게 되다
The pair divides by word class: adjectives take -아/어지다, verbs take -게 되다. Both describe change, but they are not interchangeable.
추워졌어요. (it’s got colder) / 가게 됐어요. (it turns out I’m going)
Plain adjective
The adjective states a condition; -아/어지다 states the shift into it. Choosing the plain form loses the sense of change over time.
날씨가 따뜻해요. (it’s warm) / 날씨가 따뜻해졌어요. (it’s got warm)
되다
되다 on its own attaches to nouns: 의사가 되다. -아/어지다 attaches to adjectives. English “become” covers both.
의사가 됐어요. (became a doctor) / 유명해졌어요. (became famous)
Watch out
한국어 실력이 좋아 졌어요.
한국어 실력이 좋아졌어요.
지다 attaches directly and is written as one word. The space is a common spelling error.
운동해서 건강하어졌어요.
운동해서 건강해졌어요.
Adjectives ending in 하다 become 해지다, following the same rule as 해요.
한국에서 일해지게 됐어요.
한국에서 일하게 됐어요.
일하다 is a verb, so it takes -게 되다 alone. Do not stack the two change constructions.
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