못살아
moht-sah-rah
motsara
못살다
To say to live in poverty politely in the present tense, use 못살아요 (moht-sah-rah-yoh) · motsarayo. Below is the full conjugation of 못살다 across the three tenses and three everyday speech levels.
Grammar note (ㄹ stem): ㄹ-stem verbs end in ㄹ as the final consonant. They are conjugated regularly with vowel suffixes (살다 → 살아요), but the ㄹ drops before certain consonant suffixes — specifically before ㄴ, ㅂ, ㅅ, and before the formal ending 습니다: 살다 → 사는, 삽니다, 살지 (ㄹ kept before ㅈ). This is sometimes called a "ㄹ drop" or "ㄹ irregular." See all ㄹ-stem verbs →
Conjugation table
pron. = pronunciation guide · RR = Revised Romanization
Highlighted = where the stem changes
| Tense | Casual (반말) | Polite (요) | Formal (합니다) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | 못살아요 moht-sah-rah-yoh motsarayo | 못삽니다 moht-sahm-nee-dah motsamnida | |
| Past | 못살았어 moht-sah-rah-ssuh motsarasseo | 못살았어요 moht-sah-rah-ssuh-yoh motsarasseoyo | 못살았습니다 moht-sah-rah-sseum-nee-dah motsarasseumnida |
| Future | 못살 거야 moht-sahl guh-yah motsal geoya | 못살 거예요 moht-sahl guh-yae-yoh motsal geoyeyo | 못살 겁니다 moht-sahl guhm-nee-dah motsal geomnida |
Other useful forms
Honorific / Command Polite (-(으)세요)
못사세요
moht-sah-sae-yoh
motsaseyo
Suggestion / Let's Polite (요)
못살아요
moht-sah-rah-yoh
motsarayo
Question Polite (요)
못살아요?
moht-sah-rah-yoh-?
motsarayo?
Connective "and" — (고)
못살고
moht-sahl-goh
motsalgo
Conditional "if" — (면)
못살면
moht-sahl-myuhn
motsalmyeon
Progressive (고 있어요)
못살고 있어요
moht-sahl-goh ee-ssuh-yoh
motsalgo isseoyo
Want to (고 싶어요)
못살고 싶어요
moht-sahl-goh shee-puh-yoh
motsalgo sipeoyo
Can / Able to ((으)ㄹ 수 있어요)
못살 수 있어요
moht-sahl soo ee-ssuh-yoh
motsal su isseoyo
Because / So (아/어서)
못살아서
moht-sah-rah-suh
motsaraseo
Noun form — (기)
못살기
moht-sahl-gee
motsalgi
Noun form — (음)
못삶
moht-sahm
motsam