Skip to content

Easy Korean - Level 3, Unit 27: As soon as (-자마자)

When you want to say that one action happens immediately after another action ("As soon as I did X, Y happened"), you use the structure -자마자 (-ja-ma-ja).

How to Conjugate

This is extremely easy to conjugate! You simply take the verb stem and add -자마자. It doesn't matter if the stem ends in a vowel, a consonant, or ㄹ.

  • 가다 -> 가 + 자마자 = 가자마자 (As soon as I go)
  • 먹다 -> 먹 + 자마자 = 먹자마자 (As soon as I eat)
  • 도착하다 -> 도착하 + 자마자 = 도착하자마자 (As soon as I arrive)
  • 열다 -> 열 + 자마자 = 열자마자 (As soon as I open)

Tense

You do not add past or future tense markers to the verb before -자마자. The tense of the whole sentence is decided by the final verb at the end of the sentence.

  • 집에 가자마자 잘 거예요. (As soon as I go home, I will sleep.)
  • 집에 가자마자 잤어요. (As soon as I went home, I slept.) (Notice it is always 가자마자, never 갔자마자).

Example Sentences

  1. 아침에 일어나자마자 물을 마셔요. (I drink water as soon as I wake up in the morning.)
  2. 수업이 끝나자마자 친구를 만났어요. (I met my friend as soon as class finished.)
  3. 한국에 도착하자마자 전화해 주세요. (Please call me as soon as you arrive in Korea.)
  4. 침대에 눕자마자 잠이 들었어요. (I fell asleep as soon as I lay down on the bed.)