-아/어 버리다 in Korean: “completely, ended up (doing)”

-아/어 버리다 (-a/eo beorida) means "to do something completely" or "to end up doing it," with an added feeling. Depending on the situation, that feeling is regret ("oh no, it's gone"), relief ("finally, it's done"), or a decision to just get something over with.

How to form it

How to use it

버리다 on its own means "to throw away." As a helper verb it says the action is fully done and can't be taken back. It is mostly used in the past tense: 가 버렸어요 (it already left, it's gone).

The feeling comes from context. 케이크를 다 먹어 버렸어 can be a guilty confession. 숙제를 끝내 버렸어 sounds relieved, like a weight is off your shoulders. Without 버리다, the sentence just states the fact.

In the present or as a command, it means "just do it and be done": 그냥 말해 버려 (just say it already). It works in both casual and polite speech.

Examples

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Don’t mix it up with

-고 말다: Also "end up," but more serious and bookish, usually about something you tried to avoid. It is not used for relief the way 버리다 can be.

-아/어 놓다/두다: 놓다 means you did something and kept the result for later. 버리다 means the action is finished and gone, often with regret or relief.

Common mistakes

Using it to describe a neutral event. 밥을 먹어 버렸어요 is not just "I ate"; it adds "oops" or "done with it." If you just mean "I ate," say 밥을 먹었어요.

Spacing the dictionary words 잊어버리다 (to forget) and 잃어버리다 (to lose). These are single words and are written without a space.