Stem
A stem is the part of the word that doesn't change even when the verb/adjective is morphologically changed. However for the Korean language the stem is the part before the 다 part in the base form of the verb/adjective since irregular verbs can modify the base form (i.e. ㅂ and 르 irregular verbs).
Most of the verb/adjective conjugations in Korean are done so by simply adding to the stem.
| Base form | Stem | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 가다 | 가 | |
| 맞다 | 맞 | |
| 가르치다 | 가르치 | |
| 조용하다 | 조용하 | |
| 빠르다 | 빠르 | |
| 먹다 | 먹 | |
| 춥다 | 춥 | |
| 내리다 | 내리 | |
| 없다 | 없 | |
| 중요하다 | 중요하 |
Irregular verbs can modify the stem