NOW

Why is it ‘돼요,’ not ‘되요’?

When 되다 takes the polite ending -어요, it becomes 되어요, which contracts to 돼요. That is why 되요 is not the standard spelling.

❌ 되요 / ✅ 돼요

The National Institute of Korean Language gives 해야 되어요 → 해야 돼요 as the standard form and marks 해야 되요 as incorrect.

THE STEM 되- STILL EXISTS

Forms such as 된다, 되고 and 되니 keep 되-. 돼요 is specifically the contraction of 되어요.

Sources & context

2026-09-18

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