What Does Verbs-자마자 Mean in Korean?

-자마자 indicates that something occurs immediately following the end of some event or action. It is added to the verb and means ‘as soon as’ or ‘right after' in English.

Example:

수업이 끝나자마자 학생들은 교실을 나갔어요. The students left the classroom right after class was over.

The subjects of the first and second clauses of the sentence can be either the same or different.

(same person) (내가) 집에 오자마자 (내가) 잤어요. As soon as I arrived home, I slept.

(different persons) 엄마가 나가자마자 아이가 울어요. As soon as the mother leaves, the baby starts crying.

Tense is not expressed in the verb of the first clause, but it is in the second.

(past tense)집에 갔자마자 잤어요. (wrong) -> 집에 가자마자 잤어요. (correct)

As soon as I got home, I slept.