When would you say 하였다 rather than 했다?

Question

단지 너를 위해 그리 하였다 - I only did it for you.

Does using 하였다 rather than 했다 change the tone of this sentence?

In general, would 하였다 be used instead of 했다?

Answer 1

했다 is just a shortened expression for 하였다. Similarly, we can shorten 되었다 to 됐다. We hardly use 하였다 in spoken Korean unless you are in a formal conversation or speech. It sounds as though you are reading a book or keeping a distance from the listener.

Both 하였다 and 했다 are common in written Korean. In formal writings, it is recommended to use 하였다 instead of 했다.

Answer 2

Also it's worth noting that "그리하다" is a very formally-sounding (almost archaic) word. In most situation you would rather use "그러다".

So, "단지 너를 위해 그랬다." sounds more natural in most situations.

"단지 너를 위해 그리하였다." sounds somewhat archaic and poetic. (Not sure if "그리하였다" is one word or two... maybe both are correct.)

"단지 너를 위해 그리했다." is possible, but it's a mixture of a very formal word with a somewhat informal suffix. It still sounds archaic to me.