Provided is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including: patterning a substrate to form a plurality of active patterns including two adjacent active patterns having a first trench therebetween; forming a semiconductor layer on the plurality of active patterns to cover the plurality of active patterns; forming a device isolation layer on the semiconductor layer to cover the semiconductor layer for oxidization and fill the first trench; patterning the device isolation layer and the plurality of active patterns so that a second trench intersecting the first trench is formed and the two active patterns protrudes from the device isolation layer in the second trench; and forming a gate electrode in the second trench. Here, a first thickness of the semiconductor layer covering a top surface of each of the two active patterns is greater than a second thickness of the semiconductor layer covering a bottom of the first trench.