Hello, language learners! Welcome back to our journey of mastering Korean.
Today, we will learn how to make negative sentences in Korean together! It’s a very simple and easy process.
By the end of this post, you won’t have any problems forming negative sentences.
This essential skill will help you express yourself more accurately and fully in Korean, allowing you to better communicate your thoughts and experiences.
Let’s dive in!
Part 1,
Let’s grasp the concept of grammar
“안” is used to negate actions or states. It’s equivalent to “not” in English.
“못” is equivalent to “can’t” in English.
In Korean, there are two primary ways to make negative sentences: by using “안” and “못.”
Each has its specific usage and context.
“안” is used to negate actions or states. It’s equivalent to “not” in English.
You simply place “안” before the verb or adjective.
“못” is used to indicate that someone is unable to do something due to external circumstances or inability. It’s equivalent to “can’t” in English. You place “못” before the verb. (We don’t use “못” with adjectives.
For example, saying “I can’t be pretty” doesn’t make much sense in Korean.)
Let’s look at the examples!
(1)
– 나는 집에 가요 (I go to home)
– 나는 집에 안 가요(I don’t go home)
– 나는 집에 못 가요(I can’t go home)
(2)
– 나는 콜라를 마셔요 (I drink coke)
– 나는 콜라를 안 마셔요(I don’t drink coke)
– 나는 콜라를 못 마셔요(I can’t drink coke)
(3)
– 우리 누나는 예뻐요(My older sister is pretty)
– 우리 누나는 안 예뻐요(My older sister isn’t pretty)
– 우리 누나는 못 예뻐요(Adjective- Wrong!)
(4)
– 날씨가 추워요(Weather is cold)
– 날씨가 안 추워요(Weather isn’t cold)
– 날씨가 못 추워요(Adjective- Wrong!)
(5)
– 나는 매일 한국어를 공부해요(I study Korean everyday)
– 나는 매일 한국어를 공부 안 해요(I don’t study Korean everyday)
– 나는 매일 한국어를 공부 못 해요(I can’t study Korean everyday)
* We need to be careful with 하다-ending verbs. As I mentioned in the Step 5 post, 하다 verbs are typically formed by combining a noun with 하다 (to do).
When we negate these sentences, we place 안 or 못 between the noun and the 하다 verb.
For example, to say ‘I don’t study’, we say ‘공부 안 해요’. ‘I don’t work’, we say ‘일 안 해요’
However, there are exceptions to this rule. Verbs that express feelings or emotions, as well as adjectives that end in 하다, do not follow this pattern. For instance, ‘I like you’ is ‘너를 좋아해요’, and ‘I don’t like you’ is ‘너를 안 좋아해요’.
Similarly, with adjectives like 간단하다 (to be simple), to say ‘it’s not simple’, we use ‘안 간단해요’.
Very, very easy – right?!
I’ll introduce you another way to negate sentences!
“지 않다” is another way to form negative sentences in Korean. More formal than “안”.
“지 않다” is more formal and often used in written language, though it can also be used in spoken language.
It attaches to the verb or adjective stem to indicate negation and is more formal than “안”.
We will put 지 않다 after the verb or adjective stem (We drop the ending “다” part!)
We can conjugate 지 않다 to
지 않아요 ( Formal ) / 지 않습니다(Extremely formal) / 지 않아(Informal)
Here’s how to say “I don’t go home” with different levels of formality.
– 나는 집에 가지 않습니다 (Very formal)
– 나는 집에 가지 않아요 (Formal)
– 나는 집에 안 갑니다(Pretty formal)
– 나는 집에 안 가요 (fairly formal, most common)
– 나는 집에 가지 않아(Informal)
– 나는 집에 안 가(very informal)
There’s a more polite way to express “못” as well, which we will learn soon!
Today, let’s remember “안”,”지 않다(more polite)” is equivalent to “don’t” or “not”, and “못” means “can’t.”
Now, let’s practice making sentences together using 안/못.
(You can try them with -지 않다 as well:)
Let’s get started!
1. I don’t drink tea. I don’t like it
(drink:마시다/ tea: 차 / like: 좋아하다)
2. I can’t swim, I’m scared
(swim:수영하다 / scared:무섭다)
3. You aren’t tired, but I’m tired.
(tired:피곤하다/ but:근데)
4. I don’t exercise in the morning.
(exercise:운동하다/ morning:아침)
5. We can’t go there now, it’s too far
(go:가다 / there:거기/ now:지금 / too: 너무 / far: 멀다)
6. I can’t do it, it’s too difficult
(do:하다 / it: 이거/ too:너무 / difficult:어렵다)
7. The weather isn’t good, it rains.
(good: 좋다/ weather:날씨 / rain : 비 오다)
8. I can’t work today, I’m sick.
(to work:일하다 / today:오늘 / sick:아프다)
9. This bag is not expensive. It’s really cheap
(expensive: 비싸다 / bag:가방 / really:진짜 / cheap:싸다)
10. My younger brother isn’t smart. He doesn’t study a lot.
(smart: 똑똑하다 / younger brother:남동생 / study:공부하다/ a lot: 많이)
Thy these on your own first, before checking the answers!
These are the answers:
1. I don’t drink tea. I don’t like it
(drink:마시다/ tea: 차 / like: 좋아하다)
나는 차를 안 마셔요. 안 좋아해요.
* 마시다 is a verb with a “ㅣ” contraction. 마시어요 contracts to 마셔요.
* ‘Tea’ is the object here, so we add the object particle 를 since it ends in a vowel.
* You can also use 내가, or 저는 제가(formal)
* We wouldn’t repeat “I” again, in fact you can omit the first part “나는” as well!
* 좋아하다’ is a 하다-ending verb, but since it’s related to feelings, we don’t put ‘안’ in between.
• 차를 마시지 않아요. 좋아하지 않아요(Formally)
2. I can’t swim, I’m scared
(swim:수영하다 / scared:무섭다)
수영 못 해요. 무서워요
* 수영하다’ is a 하다-ending verb, which is a combination of 수영 (a noun, ‘swim’) and 하다 (to do). In this case, we put 못 or 안 in front of 하다, so it becomes 수영 못 해요
* A lot of times, you will hear Koreans put 을/를 after the noun part of 하다 verbs as well, like 수영을 못 해요 or 공부를 안 해요. Although it’s not grammatically correct, it’s very commonly used!
* 무섭다 is a ㅂ-irregular verb! ㅂ changes to 우, conjugated as 워요.
* I omitted “I” part! It sounds casual and natural without it!
3. You aren’t tired, but I’m tired.
(tired:피곤하다/ but:근데)
너는 안 피곤해요, 근데 나는 피곤해요
* 피곤하다 is a 하다-ending verb/adjective, but since its an adjective, 안 doesn’t go in between!
* We are comparing two different subjects. In this case, using 은/는 particles is common.
We use the 은/는 particle when we compare, contrast, or emphasize the subject.
• 너는 피곤하지 않아요. (Formally)
4. I don’t exercise in the morning.
(exercise:운동하다/ morning:아침)
아침에 운동 안 해요.
* 운동(noun, exercise) + 하다(to do), 안 goes in between! (you’ll hear 운동을 안해요 as well)
* If you don’t remember the usage of “에”, check out my previous post!
* I omitted “I” part! It sounds casual and natural without it!
• 아침에 운동하지 않아요. (Formally)
5. We can’t go there now, it’s too far
(go:가다 / there:거기/ now:지금 / too: 너무 / far: 멀다)
우리는 거기에 지금 못 가요. 너무 멀어요
* You can change the order, 우리는 지금 거기에 못 가요, or even 지금 우리는 거기 못 가요 (Emphasis on 지금(now))
* If you don’t remember the usage of “에”, check out my previous post!
6. I can’t do it, it’s too difficult
(do:하다 / it: 이거/ too:너무 / difficult:어렵다)
이거 못 해요. 너무 어려워요
* 어렵다 is a “ㅂ” irregular adjective. ㅂ changes to 우, and it conjugates with 어요, becoming 워요.
* I omitted “I” part! It sounds casual and natural without it!
* Technically, the part “it” is the object and you can add “를”, but as I’ll mention in the next post, about 80% of the time, we commonly omit the object particle (을/를).
7. The weather isn’t good, it rains.
(good: 좋다/ weather:날씨 / rain : 비 오다)
날씨가 안 좋아요. 비 와요
* You can say 날씨는 as well!
* If you want to say “It doesn’t rain”, we say “비가 안 와요”. Because “to rain” is a combination of 비(noun, rain) + 오다(verb, to come). So, 안 goes in front of the actual verb(오다) !!!
• 날씨가 좋지 않아요. (Formally)
8. I can’t work today, I’m sick.
(to work:일하다 / today:오늘 / sick:아프다)
오늘 일 못 해요. 아파요
* 일(noun, work) + 하다(to do), 못 goes in between! (you’ll hear 일을 못 해요 as well)
* 일 못 해요 also means that they lack the ability to work effectively, resulting in poor quality of work.
* 아프다 is a “ㅡ” irregular verb! We drop ‘ㅡ’ and look at the vowel before ‘ㅡ’, which is ‘ㅏ”.
9. This bag is not expensive. It’s really cheap
(expensive: 비싸다 / bag:가방 / really:진짜 /cheap:싸다)
이 가방은 안 비싸요. 진짜 싸요!
* Remember?! “this” is “이”, and “that” is “그 or 저”
* You can say “이 가방이” as well!
10. My younger brother isn’t smart. He doesn’t study a lot.
(smart: 똑똑하다 / younger brother:남동생 / study:공부하다/ a lot: 많이)
우리 남동생은 안 똑똑해요. 공부 많이 안 해요.
* 똑똑하다 is a 하다-ending adjective! Since its an adjective, 안 doesn’t go in between!
* The second part, take a look at the order. We put 많이 and 안 in front of the verb(하다).
Get used to this order!
More examples :
전화 많이 안 해요(I don’t call much) (전화하다:to call, 많이: much, a lot)
요리 자주 안 해요(I don’t cook often) (요리하다:to cook, 자주: often)
Another tip: When you want to say “I’m not good at something,” you use “못” with “잘” (well).
공부 잘 못 해요: I can’t study well – this means ” I’m not good at studying”
수영 잘 못 해요 : I can’t swim well, I’m not very good at swimming
요리 잘 못 해요: I can’t sing well, I’m not good at singing
운전 잘 못 해요: I can’t drive well, I’m not good at driving
노래 잘 못 해요: I can’t sing well, I’m not good at singing
Great job!
In the next post, we will practice combining words more and learn additional grammar points like “에서,” “만,” “도,” etc., to help us construct more complex sentences.
Don’t skip the practice!
You’ve been doing an excellent job—keep up the good work!
