Negating Sentences

 
3 Sentence Summary of This Lesson:
  • Korean negatives use 안 before verbs/adjectives (informal) or -지 않다 attached to them (formal).
  • For -하다 verbs, separate the noun and verb, inserting 안 between them (공부해요 → 공부 안 해요).
  • 안 requires a space before the verb, while -지 않다 connects directly to the verb stem.
 
Making negative sentences is quite simple in Korean. All you need to do is add ‘안’ in front of a verb or an adjective, in most cases.
 
Negating Sentences:
 
  • 사과를 먹어요. (I eat an apple.) → 사과를 안 먹어요. (I don’t eat an/the apple.)
  • 아침에 일어나요. (I wake up in the morning.) → 아침에 안 일어나요. (I don’t wake up in the morning.)
  • 지하철을 타요. ( I take/ride the subway.) → 지하철을 안 타요. (I don’t take the subway.)
  • 차가 예뻐요. (The car is pretty.) → 차가 안 예뻐요. (The car isn’t pretty.)
 
Notice that there is a whitespace (’띄어쓰기’ in Korean) between ‘안’ and the verb.
 
There is another way to negate a verb, which is a bit more formal. It’s ‘-지 않다’. The full form is ‘-지 아니하다’. ‘지’ is the connector and ‘아니’ is ‘not’ and ‘하다’ is ‘do’.
 
This one is actually connected to the verb or adjective, which is what the ‘지’ connector is for.
 
  • 사과를 먹어요. → 사과를 먹지 않아요.
  • 아침에 일어나요. → 아침에 일어나지 않아요.
  • 지하철을 타요. → 지하철을 타지 않아요.
  • 차자 예뻐요. → 차가 예쁘지 않아요.
 
In daily conversations, using ‘안’ is more common.
 
There is a special way to negate a sentence that contains the verbs or adjectives with ‘-하다’.
 
In order to negate it, you must separate the noun and the verb and slide in the ‘안’.
 
  • 운동해요. (I exercise.) → 운동 안 해요. (I don’t exercise.)
  • 공부해요. (I study.) → 공부 안 해요. (I don’t study.)
 
The formal version would look like:
 
  • 운동해요. → 운동하지 않아요.
  • 공부해요.→ 공부하지 않아요.
 
 
Try the following exercise.
Negate the following sentences in the two forms you’ve learned.
 
  1. 사과를 ________ / ________ . (먹다)
Answer
안 먹어요 / 먹지 않아요
 
  1. 공부를 ________ / ________ . (하다)
Answer
안 해요 / 하지 않아요
 
  1. 수학을 ________ / ________ . (좋아하다)
Answer
안 좋아해요 / 좋아하지 않아요
 
 
  1. 물을 ________ / ________ . (마시다)
Answer
안 마셔요 / 마시지 않아요
 
  1. 책을 ________ / ________ . (사다)
Answer
안 사요 / 사지 않아요
 
  1. 내용을 ________ / ________ . (읽다)
Answer
안 읽어요 / 읽지 않아요.
 
  1. 날씨가 ________ / ________ . (춥다)
Answer
안 추워요 / 춥지 않아요
 
  1. 주말에도 ________ / ________ . (쉬다)
Answer
안 쉬어요 / 쉬지 않아요
 
  1. 글을 ________ / ________ . (쓰다)
Answer
안 써요 / 쓰지 않아요
 
  1. 별로 ________ / ________ . (미안하다)
Answer
안 미안해요 / 미안하지 않아요
 
 
 
 
 
* For more practice exercises, visit the ‘Practice Hub’.
 
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