Negation · 안, -지 않아요

2. How it works

2.1 Short negation with 안

Put 안 directly before the verb or adjective. Leave a space between them. The rest of the sentence stays the same, and the verb keeps its normal polite ending.

안 + Verb / Adjective  →  negative

안 works for both actions and descriptions. 안 좋아요 is a plain description, and 안 가요 is an action. In both cases you simply say the word 안 first.

2.2 Verbs that end in 하다

Many Korean verbs are a noun plus 하다, such as 공부하다 and 운동하다. For these, 안 goes between the noun and 하다. So you say 공부 안 해요, not 안 공부해요.

공부하다   →  공부 안 해요    gong-bu an hae-yo
운동하다   →  운동 안 해요    un-dong an hae-yo
일하다     →  일 안 해요      il an hae-yo

Some verbs end in 하다 but are not a noun plus 하다. The word 좋아하다 is one single verb, so you put 안 in front: 안 좋아해요. Likewise 안 싫어해요 is fine.

2.3 Long negation with -지 않아요

Take the verb stem and add -지 않아요. The meaning is the same as 안, but it sounds a little more careful and formal. You will see it often in writing, news and speeches.

Stem + -지 않아요  →  negative
가다   →  가지 않아요
먹다   →  먹지 않아요

Notice the sound change in 않아요. The ㅎ is not pronounced, so it sounds like a-na-yo. With 하다 verbs the long form is easy, because the whole verb stays together: 공부하지 않아요.

2.4 못 for "cannot"

못 also goes before the verb, but it means you cannot do something. The reason is a lack of ability or a lack of chance. 안 means you choose not to, and 못 means you are not able to.

안 + Verb   →  do not, by choice
못 + Verb   →  cannot, no ability or no chance
Stem + -지 못해요  →  long form of 못

With 하다 verbs, 못 behaves like 안. You say 수영을 못해요 or 수영 못 해요, and both mean I cannot swim. The spoken sound of 못해요 is mo-tae-yo. The long form is 가지 못해요.

2.5 이/가 아니에요 for nouns

You cannot put 안 in front of 이에요. To say a noun is not something, use noun + 이 아니에요 or noun + 가 아니에요. This is the negative of 이에요/예요.

Noun ending in a consonant  +  이 아니에요
Noun ending in a vowel      +  가 아니에요

The 이/가 here marks the complement, but it has the same form as the subject particle. After a consonant use 이, and after a vowel use 가. The word 아니에요 never changes.

2.6 없어요 and 있어요

The opposite of 있어요 is 없어요. It means there is not, or I do not have. This is a word in its own right, so do not say 안 있어요. The pair 있어요 and 없어요 is one of the most useful in Korean.

있어요   →  there is / I have             i-sseo-yo
없어요   →  there is not / I do not have  eop-seo-yo

Many common words are built on 있다 and 없다, and they follow the same rule. 맛있어요 means tasty and 맛없어요 means not tasty. 재미있어요 means fun and 재미없어요 means boring.