Negation · 안, -지 않아요

5. Summary

• Short negation: put 안 right before the verb or adjective, as in 안 가요 and 안 좋아요.
• With a noun plus 하다, put 안 before 하다: 공부 안 해요. Never say 안 공부해요. A single verb such as 좋아하다 is fine with 안 first.
• Long negation is stem + -지 않아요, as in 가지 않아요. It means the same as 안 and sounds a little more formal.
• 못 or -지 못해요 means cannot, from lack of ability or chance. 안 means do not, by choice.
• For nouns use 이 아니에요 after a consonant and 가 아니에요 after a vowel.
• For having, use 없어요, not 안 있어요. The pair 있어요 and 없어요 is also inside words like 맛있어요 and 재미없어요.
• Next lesson: Place and Time Particles (에, 에서).