BEG 11 | Negation “not, cannot”

SHORT NEGATION

안 : not

안 + ADJ

좋아요. (am/are/is good) <-> 안 좋아요. (am/are/is not good)
많아요. (are many, is much) <-> 안 많아요. (are not many, is not much)
예뻐요. (am/are/is pretty) <-> 안 예뻐요. (am/are/is pretty)
피곤해요. (am/are/is tired) <-> 안 피곤해요. (am/are/is not tired)
심심해요. (am/are/is bored) <-> 안 심심해요. (am/are/is bored)

Pay attention to these:

배(가) 고파요. (am/are/is hungry) <-> 배(가) 안 고파요. (am/are/is not hungry)
배(가) 불러요. (am/are/is full) <-> 배(가) 안 불러요. (am/are/is not full)
Because 배 is the noun ‘stomach’, and only 고파요 and 불러요 are actual adjectives!

안 + Verb

먹어요 eat(s) <-> 안 먹어요. do(es) not eat
자요 sleep(s) <-> 안 자요. do(es) not sleep
좋아해요 like(s) <-> 안 좋아해요. do(es) not like
싫어해요 hate(s) <-> 안 싫어해요. do(es) not hate

Noun + 하다: Noun + 안 하다 (because only 하다 is the actual verb)

공부(를) 하다 to study <-> 공부(를) 안 하다 to not study
샤워(를) 하다 to shower <-> 샤워(를) 안 하다 to not shower
생각(을) 하다 to think <-> 생각(을) 안 하다 to not think
말(을) 하다 to talk, speak, tell <-> 말(을) 안 하다 to not talk, speak, tell

Irregular Negation

알다 to know – 모르다 to not know
있다 to exist, to stay, there is – 없다 to not exist, to not stay, there is not
N이다 to be N – N이/가 아니다 to not be N

못 : cannot + Verb

먹어요 eat(s) <-> 못 먹어요. cannot not eat
자요 sleep(s) <-> 못 자요. cannot not eat
봐요 watch(es) <-> 못 봐요. cannot watch

Noun + 하다: Noun + 못 하다 (because only 하다 is the actual verb)

공부(를) 하다 to study <-> 공부(를) 못 하다 cannot study
샤워(를) 하다 to shower <-> 샤워(를) 못 하다 cannot shower
생각(을) 하다 to think <-> 생각(을) 못 하다 cannot think
말(을) 하다 to talk, speak, tell <-> 말(을) 못 하다 cannot talk, speak, tell

LONG NEGATION: ~지 않다, ~지 못 하다

ADJ/VERB STEM~지 않아요

좋다 to be good <-> 좋지 않아요. (am/are/is not good)
예쁘다 to be pretty <-> 예쁘지 않아요. (am/are/is pretty)
피곤하다 to be tired <-> 피곤하지 않아요. (am/are/is not tired)

먹다 to eat <-> 먹지 않아요. do(es) not eat
가다 to go <-> 가지 않아요. do(es) not go
좋아하다 to like <-> 좋아하지 않아요. do(es) not like
공부하다 to study <-> 공부하지 않아요. do(es) not study

Frequently Used Expression with ~지 않다

not that + ADJ/ADV = 그렇게 A.S/V.S~지는 않다

그렇게 like that, that much
~지 않다 to not~ [long negation]
-는 topic particle “as for…”

= It literally means “as for that much, it’s not…”
It’s partial acknowledgement. “It is, but not too much.”

덥다 (to be hot) 그렇게 덥지는 않아요. (It’s not that hot.)
= It is hot, but it’s not too hot.

친구friend: 오늘 더워? Is it hot today?
나me: 응. 근데 그렇게 덥지는 않아. Yeah. But it’s not THAT hot.

재미있다 (to be fun) 그렇게 재미있지는 않아요. (It’s not that fun.)

친구friend: 그 영화 어때? How’s that movie?
나me: 그렇게 재미있지는 않아. 그냥 괜찮아. It’s not that fun. It’s just okay.

잘+Verb (to be good at ~ing) 그렇게 잘 V.S.~지는 않아요. (is not that good at ~ing)

친구friend: 피아노 잘 쳐? Are you good at playing piano?
나me: 그렇게 잘 치지는 않아. 그냥 좋아해. I’m not that good at it. I just like it.

You can use 안, 못 before other tenses as well.

좋았어요 <-> 안 좋았어요 / 좋지 않았어요
나빴어요 <-> 안 나빴어요 / 나쁘지 않았어요
피곤했어요 <-> 안 피곤했어요 / 피곤하지 않았어요
먹었어요 <-> 안 먹었어요 / 먹지 않았어요 | 못 먹었어요 / 먹지 못 했어요
좋아했어요 <-> 안 좋아했어요 / 좋아하지 않았어요 | 못 좋아했어요 / 좋아하지 못 했어요
공부했어요 <-> 공부 안 했어요 / 공부하지 않았어요 | 공부 못 했어요 / 공부하지 못 했어요

• 못하다 without spacing: to lack ability or capacity to do something: “is bad at ~ing”
• 못 하다 with spacing: to be impossible to do something due to circumstances

저는 공부를 못해요.                                         I’m not good at studying.
오늘 시간이 없어요. 그래서 공부를 못 해요.       I don’t have time today. So I can’t study.

저는 공부를 못했어요.                                         I was not good at studying.
오늘 시간이 없었어요. 그래서 공부를 못 했어요. I didn’t have time today. So I couldn’t study.