Today I’ll tell you about an easily mistaken, but simple to understand concept. How to say, “No” in Korean, it seems simple enough but there’s 3 different ways to say it - kind of.
The root word here is 아니다, which depending on the form it takes can have the meaning of ‘no’ or ‘not’. The 3 common forms we’ll look at today are 아니요, 아니라, 아니에요.
Simple Explanation:
아니요 - No
아니에요 - It’s Not
아니라 - It’s Not A but B
Let’s Go Into More Detail With Each Of These -
아니요
아니요 is simply no. It’s the opposite of 네 (yes).
Polite/Formal - 아니요
Informal - 아니
Example:
A: 너 이거 먹을래?
Do you want to eat this? B: 아니요. 괜찮아요.
No, I’m okay.
아니다: 아닙니다, 아니에요, 아니야
아니에요 is used to say ’It’s Not’ or ‘I’m Not’. It’s the opposite of ~이다 (입니다, 이에요, 이야) which means ‘To Be’ - ‘It Is’ or ‘I am’.
Formal - 아닙니다
Polite/Casual - 아니에요
Informal -아니야
Example:
A: 저 사람 한국 사람이에요?
Is he/that person a Korean person?
B: 아니요, 한국 사람이 아니에요.
No, he is not Korean.
아니라
This is used to say, It’s Not ‘A’ but (It Is) ‘B’. Or It’s not this, It’s that. Usually the particles 이/가 come right before 아니라. It’s used in the middle of a sentence and It has no Informal or formal counterpart.
Examples:
그 사람은 학생이 아니라 선생님이에요.
That person is not a student, they are a teacher.
저 사람은 한국 사람 아니라 일본 사람이에요.
He isn’t Korean, he is Japanese.
Same Sentence | Different Grammar
저것은 사람이 아니라 눈사람이에요.
That isn’t a person, It’s a snowman.
저것은 사람이 아니에요. 눈사람이에요.
That is not a person. It’s a snowman.
가: 저것은 사람이에요? A: Is that a person?
나: 아니요, 저것은 눈사람이에요. B: No, It’s a snowman.
PRACTICE TIME:
Comment Your Answer Below or Do It On Your Own!
Write These Sentences Using The Correct Grammar:
I am not a teacher, I am a student.
This woman is a doctor not a nurse.
That is not water. It’s sprite.
No, this is a library. It is not a bookstore.
This is the end of today’s post. Hope it helped you distinguish between these 3 forms.