안 vs 지마 | How to say "don't" in Korean
- KSJ 쌤
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
안녕하세요 여러분! This will be a quick lesson today. I've had a few of my students slip up and make this mistake in the past, so I thought a short little reminder post couldn't hurt ;)
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안 vs 지 마(세요)
If you'd like to see a deeper breakdown of both concepts with more examples, you can read the rest of the lesson, but here I will do a quick answer / explanation.
안 is used to generally mean "not" or "don't". As in, I am not doing an action or I don't do an action.
Examples:
제가 오늘 출근 안 합니다. (I'm not going to work today.)
토요일에는 출근 안 해요. (I don't work on Saturdays.)
While -지 마 / 지 마세요 is used to command someone else not to do something. As in, DON'T do that.
Examples:
가: 내일 출근하지 마세요. (Please don't come to work tomorrow.)
나: 출근하지 말라고요? 왜요? (Don't come to work? Why?)
가: 사무실이 개조되고 있습니다. 우리는 금요일에 출근 안 할 것입니다. (The office is being renovated. We will not work on Friday.)
나: 알겠습니다. (Okay.)
안 V + 지 않다 - not, don’t
usage: these 2 mean the same things and are used interchangeably most of the time, although 지 않다 can seem a bit more formal. It’s translated as not or don’t.
the short form is 안 + verb/adjective
the longer form is verb/adjective + 지 않다
Examples:
저는 학교에 안 가요.
저는 학교에 가지 않아요.
I do not go to school.
When using the longer form, you should only conjugate the end -지 않다.
NOTE: You couldn’t say 저는 집에 안 있어요 though, you would just use 없다 here.
If a verb is ‘noun+하다‘ such as 공부하다/일하다/숙제하다/운동하다/수영하다, the negation ‘안’ occurs between the noun and 하다.
A Common Mistake
안 comes right before the verb, but there's a mistake Korean learners often make when it comes to using this form, which is not splitting up 하다 verbs when using 안.
하다 verbs, for example are words like 공부하다 (to study) and 숙제하다 (to do homework).
하다 verbs are a noun + 하다 combination that often are translated as "to do Noun", but not always.
Example:
숙제 - homework + 하다 - to do
숙제하다 - to do homework.
You’ll often see words like this get split into 2 - example 공부를 하다 & 숙제를 하다.
When using 하다 verbs the -안 will come before 하다.
Why?
하다 means “to do” and most 하다 verbs are combined with nouns. Which is why they can be split up into an object and a verb (하다).
HOWEVER not all verbs that end with 하다 are 하다 verbs. Only when it can be split apart into a noun + 하다 does it apply to them.
So descriptive verbs (otherwise known as adjectives) can not be used this way.
A descriptive verb like 피곤하다 wouldn’t fall into this category and therefore 안 would come before it.
안 피곤하다 - not tired
피곤 안 하다 (X)
There are some words that are exceptions to that, just like 피곤하다. Like 좋아하다 & 싫어하다, they can be written as 안 좋아하다 & 안 싫어하다.
Some other phrases as well can be exceptions, because they won’t sound as natural with 안 in the middle of them.
Pay attention to this as you learn more Korean and you will pick it up naturally.
MORE EXAMPLES:
일하다 > 일해요 > 일을 안 해요 = do not work
*when 하다 verbs are split like this, often the object particle will be added, but Koreans often omit particles in irl speaking situations.
운동하다 > 운동해요 > 운동(을) 안 하요 = do not exercise
수영하다 > 수영해요 > 수영(을) 안 해요 = do not swim
가다 > 가요 > 안 가요 = do not go
마시다 > 마셔요 > 안 마셔요 = do not drink
좋다 > 좋아요 > 안 좋아요 = be not good
지 마세요 - Don’t do it
usage: this is a form of 지 말다 (don't do).
지 마 means you are commanding someone not to do something.
지 마 + 세요 = polite command
Examples:
가지 마세요.
Please don’t go
너무 빨리 먹지 마세요.
Don’t eat your food too fast
슬퍼하지 마세요.
Please don’t be sad.
샐러드와 드레싱을 섞지 마세요.
Please don't mix the salad and the dressing.
담배는 피우지 마세요.
No smoking, please.
목이 아프면 말을 많이 하지 마세요.
If you’re sick, please don’t talk a lot.
박물관 안에서 사진을 찍지 마세요.
Please don’t take pictures inside of the museum.
엘리베이터를 타지 말고 계단으로 올라가세요.
Please don’t ride the elevator, but go up the stairs. (Instead)
That's the end of the lesson, but feel free to check out more here on KoreanStudyJunkie.com/blog!
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