안녕하세요, 여러분😁! (Hello, everyone!) So far, you've learned the present and past tense sentences in a positive meaning. Today, I'll show you how to turn those positive sentences into negative ones! This lesson will be easy enough if you have already studied the present and past tense sentences well!
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1. The negative adverb: 안
1) What is 안?
안 is an adverb. It changes statements or questions into negative ones. Just like "not" in English! You add 안 before a verb or an adjective. Read the examples below and pay attention to where 안 is inserted!
I read books. | |
↔ I don't read books. |
I ate my meal. | |
↔ I didn't eat my meal. |
The hat is pretty. | |
↔ The hat is not pretty. |
It's pretty simple, right? By the way, this 안 is one word. So, you will see the spaces before and after this word.
2) For 하다 verbs
For 하다 verbs that are made from a noun + 하다 (like 공부하다, 숙제하다), the adverb 안 will be located between a noun and 하다. It is because "안" is supposed to come before the predicate (a verb or an adjective), not a noun. To do so, you must separate a noun and 하다 using an object marker 을 or 를. Take a look at the example below.
숙제하다 to do homework
This word is the combination of the noun 숙제(homework) and 하다(do). A noun needs an object marker. Since 숙제 ends with a vowel, we need 를. → 숙제를 하다. → We insert 안 before the verb. → 숙제를 안 하다.
I'm doing my homework. | |
↔ I'm not doing my homework. |
⚠️ We can't say "안 숙제를 하다." or "안 숙제하다." 숙제 is a noun, not a verb. You must add this adverb 안 right before a verb!
공부하다 to study
공부 is a noun and 하다 is a verb. 공부 ends with a vowel. (=No final consonant!) What object marker do we need? Yes, 를! → 공부를 하다. → Now, insert 안 before the verb(하다). → 를 안 하다.
I'm studying. | |
↔ I'm not studying. |
<⚐ My Language Tips!>
Some adjectives end with 하다 as well. However, 하다 adjective is not a combination of a noun and 하다. It is considered as one word. For adjectives, you don't have to worry about separating them.
It's chubby. | |
↔ It's not chubby. |
I'm healthy. | |
↔ I'm not healthy. |
2. In the case of 이다 or 있다
1) 이다
이다 is the "be" verb in the Korean language. The negative form of 이다 is 아니다 (not to be). We don't use 안 to this word. If you want to learn more about the "아니에요" expression, please click here to read my other post.
example 1
I'm a student. | |
I'm not a student. |
⚠️ If you use 안 and say "저는 학생이 안 이에요," it is a very wrong sentence. Please make sure to use 아니에요!
example 2
I'm a singer. | |
I'm not a singer. |
2) 있다
있다 means something exists in Korean. Usually, it is translated as "have" or "There is/There are". The negative form of this 있다 is 없다.
example 1
There are students in school. | |
There is no student in school. |
⚠️ If you say "학교에 학생이 안 있어요," this would be wrong. So, please make sure to use 없다 for the antonym of 있다.
example 2
I have a chair. / There is a chair. | |
I don't have a chair. / There is no chair. |
If you want to learn more about 있다 and 없다, please check this post. Link to "have/ not have" 있다, 없다
3. Examples
Making the negative sentence using 안 is very simple! Here are some examples to help you to practice.
1
Did you eat? | |
No, I didn't eat. |
밥을 먹다 means "to eat a meal". 먹었어요 is the past tense of 먹다. The full-grammatical answer will be 아니요, 저는 밥을 안 먹었어요. But 저는 and 밥을 are pretty obvious parts. So, they are omitted.
2
Did you do your homework? | |
No, I didn't. |
숙제하다 can be separated as 숙제를 하다. When you answer, you can say "아니요, 숙제를 안 했어요." but the object part is pretty obvious. So it is natural to say just "아니요, 안 했어요."
3
Roy didn't come to school today. |
This sentence is about Roy. So, we start the sentence with 로이 씨 with the topic marker 는. 오늘 means today. 학교 is a place noun, so we add the place marker 에. 왔어요 is the past tense word of 오다.
4
I didn't swim yesterday. |
어제 means yesterday. 수영하다 means to swim and since it is a noun and 하다 verb, you can separate 수영을 and 하다. You put 안 before the actual verb part, 하다. By the way, 하다 is the basic form. It conjugates to 해요 in the present tense and 했어요 in the past tense.
5
Do you drink juice? / Are you drinking juice? | |
No, I don't. / No, I am not. |
Korean present tense can both mean simple present tense and progressive present tense. You have to judge by the context which it means. No matter what, to make a negative sentence, you can simply add our negative adverb 안.
4. Wrap up: Korean negative adverb 안
How was the lesson today? For you, I'll wrap up the important things here. Also, don't forget to download the worksheet to practice your Korean!
To make a negative sentence in Korean, use the negative adverb "안".
Put 안 right before the descriptive part (verb or adjective).
For some words, you have to use special forms, not 안.
이다 (be; am/are/is/was/were) ↔ 아니다 (not be; am not, are not, ...)
있다 (have, there is, there are) ↔ 없다 (not have, there is no)
If you have any questions regarding this lesson, please scroll down and leave a comment! Don't forget to subscribe to my website for lesson updates! Next lesson, you'll learn how to ask and answer "How are you?" in Korean. See you then! 감사합니다! 😊