[Learn Korean E12] “～지 않습니다”、”안～” (Negative Expressions)

안녕하세요. 토미입니다.

I am very excited to teach you this amazing language, Korean！Let’s study hard today as well!
If you learn from my lessons, you will be able to reach the level of TOPIK 1, level 1 and 2.

So, be confident. Just be ready for your bright future.

Now, Today’s topic is [영어 공부 어렵지 않습니까?].
We will learn [-지 않습니다, 않습니까] and [안-].

In the previous class, we learned the expression [이것은 필통이 아닙니다] “This is not a pencil case.” This was a negative sentence for a noun.

Today, we will learn how to make negative sentences for verbs and adjectives. We will also learn how to say days of the week.

Let me briefly explain how I will teach today’s class.

First, we will listen to a conversation with Korean and English subtitles.
Then, I will give an explanation on the vocabularies, phrases, and grammar used in the conversation.

Next, we will listen to the conversation again but this time without English subtitles.
Once you understand the content of the conversation, let’s practice reading it aloud together.

And, I will give you two assignments:)

그럼 시작할게요!

Listen to the Conversation

The title of today’s conversation is [영어 공부 어렵지 않습니까？].
This is a scene where Sangmin is studying English, and I am asking him about his English class.
Let’s first try reading the conversation with English subtitles.

• 토미：상민 씨, 요즘 영어 공부 어렵지 않습니까?
  Tammy: Sangmin, isn’t it difficult to study English these days?
• 상민：아뇨. 영어 공부는 무척 재미있습니다.
  Sangmin: No. I really enjoy studying English.
• 토미：무슨 요일에 영어 교실에 갑니까?
  Tammy: What day of the week do you go to the English class?
• 상민：월요일하고 수요일에 갑니다.
  Sangmin: I go on Mondays and Wednesdays.
• 토미：그렇군요. 주말에는 영어 교실에 안 갑니까?
  Tammy: I see. Don’t you go to the English class on weekends?
• 상민：네. 주말에는 집에서 쉽니다.
  Sangmin: No. I rest at home on weekends.

Vocabulary and Phrases

Next, I will explain the vocabularies and phrases while reviewing the conversation one sentence at a time.

• 토미：상민 씨, 요즘 영어 공부 어렵지 않습니까?

[요즘] means “recently or these days.”
There is a similar expression called [최근].
The nuance of the expression [최근] “Recently” sounds more close to the present than [요즘].

[영어] means “English”, [한국어] is Korean, and [일본어] is Japanese.

As you can see, [어] is in common because [어] is a Chinese character, which has the meaning of “language.”

[공부] means “study.”
So, [공부 열심히 해] means “Study hard.”

[어렵다] means “difficult”, and the opposite word is [쉽다] which means “easy.”

• 상민：아뇨. 영어 공부는 무척 재미있습니다.

The word [무척] means “very.”
There are also similar words like, [아주] [매우] and [너무].

[재미있다] means “fun,” and its opposite word is [재미없다] which means “not fun.”
The negative sentence “Studying English is not really fun” is expressed as [영어 공부는 너무 재미없습니다. ]

• 토미：무슨 요일에 영어 교실에 갑니까?

[무슨 요일에] means “what day of the week.”

In the previous class, we learned [무엇] which means “what.”
What do you think is the difference between this [무엇] and [무슨]?
[무엇] means “what”, and [무슨] means “of what.”

In other words, you can use [무엇] to say [무엇입니까? ] “What is it?”
But when you want to say “of what,” you use the word [무슨].
In this sentence, “What day is it today” has the same meaning as “What day of the week is it?”
So, you say [무슨 요일입니까?].
Native Korean speakers don’t ever say [무엇 요일입니까?]. So be careful.

[무엇 요일입니까?]（╳）
[무슨 요일입니까?]（◯）

[무슨 일입니까?] “What’s the matter?” “What happened?” is also an expression that is often used in Korean dramas.

• 월요일하고 수요일에 갑니다.

[월요일] is “Monday”, [하고] is “and”, and [수요일] means “Wednesday.”
Here, let’s master all days of the week in Korean.

　월요일 Monday
　화요일 Tuesday
　수요일 Wednesday
　목요일 Thursday
　금요일 Friday
　토요일 Saturday
　일요일 Sunday

In Korean, you can say [월화수목금토일] to say the days of the week.

For example, if you want to say “I go to Korean class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.”, you can say [월수금에 한국어 교실에 다닙니다.]

• 토미：그렇군요. 주말에는 영어 교실에 안 갑니까?

[그렇군요] means “I see.”
Korean people say this often, so please memorize it as a phrase.

[주말] means “weekend”, and “weekday” can be expressed as [평일] or [주중].

• 상민：네. 주말에는 집에서 쉽니다.

The word [집] means “home.”
In addition to “home,” it can also mean “shop or restaurant.”
So [갈비집] is “barbecue restaurant,” and [치킨집] is “fried chicken shop.”
In English, “fried chicken shop” may sound strange, but in Korea, there are many restaurants and fast food stores like KFC that are specialized in selling “fried chicken.”

[에서] is a particle that means “at~.”
In the previous class, I taught you [~에서~까지] which means “from~ to ~.”
So [에서] can be translated as “from” or “at” to describe a place.
You can figure out “from” or “at” by seeing the content of the sentence.

Grammar

지 않습니다/ -지 않습니까?

Now, let’s take a look at [지 않습니다] that we will learn today.
To make a present tense of negative sentence for verbs and adjectives, all you need to do is to add [지 않습니다] after the “stem” of the verbs or adjectives.

For example, The stem of [가깝다] “to be close” is 가깝.
So you add [지 않습니다.] Together it becomes, [가깝지 않습니다.] “it is not close.”

In the same principle, [계산하다] “to calculate” becomes [계산하지 않습니다] “I do not calculate.”

[괜찮다] “to be okay” becomes [괜찮지 않습니다] “It is not okay.”

Here, I omitted the subjects like “I, you, and It is” to make Korean sentences simpler.
And also, in Korean, you can make a complete sentence without putting subjects.
People can guess the subjects based on the situation.

Let’s see the question form.
In the conversation, Tammy says [토미：상민 씨, 요즘 영어 공부 어렵지 않습니까?]
Here, [어렵다] “to be difficult” is the dictionary form.
The stem of this adjective is [어렵].
So, you add [지 않습니까?] at the end.
Together, it means [어렵지 않습니까?], which is a question form of asking “Isn’t it difficult?”

Here are few other examples.

[가깝다] “to be close” becomes, [가깝지 않습니까] “Isn’t it close?”
[계산하다] “to calculate” becomes [계산하지 않습니까] “Don’t you calculate?”
[괜찮다] “to be okay” becomes [괜찮지 않습니까] “Isn’t it okay?”

Quiz

Next, I will give you some quizzes.
How can you make a negative sentence of the given words by adding [지 않습니다]?

Please, choose the correct answer from the options.

No.1)
그림을 그리다 to draw a picture
→　( )　I do not draw a picture.

(1) 그림을 그리지 않습니다. (2) 그림을 그리다지 않습니다.

The answer is (1)

The verb stem of [그리다] is [그리].
So you add [지 않습니다] at the end.
It is going to be [그림을 그리지 않습니다].

In the case of (2), you did not remove 다, so this can’t be the right answer.

Let’s move on to the next question!

No.2)
배 고프다 to be hungry
→　(　 ) I am not hungry.
(1) 배 않습니다. (2) 배 고프지 않습니다.

The answer is (2)

The stem of 배 고프다 is 배 고프.
So, you add [지 않습니다]. at the end.
Together it becomes [배 고프지 않습니다.]

The number one is missing with a word [고프다], so it is not going to be a complete sentence.

안～

Let’s move on to the second grammar.

Actually, I know a simpler way to make a negative sentence than adding [지 않습니다].
That is [안].
This makes your life a lot easier.
You just have to put [안] in front of a verb or adjective.

In the conversation, Tammy asks [주말에는 영어 교실에 안 갑니까?].
Here, you add [안] before the verb [갑니까?] .
By adding [안], the sentence is going to be negative.
So, you can translate it as “Aren’t you going?”

There are also other examples.

저는 한국에 안 돌아갑니다.
I am not going back to Korea.

오늘은 안 기다립니다.
I am not waiting today.

But there is one thing you need to be careful of.
That is [○○하다].
For example, if it is [운동하다], native Koreans do not say [안 운동합니다].
It is going to sound very awkward.
So, what should you do? You split the word [운동하다] into [운동] and [하다], and add [안] in the middle to say [운동 안 합니다].

If the word is [결혼하다] “to marry,” it becomes [결혼 안 합니다].
I am not going to marry.
If the word is [공부하다] to study, it becomes [공부 안 합니다] I am not going to study.

So, let’s take a simple quiz here to improve our understanding.

How can you make a negative sentence of the given word by adding [안]?
Please, choose the correct answer.

No.1) 계산합니다. I calculate.

(1) 안 계산합니다. (2) 계산 안 합니다.

The answer is (2).
[계산하다] has [하다].
In this case, you have to split the word to [계산] and [하다], and put [안] in the middle.
[계산 안 합니다.] is the correct answer.

Let’s look at another question!

No.2) 가져옵니다. I bring.

(1) 안 가져옵니다. (2) 가져 안 옵니다.

The answer is (1). 안 가져옵니다.
Here, you just have to put [안] before the verb [가져옵니다].
(2) is wrong, because the dictionary form of [가져옵니다] is [가져오다], which is one word. You cannot split into two.

Conversation (Korean only)

Now that I finished explaining all the grammar, let’s listen to the conversation once again, this time with only Korean subtitles.

You should be able to understand the conversation much better than before.

• 토미：상민 씨, 요즘 영어 공부 어렵지 않습니까?
• 상민：아뇨. 영어 공부는 무척 재미있습니다.
• 토미：무슨 요일에 영어 교실에 갑니까?
• 상민：월요일하고 수요일에 갑니다.
• 토미：그렇군요. 주말에는 영어 교실에 안 갑니까?
• 상민：네. 주말에는 집에서 쉽니다.

Conversation Practice

Now that you understand the content of the conversation, let’s try reading it aloud.
I will read the conversation out loud one sentence at a time, so please follow after me.
This is one of the few times you will read out, so please do not skip this part and try it with full confidence.

• 토미：상민 씨, 요즘 영어 공부 어렵지 않습니까?
  Tammy: Sangmin, isn’t it difficult to study English these days?
• 상민：아뇨. 영어 공부는 무척 재미있습니다.
  Sangmin: No. I really enjoy studying English.
• 토미：무슨 요일에 영어 교실에 갑니까?
  Tammy: What day of the week do you go to the English class?
• 상민：월요일하고 수요일에 갑니다.
  Sangmin: I go on Mondays and Wednesdays.
• 토미：그렇군요. 주말에는 영어 교실에 안 갑니까?
  Tammy: I see. Don’t you go to the English class on weekends?
• 상민：네. 주말에는 집에서 쉽니다.
  Sangmin: No. I rest at home on weekends.

Homework

The first homework is writing.
Please, tell me the things you don’t do in your habit by using [지 않습니다] and [안].

For example, in my case, I will say

• 저는 담배 피우지 않습니다.
  I don’t smoke.
• 저는 술 안 마십니다.
  I don’t drink alcohol.

The second homework is memorizing the vocabulary.
Please memorize the vocabularies from #121 [골목] to #160 [구십] on the second page of my Beginner Level Vocabulary.

I have created a 40-word quiz on my website, so please try the quiz.

That’s all for today!

Let’s walk ahead for your brighter future.

그럼 오늘도 행복 가득, 웃음 가득한 하루 되세요！ 한국어 화이팅, 화이팅, 화이팅！！