Korean Negation the Easy Way: Just Put 안 in Front (and When It's 못 Instead)

You can already say 먹어요 (I eat), 가요 (I go), 해요 (I do). Here’s something that should feel like a gift: to make any of them negative, you don’t learn a new conjugation. You put one small word in front, and you’re done.

먹어요 → 안 먹어요. “I eat” → “I don’t eat.” That’s the whole move.

The only thing you actually have to decide is which negative word — 안 or 못 — and English is exactly what trips you up here, because English blurs the two together with “don’t” and “can’t.”

The whole trick, up front

Take the verb you already say. Put 안 right in front of it. Leave a space. Done.

• 가요🔊 (I go) → 안 가요🔊 (I don’t go)
• 먹어요🔊 (I eat) → 안 먹어요🔊 (I don’t eat)
• 마셔요🔊 (I drink) → 안 마셔요🔊 (I don’t drink)

No ending changes. The verb stays exactly as you learned it — 안 just sits in front, as its own separate word. ==Negation isn’t a new form; it’s 안 dropped in front of the verb you already know.==

💡 안 is written as its own word — there’s a space: 안 가요, not 안가요. It’s not glued to the verb.

The one real decision: 안 vs 못

Both make a sentence negative, but they say why — and this is the part English hides from you.

Same verb, one word swapped, two completely different sentences:

English would let you say “I don’t drink coffee” for both and leave the reason fuzzy. Korean makes you pick: is it your choice (안) or something out of your hands (못)? Once you feel that split, you’ll hear it everywhere. ==안 = I don’t (choice). 못 = I can’t (unable).==

💡 Words · 저는 — I / as for me · 커피 — coffee

Hear the switch

Same verb, plain then negative — nothing about the verb changes, a word just appears in front. Tap them back to back:

먹어요🔊 → 안 먹어요🔊 (I eat → I don’t eat)

가요🔊 → 못 가요🔊 (I go → I can’t go)

Notice 못 가요 sounds like “몯까요” (run together) — the ㅅ at the bottom of 못 becomes a light ㄷ-stop that tightens the 가 into 까. You don’t have to do anything; your mouth will get there. Just say it a few times and let the sound settle.

Negation in the past: still just one word

You already know the past tense (먹었어요 = ate). Negation works the exact same way there — the little word still goes in front, and the verb carries the tense:

See it? 마셨어요 (drank) stays the past-tense form you already learned — 안 just steps in front. You’re not learning anything new here; you’re reusing the past tense with a word bolted on the front.

💡 Words · 어제 — yesterday · 술 — alcohol / a drink

The 하다 trap: where English speakers slip

Here’s the one spot that catches nearly everyone. Verbs like 공부하다 (study), 요리하다 (cook), 일하다 (work) are really a noun + 하다 — you’ve been saying them all along; you just never had to look inside them before. When you negate them, 안 goes inside — right before 하다, after the noun:

• 요리해요 (I cook) → 요리 안 해요🔊 ✓ (not 안 요리해요)
• 공부해요 (I study) → 공부 안 해요🔊 ✓
• 일해요 (I work) → 일 안 해요🔊 ✓

Your English instinct says “don’t cook” → put the negative at the very front → ×안 요리해요. But 요리하다 splits into 요리 (cooking) + 해요 (do), and 안 negates the doing — so it lands right before 해요. The noun stays out front; 안 tucks in before 해요.

💡 The same goes for 못: 요리 못 해요 (I can’t cook). Noun first, then 못, then 해요.

Where it shows up

A friend offers you something, or asks about your plans — and half of real conversation is saying what you don’t or can’t do:

And notice nobody repeats “I”: 안 마셔요 on its own is a full, natural answer — the same 안 마셔요 covers “I don’t drink,” and only context (or a raised tone) tells you if it’s a question.

💡 Words · 내일 — tomorrow · 미안해요 — sorry

Now say your own

Make each one negative. Say it out loud before opening the answer.

1. 먹어요 (eat) — say “I don’t eat” (a choice).

answer

안 먹어요🔊 — put 안 in front, leave a space → 안 먹어요. (I don’t eat) The verb doesn’t change at all.

2. 자요 (sleep) — say “I couldn’t sleep” (past, unable).

answer

못 잤어요🔊 — it’s inability → 못, and past → the verb becomes 잤어요 → 못 잤어요. (I couldn’t sleep) The word goes in front; the verb carries the past tense.

3. 공부해요 (study) — say “I don’t study.” Careful where 안 goes.

answer

공부 안 해요🔊 — it’s a 하다 verb, so 안 goes inside, before 해요 → 공부 안 해요. (I don’t study) Not 안 공부해요.

Quick check

Q1 — 안 or 못? You love coffee, but the doctor told you to quit caffeine. Pick the one that means “I can’t drink coffee”:

why

You want to but something stops you → that’s inability, so 못. (안 마셔요 would mean you simply choose not to.)

Q2 — the 하다 trap. 일하다 (work). Pick the correct way to say “I don’t work”:

why

일하다 is a 하다 verb → 안 goes inside, before 해요 → 일 안 해요. The noun 일 comes first, then 안, then 해요. Not 안 일해요.

Q3 — make it, don’t just read it. You know 가요 (go). Without peeking, say “I don’t go” out loud, then check.

answer

안 가요🔊 — 안 in front, space, verb unchanged → 안 가요. (I don’t go) If you meant “I can’t go,” it’d be 못 가요.

One more way (for later)

There’s a second way to make verbs negative — putting -지 않아요 on the end instead of 안 in front (먹지 않아요 = 안 먹어요). It means the same thing and shows up a lot in writing. You don’t need it yet — 안 in front is the everyday spoken version, and it covers you completely for now. Meet the longer form later.

Before you go

• Negation = one word in front of the verb you already know (먹어요 → 안 먹어요) — no new conjugation
• 안 = I don’t (my choice) · 못 = I can’t (something stops me) — English blurs these, Korean splits them
• Both are written with a space: 안 가요, 못 가요
• 하다 verbs: the word goes inside — 요리 안 해요, 공부 안 해요 (not 안 요리해요)
• Tense lives on the verb: 안 먹었어요 (didn’t eat), 못 갔어요 (couldn’t go)

📌 Pocket cheat sheet: 안 + verb = don’t (choice) · 못 + verb = can’t (unable) · 하다 verbs → noun 안/못 해요.

You can now say what you do, did, will do — and what you don’t. Next up, a word that feels perfectly safe in English but quietly marks you as a foreigner the moment it leaves your mouth: 당신.