1315 words
7 minutes
-지 않다: Negation
2024-12-09
2025-02-26
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Example Sentences#

  1. 차라리 카페 가서 수다 떠는 게 낫지 않아?1
    Wouldn’t it be better to go to a cafe and chat instead?

    • 낫다 means ‘to be better’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  2. 오늘도 내리지 않은 결심이2
    Today, once again, an unmade decision

    • 내리다 means ‘to lower’, ‘to bring down’, or ‘to make (a decision)’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  3. 앨리스: “하지만 저는 미친 사람들 사이에 가고 싶지 않아요,” 앨리스가 말했다.3
    Alice: “But I don’t want to go among mad people,” said Alice.

    • 싶다 is an adjective meaning ‘to be desirous of’, and when used after the connective ending -고, it expresses a desire to do something or to be in a certain state.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  4. 얼마 지나지 않아 전쟁이 일어났고, 젊은이들이 군대로 갔습니다.4
    Not long after, war broke out, and the young men went to the army.

    • 지나다 means ‘to pass (time)’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  5. 하지만 얼마 지나지 않아 맹인은 두 개씩 집어먹기 시작했다.5
    But not long after, the blind man began eating two at a time.

    • 지나다 means ‘to pass (time)’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  6. 이 모든 게 이어져, 끝나지 않는 춤6
    All of this connects, a never-ending dance

    • 끝나다 is a compound verb formed from (end) and 나다 (to come out or occur), meaning ‘to end’ or ‘to finish’ in an intransitive sense, indicating that the action happens by itself without an external agent.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  7. 남기지 않는 발자국 되고파7
    I want to be footprints that leave no trail

    • 남기다 means ‘to leave behind’ or ‘to leave remaining’. It is the causative form of 남다 (to remain), formed by adding the causative suffix -기-.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  8. 우리는 끝없는 검은 바다 한가운데 있는 고요한 무지의 섬에 살고 있으며, 멀리 나가는 것은 우리에게 맞지 않았습니다.8
    We live on a quiet island of ignorance in the middle of an endless black sea, and it was not meant for us to venture far.

    • 맞다 means ‘to be suitable’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  9. 그들은 여자를 만지지 않기로 다짐했기 때문이다.9
    They had promised not to touch a woman.

    • 만지다 means ‘to touch’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  10. 그러나 그의 승리는 길지 않았습니다.10
    However, his victory did not last long.

    • 길다 means ‘to be long’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  11. 맨날 카페만 가면 지겹지 않아?1
    Aren’t you tired of always going to cafes?

    • 지겹다 means ‘to be boring’ or ‘to be tedious’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  12. 멈추지 않고 나아가고 싶어2
    I want to keep moving forward

    • 멈추다 means ‘to stop’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  13. “그렇지 않으면 여기에 오지 않았을 테니까.”3
    “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come.”

    • 그렇다 means ‘to be so’ or ‘to be like that’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  14. 노인의 아들은 다리가 부러져 군대로 가지 않았습니다.4
    The old man’s son did not go to the army because he broke his leg.

    • 가다 means ‘to go’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  15. “아니에요, 저는 그러지 않았어요.5
    “No, I didn’t do that.

    • 그러다 is a verb meaning ‘to do so’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  16. 과학은 각자 다른 방향으로 나아가고 있으며, 지금까지는 우리에게 큰 해를 끼치지 않았습니다.8
    Each science is progressing in different directions and has not caused us great harm until now.

    • 끼치다 means ‘to cause’ or ‘to inflict’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  17. 그는 말없이 따라갔고, 한 시간 동안 아무 말도 하지 않았다.9
    He followed silently, and did not say a word for an hour.

    • 하다 means ‘to do’ or ‘to say’ in this context.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.
  18. 그러나 그의 힘은 큰, 움직이지 않는 산에 부딪히면서 약해졌습니다.10
    However, his power weakened as he hit a big, immovable mountain.

  19. 더 이상 묻지 않아도 괜찮아2
    It’s okay if you don’t ask anymore

    • 묻다 means ‘to ask’.
    • -지 않다 is a negation pattern, with attached to the verb stem and 않다 as an auxiliary verb for negation.

Footnotes#

  1. Sentence from A Fun Weekend Ahead. 2

  2. Sentence from A New Beginning. 2 3

  3. Sentence from Alice And The Cheshire Cat Story. 2

  4. Sentence from Bad Luck Good Luck Story. 2

  5. Sentence from Lazaro And The Blind Man. 2

  6. Sentence from Like A Paper Boat Song.

  7. Sentence from Shattered Pieces Song.

  8. Sentence from The Call Of Cthulhu Opening Story. 2

  9. Sentence from The Girl At The River Story. 2

  10. Sentence from The Stonecutter Journey Story. 2

-지 않다: Negation
https://koreanstorylab.com/posts/grammar/-지-않다-negation/
Author
Korean Story Lab
Published at
2024-12-09