-지 않다 Negation: Meaning, Rules and Examples

What you'll learn

• Build -지 않다 from a verb or adjective stem in the polite, past and formal forms.
• Spell 않아요 correctly and put the tense on 않다.
• Choose -지 않다 over 안 in writing, formal speech and long sentences.
• Use -지 않다 with action verbs, adjectives and 하다 verbs, and switch to 아니다 for nouns.
• Fix the most common mistake: writing 안아요 or stacking 안 with -지 않다.

Before you start: you should know the polite ending -아요/-어요 and the short negative 안. If not, read 안 negation in Korean first. Audio plays only when you press a button.

What Does the -지 않다 Negation Mean?

The -지 않다 negation means "do not" or "is not," and it is the long way to make a Korean sentence negative. The short way puts 안 before the verb (안 먹어요). The long way attaches 지 to the stem and then uses the helper verb 않다. Both ways give the same meaning.

A stem (어간, eogan) is the verb with the ending -다 removed. 먹다 ("to eat") has the stem 먹. 좋다 ("to be good") has the stem 좋. The helper verb 않다 carries the tense and the politeness ending, so it does the conjugating work for the whole phrase.

A First Example

Two sentences show the pattern, one with an action verb and one with an adjective. Each line gives Korean, Revised Romanization (RR, the official Latin spelling, used here only as a learning aid) and the meaning.

• 저는 고기를 먹지 않아요. (jeoneun gogireul meokji anayo.) [저는 고기를 먹찌 아나요] = "I do not eat meat." The verb stem 먹 plus 지 plus 않아요.
• 날씨가 좋지 않아요. (nalssiga jochi anayo.) [날씨가 조치 아나요] = "The weather is not good." The adjective stem 좋 plus 지 plus 않아요.

In both sentences the first word group keeps the stem, and 않아요 carries the ending. The next section shows how to build every common form.

How Does the -지 않다 Negation Work?

The -지 않다 negation works in two steps: attach 지 to the stem, then conjugate 않다 like any other verb. The first part never changes. Only 않다 takes different endings.

Step one: stem + 지. Remove 다 from the dictionary form and add 지: 먹다 gives 먹지, 가다 gives 가지, 좋다 gives 좋지. The 지 has the same shape after vowels and consonants.

Step two: conjugate 않다. The verb 않다 takes the same endings as other verbs: 않아요 (polite), 않았어요 (past), 않을 거예요 (future), 않습니다 (formal), 않아 (casual).

For 하다 verbs, use the stem 하: 공부하다 gives 공부하지 않아요. The short form splits the verb instead: 공부 안 해요. The long form keeps the whole verb together, as in 공부하지 않아요 (gongbuhaji anayo.) [공부하지 아나요].

The conjugator shows the full chain for 먹다. Because the first part is fixed, you only need to learn the endings of one helper verb.

Which Forms Does the Pattern Table Show?

The table lists the common forms. Every row uses the same first part, 먹지 or 좋지, and only 않다 changes.

The three buttons above play three rows of the table: the past, the formal and the connecting form. In the plain written style, action verbs use -지 않는다 and adjectives use -지 않다, as in 날씨가 좋지 않다. With the forms in view, the rule can be used to build a sentence from scratch.

How Do You Build 먹지 않아요 Step by Step?

You build a -지 않다 sentence in five steps: find the dictionary form, remove 다, add 지, conjugate 않다, and join them. The example below builds "I do not eat breakfast."

1. Find the dictionary form. The verb is 먹다 ("to eat"). The positive sentence is 저는 아침을 먹어요. (jeoneun achimeul meogeoyo.) = "I eat breakfast."
2. Remove 다. The stem is 먹.
3. Add 지. The connector gives 먹지.
4. Conjugate 않다. For the polite present, 않다 becomes 않아요.
5. Join and read. 저는 아침을 먹지 않아요. (jeoneun achimeul meokji anayo.) [저는 아치믈 먹찌 아나요] = "I do not eat breakfast."

You will know it worked when the rest of the sentence, including its particles, stays unchanged and only the verb part is rebuilt. The usual slip at this point is writing 먹지 안아요, because 않 and 안 sound alike. The helper verb is always 않.

Here is the same method on a past sentence. Start with 학교에 갔어요 ("I went to school"). The stem of 가다 is 가, so the negative past is 학교에 가지 않았어요. (hakgyoe gaji anasseoyo.) [학꾜에 가지 아나써요] = "I did not go to school." The tense moved to 않다, and the first part stayed the same. A different question comes next: when should you pick this form over the others?

How Is -지 않다 Different from Similar Forms?

The -지 않다 negation is the long form of 안, and it is different from 못 and -지 못하다, which say "cannot," and from -지 마세요, which says "please do not." The table compares them on the same verb.

The first two columns mean the same thing. 안 가요 and 가지 않아요 both say "I do not go." The difference is style, and that is the whole topic of the next lesson, 안 vs -지 않다. For inability, see -지 못하다 cannot. For requests, see -지 마세요 don't. With the comparison clear, the next question is where -지 않다 is the best choice.

When Do You Use It, and When Not?

Use -지 않다 in writing, in formal speech, in long sentences, and when you want to add a particle. Four cases cover most real needs.

• Writing and formal speech. News, reports, exams and speeches prefer the long form. 먹지 않습니다 is the formal polite choice. 우리는 아침을 먹지 않는다 is the plain written style.
• Adjectives, with a softer tone. 날씨가 좋지 않아요 is a calm way to say that the weather is bad. Speakers often prefer 좋지 않아요 to the direct 나빠요 when they want to sound less blunt. This is a tendency in everyday speech, not a rule.
• "Do not have to" and "must." 가지 않아도 돼요. (gaji anado dwaeyo.) = "You do not have to go." The pattern -지 않아도 되다 means "it is fine not to." The pattern -지 않으면 안 되다 means "must," and word for word it says "if you do not, it is not okay."
• Connecting. 먹지 않고 가요 means "I go without eating." The form -지 않고 joins two actions and says that the first one does not happen.

The first button below plays 공부하지 않아요, a 하다 verb in the long form. The second plays 가지 않아도 돼요, the "do not have to" pattern.

There are also cases where -지 않다 should not be used. With nouns, use 아니다: 학생이 아니에요. (haksaengi anieyo.) = "I am not a student." For commands, use -지 마세요. For "cannot," use 못 or -지 못하다. Also, the verb 있다 has the negative 없다, so 집에 있어요 becomes 집에 없어요. The form 있지 않아요 is possible, but it sounds indirect.

The plain written style, 날씨가 좋지 않다, is what you find in diaries, essays and news.

An honest limit: this lesson covers -지 않다 as a plain negative. It does not cover the many fixed patterns built on it, such as -지 않을까요 ("I wonder if it will ..."), and it does not cover negative questions, which have their own lesson. Before moving on, check the mistakes that cost learners the most points.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make?

Learners most often mix 안 and 않 and place the tense in the wrong spot. Five mistakes appear again and again, and each has a quick repair.

1. Spelling 않 as 안. Learners often assume the two words are the same, because they sound the same. Actually, 안 is the short negative adverb, and 않 is the stem of the verb 않다. Write 먹지 않아요, not 먹지 안아요.
2. Stacking 안 with -지 않다. Write either 안 먹어요 or 먹지 않아요, not 안 먹지 않아요. 안 먹지 않아요 is a double negative ("it is not that I do not eat"), so it says the opposite of what you meant.
3. Putting the tense on the verb. Write 먹지 않았어요, not 먹었지 않아요. The tense marker -았/었 goes on 않다, the last verb of the chain.
4. Using -지 않다 with 이다. Write 학생이 아니에요, not 학생이지 않아요. The noun negative is a separate word, 아니다.
5. Using -지 않다 for a request. 가지 않아요 describes a fact. To say "please do not go," write 가지 마세요.

A quick self-check: is the spelling 않, is the tense on 않다, and is the word before 지 a verb or adjective stem? If so, the pattern is right. Practice makes this check automatic.

Practice and Answers

Try the four items before you read the answer key. Cover the answers with your hand.

1. Choose the form. 저는 커피를 마시___ 않아요. (지 / 고)
2. Fix the error. 저는 고기를 먹지 안아요. Rewrite it correctly.
3. Translate. "I did not go to school." Use -지 않다 and the past tense.
4. Write your own. Write one sentence with -지 않아요 and an action verb, and one with -지 않았어요 and an adjective. Say the English meaning of each.

Answer key

1. 지. The pattern is stem + 지 + 않아요, so the sentence is 저는 커피를 마시지 않아요 and means "I do not drink coffee."
2. 저는 고기를 먹지 않아요. The helper verb is 않다, so the spelling is 않아요.
3. 저는 학교에 가지 않았어요. (jeoneun hakgyoe gaji anasseoyo.) The tense -았 sits on 않다.
4. Answers vary. Check that the first sentence has stem + 지 + 않아요, such as 저는 우유를 마시지 않아요 (I do not drink milk). Check that the second has an adjective and 않았어요, such as 어제는 춥지 않았어요 (yesterday was not cold).

One more rule of thumb: if you can say 안 + verb, you can usually say stem + 지 않다 as well. If the sentence is formal or written, prefer the long form.

Next Lessons after the -지 않다 Negation

After the -지 않다 negation, compare it with the short form, then learn the long form of inability. This lesson teaches one negative pattern. It does not teach every use of 않다, which is covered across the negation set.

1. Start with 안 vs -지 않다, which compares the short and long negatives in detail.
2. Continue with -지 못하다 cannot, the long form of 못.
3. Learn how to say "please do not" with -지 마세요 don't, and the past tense with negative past tense in Korean.
4. Review 안 vs 못 for the choice between "do not" and "cannot," and return to Korean negation to see every lesson in the set.

With these steps, the -지 않다 negation becomes automatic: take the stem, add 지, and conjugate 않다 for the tense and politeness you need.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is -지 않다 more polite than 안?

Not by itself. Politeness comes from the ending: 먹지 않아요 and 안 먹어요 are both polite (해요체). The long form sounds more careful and is common in writing and formal speech. In formal speech, 먹지 않습니다 is the usual choice because -ㅂ니다 is more formal than -아요.

Why is the spelling 않아요 and not 안아요?

않다 is a verb on its own, and 않 is its stem. 안 is a different word, the short negative adverb. Both spellings are pronounced [아나요], so the spelling must be learned. Remember that 안 is never used with -지: you write 먹지 않아요, never 먹지 안아요.

Can I use -지 않다 with 이다 "to be"?

No. The negative of 이다 is 아니다: 학생이 아니에요 means "I am not a student." 학생이지 않아요 is not used as the plain negative of a noun sentence. Use 이/가 아니다 for nouns, and use -지 않다 for verbs and adjectives, such as 좋지 않아요 ("is not good").

Where do I put the past tense?

Put it on 않다, not on the verb. Write 먹지 않았어요 ("I did not eat"), not 먹었지 않아요. The first part, the stem plus 지, stays fixed. The same rule holds for the future: 먹지 않을 거예요 ("I will not eat").

Can -지 않다 give a command?

No. For "please do not," use -지 마세요: 가지 마세요 means "please do not go." The -지 않다 form only describes what is or is not true. Using 가지 않으세요 would be a question or a statement about a respected person, not a request.