아니다 (anida) Conjugation: Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 아니다 (anida)
• Meaning: to not be
• Level: A1
• Stem: 아니
• Conjugation class: copula
• Object marking: n/a

What Does 아니다 Mean?

The pattern is 명사 + 이/가 아니에요. The noun being denied takes 이/가, never 을/를, so 학생이 아니에요 says 'is not a student'. The word 아니요 (no) looks related but is a separate word used as a short answer.

The three example sentences below deny a student, a holiday and a doctor in three tenses: present, past and a guess about the future. In each one the noun sits in front with 이 or 가, never with 을 or 를. The frame is the same as with 이다, with 아니 in place of 이, and the polite present is always spelled 아니에요.

How Do You Pronounce 아니다?

아니다 is read as written, and so are 아니에요 and 아니야. The formal present 아닙니다 is read [아님니다], because ㅂ becomes ㅁ before ㄴ, and the future forms make the ㄱ of 거 tense: 아닐 거예요 is read [아닐꺼예요]. Every form is listed in the table further down.

How Do You Use 아니다 in a Sentence?

아니에요 with 저는 and 학생이: a flat denial of identity.

아니었어요 with 어제는 and 휴일이: a denial about a past day. In speech it often contracts to 아녔어요.

아닐 거예요 turns the denial into a guess about a doctor: 'probably not a doctor'.

How Does Anida Conjugation Work?

아니다 behaves like the copula 이다: 아니 + 에요 gives 아니에요, and the past is 아니었어요 / 아녔어요. The honorific is 아니세요 and the modifier before a noun is 아닌. For a simple denial of identity, 아니다 already supplies the negative meaning. You do not need to add 안 or a further negative ending.

Sound Changes

Common Mistake

Wrong: ✗ 저는 학생 안이에요

Correct: ✓ 저는 학생이 아니에요

Why: Do not put 안 before 이다; the negative is the separate word 아니다, and the noun in front takes 이/가.

Learners try to negate 이다 the way they negate verbs, by adding 안. With a noun, switch to 아니에요 instead.

How It Differs from Similar Words

At the Wrong Classroom Door

A visitor checks a room before walking in. A staff member corrects the mistake.

Visitor

Staff member

Visitor

Staff member

아니에요 corrects the visitor's present assumption. 아니었어요 then looks back at that mistaken assumption: “it wasn't a classroom”. The visitor has learned what the room really is. The final 네 agrees with the correction; it does not turn the meeting room into a classroom.

How Do You Build a Clear Correction?

Start with the category or identity you are rejecting, then add 이/가 아니에요. With 학생, which ends in a consonant, use 학생이 아니에요. With 의사, which ends in a vowel, use 의사가 아니에요. The particle changes, but 아니에요 stays the same. Leave a space between the marked noun and 아니에요.

A correction is often easier to follow when you supply the right answer immediately afterward. In the dialogue, “This is a meeting room” repairs the visitor's misunderstanding and helps them decide where to go. A bare 아니에요 only rejects the previous suggestion; it does not tell the listener what is true instead.

Be careful with the spelling of the polite ending. Wrong: 아니예요. Correct: 아니에요. The familiar 예요 in vowel-ending noun sentences can tempt learners to carry that spelling over. Here 아니에요 is the form to remember, regardless of the noun before it.

Common Expressions with 아니다

장난이 아니다 literally means “is not a joke”. It can warn that something is serious, but in casual conversation it also emphasizes an impressive or extreme situation. For example, speakers can use it about a very heavy workload. The phrase alone does not say whether the situation is good or bad; the surrounding description supplies that judgment.

아니면 can mean “if not”, and it also links alternatives with the meaning “or”. In a choice such as “tea or coffee”, the speaker can place 아니면 between the two options. This use offers a choice rather than denying that either drink exists. Recognizing the connector makes spoken questions easier to follow.

아니에요 can also stand alone after thanks or praise, roughly “you're welcome” or “oh, it's nothing”. In that situation it modestly downplays the favor or compliment. It is not a literal claim that the other person's gratitude is false. Listen for what the speaker is responding to.

Where Will You See the Formal Form?

아닙니다 appears in formal corrections, customer-service replies and written notices. A notice may explain that a room is not an entrance or that an item is not for sale. The form changes the tone of the denial, while the noun still identifies the category being rejected. Casual 아니야 serves the same basic purpose among close speakers.

Related Words for Saying What Something Is

The 이다 conjugation lesson teaches the positive identity pattern alongside its negative. For a wrong room, 아니다 rejects the identification; 없다 would instead say something is missing.

Mini Drill: Noun Plus 아니에요

1. Complete “not a student”: 학생____ 아니에요.
2. Complete “not a doctor”: 의사____ 아니에요.
3. Choose the standard spelling: 아니에요 or 아니예요.
4. Make 아니다 formal polite in the present.

Quick Self-Test

1. Does 아니다 deny identity or say that something is absent?
2. What can 아니면 mean when it joins two choices?
3. Does 장난이 아니다 always describe something funny?

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Particle Goes before 아니에요?

이/가, as in 학생이 아니에요.

Is 아니요 the Same Word as 아니다?

No. 아니요 (no) is a separate word, used as a short answer. 아니다 is the predicate that follows a noun.

Can I Say 안 아니에요?

For a simple denial, use 아니에요 by itself. Adding another negative changes the meaning, so it is not the pattern for an ordinary 'is not' statement.

Does 아니다 Follow the Regular Pattern?

It follows the pattern of the copula 이다 rather than ordinary verbs. Unlike 이다, its own form does not change with the noun; only the particle does: 학생이 아니에요, 의사가 아니에요.

Which Words Are Related to 아니다?

• 이다
• 없다
• 틀리다
• 다르다

What Should You Learn Next?

Compare 이다, 없다 and 다르다 to see how Korean separates being, absence and difference; the rule behind this page is in 이다 conjugation, and any form can be checked in the Korean verb conjugator, the full list is in the Korean verb dictionary.