않다
Korean
Etymology
Contraction of 아니하다 (anihada).
Pronunciation
- (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [a̠ntʰa̠]
(file)
- Phonetic hangul: [안타]
| Romanizations | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization? | anta |
| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | anhda |
| McCune–Reischauer? | ant'a |
| Yale Romanization? | anhta |
Adjective
않다 • (anta) (infinitive 않아, sequential 않으니)
- (adjective-지 않다) auxiliary adjective used to negate the clause to which the main adjective belongs
- 어렵지 않은 수업
- eoryeop-ji aneun sueop
- a lesson which is not difficult
Conjugation
| Sentence-final forms | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formal non-polite (해라체) | Informal non-polite (해체) | Informal polite (해요체) | Formal polite (하십시오체) | ||
| Indicative | Non-past | 않다 anta | 않아 ana | 않아요 anayo | 않습니다 anseumnida |
| Past | 않았다 anatda | 않았어 anasseo | 않았어요 anasseoyo | 않았습니다 anatseumnida | |
| Interrogative | Non-past | 않으냐 aneunya | 않아 ana | 않아요 anayo | 않습니까 anseumnikka |
| Past | 않았냐 anannya | 않았어 anasseo | 않았어요 anasseoyo | 않았습니까 anatseumnikka | |
| Assertive | 않겠다 anketda | 않겠어 ankesseo | 않겠어요 ankesseoyo | 않겠습니다 anketseumnida | |
| Connective forms | |||||
| Cause/Reason | 않아 ana | 않아서 anaseo | 않으니 aneuni | 않으니까 aneunikka | |
| Contrast | 않지만 anchiman | 않은데 aneunde | 않더니 anteoni | ||
| Conjunction | 않고 anko | ||||
| Condition | 않으면 aneumyeon | 않아야 anaya | |||
| Noun and determiner forms | |||||
| Verbal nouns | 않음 aneum | 않기 anki | |||
| Past-tense verbal nouns | 않았음 anasseum | 않았기 anatgi | |||
| Determiners | Present | 않은 aneun | |||
| Future | 않을 aneul | ||||
| Sentence-final forms with honorific | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain (해라체) | Informal (해체) | Polite (해요체) | Formal (하십시오체) | ||
| Indicative | Non-past | 않으시다 aneusida | 않으셔 aneusyeo | 않으세요, 않으셔요 aneuseyo, aneusyeoyo | 않으십니다 aneusimnida |
| Past | 않으셨다 aneusyeotda | 않으셨어 aneusyeosseo | 않으셨어요 aneusyeosseoyo | 않으셨습니다 aneusyeotseumnida | |
| Interrogative | Non-past | 않으시냐 aneusinya | 않으셔 aneusyeo | 않으세요, 않으셔요 aneuseyo, aneusyeoyo | 않으십니까 aneusimnikka |
| Past | 않으셨냐 aneusyeonnya | 않으셨어 aneusyeosseo | 않으셨어요 aneusyeosseoyo | 않으셨습니까 aneusyeotseumnikka | |
| Assertive | 않으시겠다 aneusigetda | 않으시겠어 aneusigesseo | 않으시겠어요 aneusigesseoyo | 않으시겠습니다 aneusigetseumnida | |
| Connective forms with honorific | |||||
| Cause/Reason | 않으셔 aneusyeo | 않으셔서 aneusyeoseo | 않으시니 aneusini | 않으시니까 aneusinikka | |
| Contrast | 않으시지만 aneusijiman | 않으신데 aneusinde | 않으시더니 aneusideoni | ||
| Conjunction | 않으시고 aneusigo | ||||
| Condition | 않으시면 aneusimyeon | 않으셔야 aneusyeoya | |||
| Noun and determiner forms with honorific | |||||
| Verbal nouns | 않으심 aneusim | 않으시기 aneusigi | |||
| Past-tense verbal nouns | 않으셨음 aneusyeosseum | 않으셨기 aneusyeotgi | |||
| Determiners | Present | 않으신 aneusin | |||
| Future | 않으실 aneusil | ||||
Verb
않다 • (anta) (infinitive 않아, sequential 않으니)
- (verb-지 않다) auxiliary verb used to negate the clause to which the main verb belongs
- 듣지 않는 수업
- deutji anneun sueop
- a lesson which [I] do not listen to
- (transitive) to not do something
- 공부를 않는다.
- gongbu-reul anneunda.
- [I] don't study.
Audio (South Korea) (file)
Conjugation
| Sentence-final forms | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formal non-polite (해라체) | Informal non-polite (해체) | Informal polite (해요체) | Formal polite (하십시오체) | ||
| Indicative | Non-past | 않는다 anneunda | 않아 ana | 않아요 anayo | 않습니다 anseumnida |
| Past | 않았다 anatda | 않았어 anasseo | 않았어요 anasseoyo | 않았습니다 anatseumnida | |
| Interrogative | Non-past | 않느냐 anneunya | 않아 ana | 않아요 anayo | 않습니까 anseumnikka |
| Past | 않았느냐 ananneunya | 않았어 anasseo | 않았어요 anasseoyo | 않았습니까 anatseumnikka | |
| Hortative | 않자 ancha | 않아 ana | 않아요 anayo | 않읍시다 aneupsida | |
| Assertive | 않겠다 anketda | 않겠어 ankesseo | 않겠어요 ankesseoyo | 않겠습니다 anketseumnida | |
| Connective forms | |||||
| Cause/Reason | 않아 ana | 않아서 anaseo | 않으니 aneuni | 않으니까 aneunikka | |
| Contrast | 않지만 anchiman | 않는데 anneunde | 않더니 anteoni | ||
| Conjunction | 않고 anko | ||||
| Condition | 않으면 aneumyeon | 않아야 anaya | |||
| Motive | 않으려고 aneuryeogo | ||||
| Noun and determiner forms | |||||
| Verbal nouns | 않음 aneum | 않기 anki | |||
| Past-tense verbal nouns | 않았음 anasseum | 않았기 anatgi | |||
| Determiners | Past | 않은 aneun | |||
| Present | 않는 anneun | ||||
| Future | 않을 aneul | ||||
| Sentence-final forms with honorific | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formal non-polite (해라체) | Informal non-polite (해체) | Informal polite (해요체) | Formal polite (하십시오체) | ||
| Indicative | Non-past | 않으신다 aneusinda | 않으셔 aneusyeo | 않으세요, 않으셔요 aneuseyo, aneusyeoyo | 않으십니다 aneusimnida |
| Past | 않으셨다 aneusyeotda | 않으셨어 aneusyeosseo | 않으셨어요 aneusyeosseoyo | 않으셨습니다 aneusyeotseumnida | |
| Interrogative | Non-past | 않으시느냐 aneusineunya | 않으셔 aneusyeo | 않으세요, 않으셔요 aneuseyo, aneusyeoyo | 않으십니까 aneusimnikka |
| Past | 않으셨느냐 aneusyeonneunya | 않으셨어 aneusyeosseo | 않으셨어요 aneusyeosseoyo | 않으셨습니까 aneusyeotseumnikka | |
| Assertive | 않으시겠다 aneusigetda | 않으시겠어 aneusigesseo | 않으시겠어요 aneusigesseoyo | 않으시겠습니다 aneusigetseumnida | |
| Connective forms with honorific | |||||
| Cause/Reason | 않으셔 aneusyeo | 않으셔서 aneusyeoseo | 않으시니 aneusini | 않으시니까 aneusinikka | |
| Contrast | 않으시지만 aneusijiman | 않으시는데 aneusineunde | 않으시더니 aneusideoni | ||
| Conjunction | 않으시고 aneusigo | ||||
| Condition | 않으시면 aneusimyeon | 않으셔야 aneusyeoya | |||
| Motive | 않으시려고 aneusiryeogo | ||||
| Noun and determiner forms with honorific | |||||
| Verbal nouns | 않으심 aneusim | 않으시기 aneusigi | |||
| Past-tense verbal nouns | 않으셨음 aneusyeosseum | 않으셨기 aneusyeotgi | |||
| Determiners | Past | 않으신 aneusin | |||
| Present | 않으시는 aneusineun | ||||
| Future | 않으실 aneusil | ||||
Usage notes
않다 (anta) inherits the nature of the main term that it negates. Therefore it behaves as an adjective when it negates an adjective, and behaves as a verb when it negates a verb.
The adverb 안 (an, “not”) is used to negate a verb, and has a more informal connotation. Compare:
- 야, 나 안 먹었어.
- Ya, na an meogeosseo.
- Hey, I didn't eat.
- 교수님, 저는 먹지 않았습니다.
- gyosunim, jeo-neun meokji anatseumnida.
- I didn't eat, Professor.
Certain terms or expressions have a strong (sometimes obligatory) preference for one negation type or another. For example, adjectives derived from -스럽다 (-seureopda) are usually negated by 않다 (anta), as do inherently negative verbs such as 없다 (eopda, “to not have”) and 모르다 (moreuda, “to not know”). By contrast, negated rhetorical questions obligatorily require 안 (an).
안 (an, “not”) negates only the verb or adjective, whereas 않다 (anta) negates the entire embedded clause. While this difference is often not semantically meaningful, it can also lead to contrasting meanings, such as when the particle 만 (man, “only”) is involved:
- 사과만 안 먹어.
- sagwa-man an meogeo.
- Apples are the only thing they don't eat.
- 사과만 먹지 않아.
- sagwa-man meokji ana.
- They don't only eat apples [but they eat other things too].
In the first case, only the verb 먹다 (meokda, “to eat”) is negated. In the latter, the entire clause 사과-만 먹다 (sagwa-man meokda, “to eat only apples”) is negated.
For a history of this construction, see 不冬.
Related terms
- 말다 (malda)
- 못하다 (mothada)
- 안 (an)