Negative Adjectives

Korean adjectives can be negated in two main ways: using 안 or using -지 않다. Both express negation but have different levels of formality and emphasis.

Two Negation Methods

Method 1: 안 (an)

Short, simple negation placed before the adjective.

Pattern: 안 + [Adjective]

Method 2: -지 않다 (ji anta)

Longer, more formal or emphatic negation attached to the stem.

Pattern: [Stem]지 않다

Negation with 안

Formation

Place 안 directly before the conjugated adjective:

안 + [Conjugated Adjective]

• 안 커요. (is not big)
• 안 좋아요. (is not good)
• 안 예쁘어요. (is not pretty)
• 안 맛있어요. (is not delicious)

Present Tense with 안

Informal polite:

• 안 좋아요. (is not good)
• 안 커요. (is not big)
• 안 작아요. (is not small)
• 안 높아요. (is not high)

Formal polite:

• 안 좋습니다. (is not good)
• 안 큽니다. (is not big)
• 안 작습니다. (is not small)

Past Tense with 안

안 + [Past Adjective]

• 안 좋았어요. (was not good)
• 안 컸어요. (was not big)
• 안 예뻤어요. (was not pretty)
• 안 맛있었어요. (was not delicious)

Future Tense with 안

With -겠어요:

• 안 좋겠어요. (will probably not be good)
• 안 크겠어요. (will probably not be big)

With -(으)ㄹ 거예요:

• 안 좋을 거예요. (will not be good)
• 안 클 거예요. (will not be big)

Negation with -지 않다

Formation

Add -지 않다 to the stem:

[Stem]지 않다

This conjugates like any verb/adjective ending in -다.

Present Tense with -지 않다

Informal polite:

• 좋지 않아요. (is not good)
• 크지 않아요. (is not big)
• 작지 않아요. (is not small)
• 예쁘지 않아요. (is not pretty)

Formal polite:

• 좋지 않습니다. (is not good)
• 크지 않습니다. (is not big)
• 예쁘지 않습니다. (is not pretty)

Past Tense with -지 않다

[Stem]지 않았어요 / 않았습니다

• 좋지 않았어요. (was not good)
• 크지 않았어요. (was not big)
• 예쁘지 않았어요. (was not pretty)
• 맛있지 않았어요. (was not delicious)

Future Tense with -지 않다

With -겠어요:

• 좋지 않겠어요. (will probably not be good)
• 크지 않겠어요. (will probably not be big)

With -(으)ㄹ 거예요:

• 좋지 않을 거예요. (will not be good)
• 크지 않을 거예요. (will not be big)

Difference: 안 vs -지 않다

안 (Shorter, More Casual)

Characteristics:

• Simpler, quicker to say
• More common in casual speech
• Less emphatic
• Natural in everyday conversation

Examples:

• 안 좋아요. (not good)
• 안 커요. (not big)
• 안 맛있어요. (not delicious)

-지 않다 (Longer, More Formal)

Characteristics:

• More formal or emphatic
• Sounds more deliberate
• Used in writing or formal speech
• Can emphasize the negation

Examples:

• 좋지 않아요. (is not good - emphatic)
• 크지 않아요. (is not big - formal)
• 맛있지 않아요. (is not delicious - emphatic)

Context Comparison

Casual conversation:

• 이 음식 안 맛있어요. (This food is not delicious.) - natural

Formal or emphatic:

• 이 음식은 맛있지 않습니다. (This food is not delicious.) - formal/emphatic

Common Adjectives - Negative Forms

좋다 (to be good)

With 안:

• 안 좋아요 (not good)
• 안 좋았어요 (was not good)
• 안 좋을 거예요 (will not be good)

With -지 않다:

• 좋지 않아요 (is not good)
• 좋지 않았어요 (was not good)
• 좋지 않을 거예요 (will not be good)

크다 (to be big)

With 안:

• 안 커요 (not big)
• 안 컸어요 (was not big)
• 안 클 거예요 (will not be big)

With -지 않다:

• 크지 않아요 (is not big)
• 크지 않았어요 (was not big)
• 크지 않을 거예요 (will not be big)

예쁘다 (to be pretty)

With 안:

• 안 예뻐요 (not pretty)
• 안 예뻤어요 (was not pretty)

With -지 않다:

• 예쁘지 않아요 (is not pretty)
• 예쁘지 않았어요 (was not pretty)

맛있다 (to be delicious)

With 안:

• 안 맛있어요 (not delicious)
• 안 맛있었어요 (was not delicious)

With -지 않다:

• 맛있지 않아요 (is not delicious)
• 맛있지 않았어요 (was not delicious)

춥다 (to be cold)

With 안:

• 안 추워요 (not cold)
• 안 추웠어요 (was not cold)

With -지 않다:

• 춥지 않아요 (is not cold)
• 춥지 않았어요 (was not cold)

Negative Questions

With 안

Pattern: 안 + [Adjective]?

• 안 좋아요? (Isn't it good?)
• 안 커요? (Isn't it big?)
• 안 예뻐요? (Isn't it pretty?)
• 안 맛있어요? (Isn't it delicious?)

With -지 않다

Pattern: [Stem]지 않아요?

• 좋지 않아요? (Isn't it good?)
• 크지 않아요? (Isn't it big?)
• 예쁘지 않아요? (Isn't it pretty?)

Question-Answer Examples

Q: 안 추워요? (Isn't it cold?)

A: 아니요, 안 추워요. (No, it's not cold.)

Q: 맛있지 않아요? (Isn't it delicious?)

A: 네, 맛있지 않아요. (Yes, it's not delicious.)

Inherently Negative Adjectives

Some adjectives have inherent negative meaning and don't need 안 or -지 않다:

없다 (to not exist/have)

• 시간이 없어요. (There's no time. / I don't have time.)
• 돈이 없어요. (There's no money.)
• 친구가 없어요. (I have no friends.)

Do not use 안 with 없다:

• ❌ 안 없어요 (incorrect)
• ✓ 없어요 (correct)

To make 없다 positive, use 있다:

• 시간이 있어요. (There is time.)

싫다 (to dislike/hate)

• 싫어요. (I dislike it. / I don't like it.)
• 그 사람이 싫어요. (I don't like that person.)

Positive form uses 좋다:

• 좋아요. (I like it.)

틀리다 (to be wrong)

• 답이 틀려요. (The answer is wrong.)

Positive form uses 맞다:

• 답이 맞아요. (The answer is correct.)

Special Negative Adjectives

나쁘다 (to be bad)

Already negative in meaning, but can still be negated:

Double negative = somewhat positive:

• 나쁘지 않아요. (is not bad → meaning: it's okay/decent)
• 안 나빠요. (not bad)

어렵다 (to be difficult)

Negation:

• 안 어려워요. (is not difficult)
• 어렵지 않아요. (is not difficult)

Positive opposite uses 쉽다:

• 쉬워요. (is easy)

Irregular Adjectives in Negative

ㅂ Irregular

With 안:

• 춥다 → 안 추워요 (not cold)
• 덥다 → 안 더워요 (not hot)
• 아름답다 → 안 아름다워요 (not beautiful)

With -지 않다:

• 춥다 → 춥지 않아요 (is not cold)
• 덥다 → 덥지 않아요 (is not hot)

ㅎ Irregular

With 안:

• 빨갛다 → 안 빨개요 (not red)
• 그렇다 → 안 그래요 (not so)
• 어떻다 → 안 어때요 (not how - rare)

With -지 않다:

• 빨갛다 → 빨갛지 않아요 (is not red)
• 그렇다 → 그렇지 않아요 (is not so)

으 Irregular

With 안:

• 크다 → 안 커요 (not big)
• 예쁘다 → 안 예뻐요 (not pretty)
• 바쁘다 → 안 바빠요 (not busy)

With -지 않다:

• 크다 → 크지 않아요 (is not big)
• 예쁘다 → 예쁘지 않아요 (is not pretty)

Common Negative Sentence Patterns

Simple Negative Statement

[Subject] + [Negative Adjective]

• 날씨가 안 좋아요. (The weather is not good.)
• 집이 크지 않아요. (The house is not big.)
• 음식이 안 맛있어요. (The food is not delicious.)

Contrast with Positive

[Statement], 하지만 [Negative]

• 예쁘지만 안 비싸요. (It's pretty but not expensive.)
• 크지만 좋지 않아요. (It's big but not good.)

Double Negative (Moderate Positive)

안 [Negative Adjective]

• 안 나빠요. (not bad → meaning: it's okay)
• 안 싫어요. (don't dislike → meaning: it's okay/acceptable)
• 나쁘지 않아요. (is not bad → meaning: it's decent)

Softening Negation

Using 별로 (not particularly)

별로 안 + [Adjective]

• 별로 안 좋아요. (not particularly good)
• 별로 안 커요. (not particularly big)
• 별로 안 맛있어요. (not particularly delicious)

This is softer than direct negation.

Using 그다지 (not so much)

그다지 [Stem]지 않다

• 그다지 좋지 않아요. (not so good)
• 그다지 크지 않아요. (not so big)

More literary or formal than 별로.

Using 그렇게 (not so/that)

그렇게 안 + [Adjective]

• 그렇게 안 비싸요. (not so expensive)
• 그렇게 안 어려워요. (not so difficult)

Comparing Positive and Negative

Size

Positive:

• 커요. (is big)
• 작아요. (is small)

Negative:

• 안 커요. / 크지 않아요. (is not big)
• 안 작아요. / 작지 않아요. (is not small)

Quality

Positive:

• 좋아요. (is good)
• 나빠요. (is bad)

Negative:

• 안 좋아요. / 좋지 않아요. (is not good)
• 안 나빠요. / 나쁘지 않아요. (is not bad)

Temperature

Positive:

• 추워요. (is cold)
• 더워요. (is hot)

Negative:

• 안 추워요. / 춥지 않아요. (is not cold)
• 안 더워요. / 덥지 않아요. (is not hot)

In Conversation

Expressing Disagreement

A: 이 영화 좋아요. (This movie is good.)

B: 저는 좋지 않아요. / 안 좋아요. (I don't think it's good. / It's not good to me.)

Correcting Information

A: 시험이 어려웠어요? (Was the exam difficult?)

B: 아니요, 어렵지 않았어요. (No, it wasn't difficult.)

Moderate Response

A: 날씨가 나빠요. (The weather is bad.)

B: 나쁘지 않아요. 괜찮아요. (It's not bad. It's okay.)

Formal Writing

In formal writing or academic contexts, -지 않다 is preferred:

• 이 방법은 효과적이지 않습니다. (This method is not effective.)
• 결과가 좋지 않았습니다. (The results were not good.)
• 문제가 간단하지 않습니다. (The problem is not simple.)

Negative with Intensifiers

전혀 (not at all)

전혀 [Stem]지 않다

• 전혀 좋지 않아요. (is not good at all)
• 전혀 맛있지 않아요. (is not delicious at all)

전혀 must be used with -지 않다, not with 안:

• ❌ 전혀 안 좋아요 (incorrect)
• ✓ 전혀 좋지 않아요 (correct)

하나도 (not at all/not even one bit)

하나도 안 + [Adjective]

• 하나도 안 좋아요. (is not good at all)
• 하나도 안 예뻐요. (is not pretty at all)

Can be used with both 안 and -지 않다:

• 하나도 좋지 않아요. (is not good at all)