못되다

Korean

Etymology

Univerbation of 못 (mot, “poorly”) +‎ 되다 (doeda, “to become”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈmo̞(ː)t̚t͈we̞da̠] ~ [ˈmo̞(ː)t̚t͈ø̞da̠]
• Phonetic hangul: [몯(ː)뛔다/몯(ː)뙤다]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	motdoeda
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	mosdoeda
McCune–Reischauer?	mottoeda
Yale Romanization?	mōstoyta

Adjective

못되다 • (motdoeda) (infinitive 못돼 or 못되어, sequential 못되니)

1. (to be) nasty, mean, evil

   너 정말 못됐어! (informal non-polite; past tense form but the meaning is present) ― neo jeongmal motdwaesseo! ― You're so mean!

Conjugation

Sentence-final forms
		Formal non-polite (해라체)	Informal non-polite (해체)	Informal polite (해요체)	Formal polite (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	못되다 motdoeda	못돼 motdwae	못돼요, 못되어요 motdwaeyo, motdoeeoyo	못됩니다 motdoemnida
	Past	못됐다 motdwaetda	못됐어 motdwaesseo	못됐어요 motdwaesseoyo	못됐습니다 motdwaetseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	못되냐 motdoenya	못돼 motdwae	못돼요, 못되어요 motdwaeyo, motdoeeoyo	못됩니까 motdoemnikka
	Past	못됐냐 motdwaennya	못됐어 motdwaesseo	못됐어요 motdwaesseoyo	못됐습니까 motdwaetseumnikka
Assertive		못되겠다 motdoegetda	못되겠어 motdoegesseo	못되겠어요 motdoegesseoyo	못되겠습니다 motdoegetseumnida
Connective forms
Cause/Reason		못돼 motdwae	못돼서, 못되어서 motdwaeseo, motdoeeoseo	못되니 motdoeni	못되니까 motdoenikka
Contrast		못되지만 motdoejiman	못된데 motdoende	못되더니 motdoedeoni
Conjunction		못되고 motdoego
Condition		못되면 motdoemyeon	못돼야, 못되어야 motdwaeya, motdoeeoya
Noun and determiner forms
Verbal nouns		못됨 motdoem	못되기 motdoegi
Past-tense verbal nouns		못됐음, 못되었음 motdwaesseum, motdoeeosseum	못됐기, 못되었기 motdwaetgi, motdoeeotgi
Determiners	Present		못된 motdoen
	Future		못될 motdoel

Sentence-final forms with honorific
		Plain (해라체)	Informal (해체)	Polite (해요체)	Formal (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	못되시다 motdoesida	못되셔 motdoesyeo	못되세요, 못되셔요 motdoeseyo, motdoesyeoyo	못되십니다 motdoesimnida
	Past	못되셨다 motdoesyeotda	못되셨어 motdoesyeosseo	못되셨어요 motdoesyeosseoyo	못되셨습니다 motdoesyeotseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	못되시냐 motdoesinya	못되셔 motdoesyeo	못되세요, 못되셔요 motdoeseyo, motdoesyeoyo	못되십니까 motdoesimnikka
	Past	못되셨냐 motdoesyeonnya	못되셨어 motdoesyeosseo	못되셨어요 motdoesyeosseoyo	못되셨습니까 motdoesyeotseumnikka
Assertive		못되시겠다 motdoesigetda	못되시겠어 motdoesigesseo	못되시겠어요 motdoesigesseoyo	못되시겠습니다 motdoesigetseumnida
Connective forms with honorific
Cause/Reason		못되셔 motdoesyeo	못되셔서 motdoesyeoseo	못되시니 motdoesini	못되시니까 motdoesinikka
Contrast		못되시지만 motdoesijiman	못되신데 motdoesinde	못되시더니 motdoesideoni
Conjunction		못되시고 motdoesigo
Condition		못되시면 motdoesimyeon	못되셔야 motdoesyeoya
Noun and determiner forms with honorific
Verbal nouns		못되심 motdoesim	못되시기 motdoesigi
Past-tense verbal nouns		못되셨음 motdoesyeosseum	못되셨기 motdoesyeotgi
Determiners	Present		못되신 motdoesin
	Future		못되실 motdoesil

    Selected forms of the adjective 못되다 (motdoeda): vowel-stem, regular