않아

Korean

Etymology

Contraction of 아니하다 (anihada).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [a̠ntʰa̠]

  • Audio:

    (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)

1. (adjective지 않다 (-ji anta)) 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

    Selected forms of the adjective 않다 (anta): consonant-stem, regular

Verb

않다 • (anta) (infinitive 않아, sequential 않으니)

1. (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

2. (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	않으십시다 aneusipsida
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

    Selected forms of the verb 않다 (anta): consonant-stem, regular

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)