1 · Negation
Verbs that are negative already: 없다, 모르다, 아니다
negative words with a partner of their own
Three common verbs have their own negative partner, and Korean uses it instead of 안: 없어요, not 안 있어요.
Three of the most frequent verbs in Korean do not take 안, because each has a separate word for its negative: 있다 (there is, to have) and 없다 (there is not, not to have); 알다 (to know) and 모르다 (not to know); the copula 이다 (to be) and 아니다 (not to be). 안 알아요 and 안 학생이에요 are not Korean, and 안 있어요 can only mean "not stay (somewhere)", never "there isn't".
없다 is the negative of 있다 in all its uses: 시간이 없어요, "I have no time"; 집에 아무도 없어요, "there is nobody at home". It also appears inside words built on 있다: 맛있다 (tasty) and 맛없다 (not tasty), 재미있다 (interesting) and 재미없다 (boring), each written as one word.
모르다 conjugates irregularly: 몰라요, 몰랐어요. "I don't know" is 몰라요 or, more softly, 모르겠어요. Its partner 알다 loses its l before some endings: 아세요?, "do you know?". 몰라요 is about facts and people; for not knowing how to do something, Korean says 할 줄 몰라요.
아니다 negates a noun: 저는 학생이 아니에요, "I am not a student". The noun takes 이/가, just like a subject. The polite form is 아니에요 — 아니예요 is a common misspelling — the formal one 아닙니다, the past 아니었어요. The answer word 아니요, "no", belongs to the same family.
The form
| there is → there isn't | 있어요 → 없어요 |
| know → don't know | 알아요 → 몰라요 |
| is → is not | 학생이에요 → 학생이 아니에요 |
| tasty → not tasty | 맛있어요 → 맛없어요 |
| is in, of a respected person | 계세요 → 안 계세요 |
| formal | 없습니다, 모릅니다, 아닙니다 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The negative of 있다 is 없다.
오늘은 시간이 없어요.I don't have time today.
The negative of 알다 is 모르다.
저는 그 사람 이름을 몰라요.I don't know that person's name.
The negative of the copula is 아니다, and the noun takes 이/가.
이건 제 가방이 아니에요.This isn't my bag.
Words built on 있다 have partners built on 없다, written as one word.
이 영화는 정말 재미없어요.This film is really boring.
계시다 has no partner of its own, so it takes 안.
사장님은 지금 사무실에 안 계세요.The director isn't in the office at the moment.
A closer look
Having and not having
있다 and 없다 cover both "there is" and "to have": 저는 차가 없어요 is "I don't have a car", literally "as for me, a car does not exist". The thing you have or lack takes 이/가, not 을/를, because it is the subject of 없다.
Many useful adjectives are built on the pair. Two that come up every day are 상관없어요, "it doesn't matter", and 소용없어요, "it's no use"; both are written as one word, like 맛없다 and 재미없다.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the subject is someone you respect and the verb is 계시다, the honorific "to be (somewhere)"
안 계세요 is correct; 없으세요 means "does not have" and is not used for "is not here".
할머니는 지금 집에 안 계세요.Grandmother isn't at home at the moment.
계시다 replaces 있다 only in the sense of being somewhere, and it has no negative partner. For having something, the honorific is formed regularly: 시간 있으세요?, 시간 없으세요?.
How to spot it
- 없다
- 모르다
- 아니다
- 없어요
- 몰라요
- 아니에요
Example sentences
집에 우유가 없어요.There's no milk at home.
죄송해요, 저도 잘 몰라요.Sorry, I don't really know either.
저는 미국 사람이 아니에요. 캐나다 사람이에요.I'm not American. I'm Canadian.
이 근처에는 은행이 없어요.There's no bank around here.
그 식당 음식은 맛없었어요.The food at that restaurant wasn't good.
어제까지 그 소식을 몰랐어요.Until yesterday I hadn't heard that news.
7 more example sentences
지갑에 돈이 하나도 없어요.There's no money at all in my wallet.
이 단어 뜻을 모르겠어요.I don't know what this word means.
그건 제 잘못이 아니에요.That's not my fault.
오늘은 수업이 없어요.There are no classes today.
그 사람이 누구인지 몰라요.I don't know who that person is.
여기는 화장실이 아니에요. 저쪽이에요.This isn't the toilet. It's over there.
질문 없어요?Any questions?
Worth knowing (1)
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Answering a negative question
A negative question is answered according to whether it was right, not with a matching "no": 시간 없어요? — 네, 없어요, "right, I don't". English says "no, I haven't"; Korean says "yes", agreeing with what was asked.
펜 없어요? — 네, 없어요.Haven't you got a pen? — No, I haven't.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
알다 does not take 안: the negative of knowing is the separate verb 모르다, here in its polite form 몰라요. In the same way, "there isn't" is never 안 있어요 but 없어요.
Isseoyo, arayo, ieyo: their negatives are eopseoyo, mollayo, anieyo — no an.
Your turn
11 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.