-지 마세요: Telling Someone Not To | Korean Grammar

To tell someone not to do something — "don't cry," "don't smoke here," "don't be late" — Korean does not reuse the statement negators 안 or -지 않다. It reaches for a completely separate machine: the auxiliary verb 말다, attached to the main verb through -지. So "do" is 하다, and "don't do it (as a command)" is 하지 마세요. This is one of the cleanest either-or rules in Korean grammar: statements negate with 안/않다, but commands negate with -지 말다, and the two never trade places. Trying to build a prohibition out of 안 simply doesn't produce a command.

The pattern: verb stem + -지 + 말다

Take any verb, strip it to its stem, add -지, then conjugate 말다 for the politeness level you need. The main verb stays frozen in its -지 form; 말다 does all the conjugating.

Level	Form (하다 → "don't do it")	Where you hear it
intimate (반말)	하지 마	friends, close family, children
polite (해요체)	하지 마세요	everyday polite requests, signs
formal (합쇼체)	하지 마십시오	public notices, announcements, ceremony

너무 걱정하지 마.

neomu geokjeonghaji ma

Don't worry so much. (to a friend)

여기에서 담배를 피우지 마세요.

yeogieseo dambaereul piuji maseyo

Please don't smoke here.

잔디밭에 들어가지 마십시오.

jandibate deureogaji masipsio

Do not enter the lawn. (formal sign)

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The main verb never changes shape — it just sits in its -지 form (걱정하지, 피우지, 들어가지). All the politeness and mood live on 말다 at the end. Learn to build the -지 part once, then swap the 말다 ending to match the register.

Why you can't command with 안

This is the boundary that trips up English speakers. In English, "don't go" is just "go" plus the negator "not/don't" — the same negator you use in statements ("I don't go"). Korean does not work that way. 안 and -지 않다 negate statements and questions; they cannot form a command. 안 가세요 does not mean "don't go" — it is a statement/question, "you're not going" or "aren't you going?" To actually order someone not to go, you need -지 말다: 가지 마세요.

위험하니까 그 문을 열지 마세요.

wiheomhanikka geu muneul yeolji maseyo

It's dangerous, so don't open that door.

수업 시간에 자지 마세요.

sueop sigane jaji maseyo

Don't sleep during class.

Think of it as two separate tools with non-overlapping jobs: 안/않다 for describing what is not the case, 말다 for telling someone not to make something the case. For the statement side, see short vs long negation.

This is a genuine gap in the map from English. In English, "Don't go" is just the imperative of "go" wearing the very same negator — do not — that shows up in the statement "I don't go." One negator does every job. Korean refuses that shortcut: statements and questions get 안/않다, commands get 말다, and there is no form that straddles both. Every English speaker's instinct is to translate "don't" as 안; that instinct is wrong for commands roughly 100% of the time.

The logic behind 말다

Why 말다 of all verbs? Because as an ordinary main verb, 말다 means "to stop, to desist, to leave off." So negating a command through 말다 is, at root, telling someone to desist from the action: 가지 말다 is literally "desist from going." That is a very natural way to build "don't" — English does something similar when it says "quit it" or "stop that" — except Korean has grammaticalized 말다 into the standard, neutral prohibitive. You are not being harsh when you say 하지 마세요; you are using the plain, expected way to say "please don't." (The main-verb meaning of 말다 lives on separately — see 말다 beyond commands.)

Prohibitions in the wild

Korean public life runs on -지 마세요 and -지 마십시오 signs, so recognizing them is high-value from day one. The formal -지 마십시오 is the notice-board register; -지 마세요 covers most polite spoken and posted prohibitions.

전시된 작품에 손대지 마세요.

jeonsidoen jakpume sondaeji maseyo

Please don't touch the exhibited works. (museum sign)

수영장에서 뛰지 마세요.

suyeongjang-eseo ttwiji maseyo

Don't run at the pool.

관계자 외에는 들어오지 마십시오.

gwan-gyeja oe-eneun deureooji masipsio

Authorized personnel only — do not enter. (formal notice)

Pairing with the positive command

Every "do it" has a "don't do it" twin, and the two are built from different machinery — so learn them side by side. The affirmative command puts the imperative ending -(으)세요 straight on the verb; the negative command routes through 말다.

조금만 더 기다리세요.

jogeumman deo gidariseyo

Please wait a little longer.

저 사람은 오니까 기다리지 마세요.

jeo sarameun onikka gidariji maseyo

That person is coming, so don't wait up.

There is no way to reach the second sentence from the first by adding 안 — 안 기다리세요 would just mean "you're not waiting." The negative command is a different construction, not a negated version of the positive one.

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Prohibitions with a bare 하지 마 or even 하지 마세요 can land bluntly, because you are directly restricting someone's behaviour. Korean routinely cushions them — with a reason clause (위험하니까 …), with the softer 마요, or with the favour-framed 말아 주세요. Pair a prohibition with its "why" and it stops sounding like an order.

The ㄹ-drop: why it's 마세요, not ×말으세요

말다 ends in the consonant ㄹ, and ㄹ-final stems are irregular: the ㄹ drops before endings that begin with ㅅ, ㄴ, ㅂ, or the honorific 시. That is why 말- + -(으)세요 does not give ×말으세요 but 마세요 — the ㄹ falls away. The same drop gives the intimate imperative: 말- + -아 → 마.

말- +	ㄹ drops →	Result
-아 (intimate)	말 + 아	마 (하지 마)
-(으)세요 (polite)	말 + 으세요	마세요 (하지 마세요)
-(으)십시오 (formal)	말 + 으십시오	마십시오 (하지 마십시오)

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The bare intimate form is 마 (걱정하지 마). You will also hear 말아 (걱정하지 말아) in speech, and the National Institute of Korean Language now accepts both — but 마 is the shorter, more standard everyday form. When in doubt, say 마.

Softening it: 마요 and 말아 주세요

Two more rungs let you dial the tone. 하지 마요 is a gentler, more conversational polite prohibition than the crisper 마세요. And -지 말아 주세요 frames the prohibition as a favour — literally "please don't, for me" — the warmest, most deferential way to ask someone to refrain.

울지 마요, 다 잘될 거예요.

ulji mayo, da jaldoel geoyeyo

Don't cry, everything will be okay. (soft, warm)

죄송하지만 여기서 사진을 찍지 말아 주세요.

joesonghajiman yeogiseo sajineul jjikji mara juseyo

Sorry, but please don't take photos here. (framed as a favour)

약속했으니까 늦지 말아 주세요.

yaksokaesseunikka neutji mara juseyo

You promised, so please don't be late.

The 말아 주세요 form is what you use when you are asking a stranger or superior to stop doing something and want maximum politeness — it treats their compliance as a kindness they're doing you.

Common Mistakes

1. Trying to command with 안. The single biggest error. 안 makes a statement, not a prohibition.

❌ 여기에서 담배를 안 피우세요.

Wrong — this reads as 'you don't smoke here,' not a command.

✅ 여기에서 담배를 피우지 마세요.

yeogieseo dambaereul piuji maseyo

Please don't smoke here.

2. Using long -지 않다 as a command. -지 않다 negates statements, not orders.

❌ 걱정하지 않으세요.

Wrong — this isn't a command; it means 'you don't worry.'

✅ 걱정하지 마세요.

geokjeonghaji maseyo

Don't worry.

3. Forgetting the ㄹ-drop. 말다 loses its ㄹ before 세요.

❌ 그 얘기는 하지 말으세요.

Wrong — the ㄹ drops: 말 + 으세요 → 마세요.

✅ 그 얘기는 하지 마세요.

geu yaegineun haji maseyo

Please don't bring that up.

4. Attaching 말다 straight to the verb without -지. The connector -지 is obligatory.

❌ 여기에 주차하 마세요.

Wrong — you need -지: 주차하지 마세요.

✅ 여기에 주차하지 마세요.

yeogie juchahaji maseyo

Please don't park here.

Key Takeaways

"Don't do X" (a command) = verb stem + -지 말다, never 안 or -지 않다.
Register ladder: intimate 하지 마 → polite 하지 마세요 → formal 하지 마십시오.
말다 is ㄹ-irregular: the ㄹ drops before 세요, 시오, and 아, giving 마세요, 마십시오, 마.
Soften with 마요 (gentle) or -지 말아 주세요 (framed as a favour).
말다 is the directive-only negator — the same auxiliary spreads into "let's not" and "don't X, do Y instead," covered in 말다 beyond commands.

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