Korean has two ways to say "not." The quick one is the adverb 안, which you plant in front of the verb. The longer one is -지 않다: you attach -지 to the verb stem and follow it with the auxiliary 않다 ("to not do / not be"), then conjugate that auxiliary for tense and politeness. 가다 → 가지 않아요, 먹다 → 먹지 않아요, 좋다 → 좋지 않아요. The two negations mean essentially the same thing, but -지 않다 is a touch more formal, far more common in writing, slightly more emphatic — and it neatly sidesteps the one placement headache that trips people up with 안.
How to build it: stem + 지 + 않다
Take the dictionary form, drop -다 to get the stem, add -지, and finish with a conjugated 않다. The main verb is now frozen in the -지 form; all the grammatical work happens on 않다.
저는 아침을 먹지 않아요.
jeoneun achimeul meokji anayo
I don't eat breakfast.
그 배우는 인터뷰를 하지 않아요.
geu baeuneun inteobyureul haji anayo
That actor doesn't do interviews.
이 근처는 밤에 별로 안전하지 않아요.
i geuncheoneun bame byeollo anjeonhaji anayo
This area isn't very safe at night.
Notice that the stem never changes shape no matter what you're negating — 먹지, 하지, 안전하지 all just take -지. That regularity is the whole appeal: there are no vowel-harmony contractions and no irregular-stem surprises on the main verb, because the main verb isn't the one conjugating. Only 않다 conjugates, and 않다 is perfectly regular.
The one rule that matters most: tense lives on 않다
This is where English intuition betrays you. In "I did not go," English marks the past on the main idea ("go" → "went" is suppressed, "did" carries it). In Korean, the past marker -았/었- goes on 않다, never on the main verb. The main verb stays locked in its -지 form forever.
그 사람은 결국 오지 않았어요.
geu sarameun gyeolguk oji anasseoyo
In the end, that person didn't come.
어제는 아무것도 사지 않았어요.
eojeneun amugeotdo saji anasseoyo
I didn't buy anything yesterday.
So the past of 가지 않다 is 가지 않았어요 — never ×갔지 않아요. Putting the -았- on the main verb (갔지) is the single most common structural error learners make with this pattern, precisely because it feels like it should mirror English "didn't go." Hold the image firmly: the main verb is inert, and 않다 does all the tense and politeness work.
| Meaning | Correct | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| doesn't go | 가지 않아요 | — |
| didn't go | 가지 않았어요 | ✗ 갔지 않아요 |
| won't go | 가지 않을 거예요 | ✗ 갈지 않을 거예요 |
It negates everything uniformly — including noun+하다
Here is -지 않다's quiet superpower. Recall that short 안 forces noun+하다 action verbs to split down the middle (공부하다 → 공부 안 해요, not ×안 공부해요). That split is a genuine nuisance, and it's easy to get wrong. -지 않다 has no such split. You attach -지 to the whole word, keeping the noun and 하다 together, and 않다 follows.
주말에는 공부하지 않아요.
jumareneun gongbuhaji anayo
I don't study on weekends.
요즘은 운동하지 않았어요.
yojeumeun undonghaji anasseoyo
I haven't been working out lately.
Compare 공부 안 해요 (short, split) with 공부하지 않아요 (long, undivided). Both are correct; the long form is simply cleaner to build because you never have to decide where the negator goes. For that reason, learners who freeze up over the 공부 안 해요 split often find -지 않다 a relief — and it happens to be the form you want in writing anyway.
그 회사는 신입 사원을 채용하지 않았어요.
geu hoesaneun sinip sawoneul chaeyonghaji anasseoyo
That company didn't hire any new employees.
안 vs -지 않다: same meaning, different register
The two negations are truth-conditionally identical — 안 가요 and 가지 않아요 both mean "doesn't go." What differs is register and feel.
| 안 (short) | -지 않다 (long) | |
|---|---|---|
| Position | free adverb, before the verb | suffix -지 + auxiliary 않다 |
| Register | casual, spoken (informal) | formal / written; also fine in speech |
| noun+하다 verbs | splits (공부 안 해요) | no split (공부하지 않아요) |
| Emphasis | neutral | slightly more emphatic / contrastive |
Reach for -지 않다 in essays, reports, formal speech, news, and any time you want a shade of extra emphasis or a deliberate contrast ("it's not that…"). In fast casual conversation, 안 is more common because it's shorter. The formal 합니다체 in particular pairs naturally with -지 않다:
저는 담배를 피우지 않습니다.
jeoneun dambaereul piuji anseumnida
I don't smoke. (formal)
이 제품은 물에 젖지 않습니다.
i jepumeun mure jeotji anseumnida
This product doesn't get wet. (formal — product description)
The extra length also carries a subtle emphatic weight, which is why -지 않다 shows up when you're pushing back on an assumption:
생각보다 어렵지 않아요.
saenggakboda eoryeopji anayo
It's not as hard as you'd think.
What -지 않다 does not cover
Like 안, the long form negates ordinary action verbs and adjectives. It does not touch the three predicates that carry their own built-in negatives: existence (있다 → 없다), knowledge (알다 → 모르다), and the copula (이다 → 아니다). You don't say ×있지 않아요 for "there isn't" — you say 없어요. Those suppletive negatives live in their own vocabulary. And crucially, -지 않다 negates choice or plain fact, not ability; for "can't," the parallel long form is -지 못하다.
Common Mistakes
1. Marking tense on the main verb instead of on 않다. The past -았/었- belongs to 않다.
❌ 어제 학교에 갔지 않아요.
Incorrect — the past goes on 않다, not the main verb.
✅ 어제 학교에 가지 않았어요.
eoje hakgyoe gaji anasseoyo
I didn't go to school yesterday.
2. Writing 안 for 않 (dropping the ㅎ). The auxiliary is 않다, spelled with ㅎ.
❌ 저는 커피를 마시지 안아요.
Incorrect — the auxiliary is 않다, so it must be 않아요, not ×안아요.
✅ 저는 커피를 마시지 않아요.
jeoneun keopireul masiji anayo
I don't drink coffee.
3. Stacking 안 and -지 않다 together. Pick one negator; doubling them cancels out (or just sounds broken).
❌ 저는 고기를 안 먹지 않아요.
Incorrect — that's a double negative; use one form or the other.
✅ 저는 고기를 먹지 않아요.
jeoneun gogireul meokji anayo
I don't eat meat.
4. Splitting a noun+하다 verb the way 안 does. The long form keeps 하다 attached.
❌ 주말에는 공부 안 하지 않아요.
Incorrect — don't split it; it's simply 공부하지 않아요.
✅ 주말에는 공부하지 않아요.
jumareneun gongbuhaji anayo
I don't study on weekends.
Key Takeaways
- Build it as stem + -지 + 않다, then conjugate 않다 for tense and politeness: 가지 않아요, 먹지 않았어요, 비싸지 않습니다.
- Tense lives on 않다, never on the main verb: 가지 않았어요 (right) vs ✗갔지 않아요 (wrong).
- Unlike short 안, the long form never splits noun+하다 verbs: 공부하지 않아요.
- Same meaning as 안, different register: -지 않다 is more formal, more written, and slightly more emphatic. Speak with 안, write with -지 않다.
- The auxiliary is spelled 않다 (with ㅎ) — don't confuse it with the adverb 안.
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Start learning Korean→Related Topics
- Short Negation: 안TOPIK 1 — The everyday 'not' — how the adverb 안 negates verbs and adjectives, why noun+하다 action verbs split into 공부 안 해요, and how 안 (won't/don't by choice) differs from 못 (can't).
- Long Inability: -지 못하다TOPIK 2 — The formal, written counterpart of short 못 — attach -지 to any stem and let 못하다 carry tense and politeness (가지 못해요, 참석하지 못했습니다). Same 'can't' meaning, but it never splits noun+하다 verbs and fits the parallel 못 : -지 못하다 :: 안 : -지 않다.
- 안 vs 못: Won't vs Can'tTOPIK 1 — The decision page that resolves Korean's two negations — 안 negates volition or plain fact ('doesn't / won't by choice / isn't'), 못 negates ability ('can't', because something blocks it). Minimal pairs, a one-question test, and the hard rule that adjectives take only 안.
- Suppletive Negatives: 있다 → 없다, 알다 → 모르다, 이다 → 아니다TOPIK 1 — A small set of high-frequency predicates negate by swapping in a whole different word, not by adding 안 or 못 — existence 있다 → 없다, knowledge 알다 → 모르다, and the copula 이다 → 아니다 (with the noun taking 이/가). Ordinary adjectives still negate normally with 안.
- 안 vs -지 않다: Choosing Short or Long NegationTOPIK 1 — Both negate the same predicate with the same truth value — 안 가요 and 가지 않아요 both mean 'don't go' — so the real question is WHEN to use each. The heuristic: 안 is a light clitic that wants a short host; the longer or more formal the predicate, the more -지 않다 takes over.