"A magpie cannot sing."

Translation: 까치는 노래를 못 합니다.

[AjEchipare]

Why can't it be 까치는 못 노래합니다?

[espanhangugeo]

Yeah, I thought that 노래를 하다 and 노래하다 had the same meaning? Why is this wrong?

[CosmoDC]

I think its usage is similar to 안~. They can only be placed in front of pure Korean verbs or adjectives. For Sino-Korean verbs (~하다), 못 needs to be in front of 하다, instead of the noun.

It is probably the same for compound verbs like 꿈꿉니다. It should be 꿈을 못꿉니다, instead of 못 꿈꿉니다. Please correct me if I am wrong though.

[Jockeboy]

Yes I have the same problem! I think it might be an oversight i the course.

[D8amx]

I don't even know what a magpie is in English

[dpatkat]

A magpie is most often described as a type of crow/raven, or jaybird. It is likely to be black and white or green-blue and white, sometimes with an extra long tail. As a name "Magpie" is bad because it refers to them being non-stop loud, not because they are also known for being extremely intelligent.

[Hannah610076]

kaachi can't sing??? rude???

kidding lmao

[dipagssi]

KAACHI can't sing. There's nothing wrong in saying that. They may improve later, but for now, NOPE.

[dpatkat]

I'm not sure so I am looking it up

In the meantime it seems important to know we use this negativeUse "못 합니다" as explained on Duolingo web to say one is not able to do, or can not do.

노래를 못한다.

[dpatkat]

Still looking beyond "does not sing" is 노래하지 않는다.

Hajima...

[DaisyEvera]

Could you use the 수 없어요 form here too?