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- Topic: Korean >
- "It is not dark here."
"It is not dark here."
Translation:여기는 어둡지 않아요.
15 Comments
No, but the latter sounds more colloquial and the former one sounds a bit more formal.
I think the verb for dark is really an adjective so it's better to have 여기는 bc of thr subject particle
여기에 feels like you need some sort of ___있어요/없어 요 to go along with it
27
As a verb, "to be dark" is 어둡다. Add the -지 않- negative affix and the appropriate verb ending, and you get 어둡지 않아요 "it is not dark".
- 105
I understand this concept, but it didn't have that under 'dark' (when you click it) it was stated "eodum" and not "eodup" hence didn't pick it up.
Is it an error or is dark 'eodumda' too? (don't have Korean keyboard)
- 79
어둠 is a gerund form (it is a noun) of the verb 어둡다. Rather than "to be dark", 어둠 is "darkness" or "the dark thing".
- 79
Typo Correction: ~지 않다
Short answer: Yes. The first is often referred to as short form negation, and the latter as long form negation. They are equivalent, though short form is more colloquial and casual while long form is more commonly found in written and formal Korean.
Detailed answer below:
There are three ways to negate a verb or adjective in Korean: (1) using an antonym, (2) forming a short form negation, and (3) forming a long form negation.
Using an Antonyn
This is probably the most fundamental/universal way to negate a verb: use its opposite word. For example to say "I don't know", Koreans would prefer to say 몰라요 over negating 알다.
Using a Short Form Negation
I consider this the easiest way to negate a verb or adjective. Its most commonly used in colloquial Korean. You can negate a verb or adjective by placing 안 like an adverb before.
- 안 가요 = "does not go"
- 안 커요 = "is not big"
In addition, verbs can also be negated a second way with the adverb 못. The difference is that 못 conveys that the subject is unable to perform the action, while 안 is more of a statement. Again, only verbs have this short form negation.
- 안 가요 = "does not go"
- 못 가요 = "cannot go"
Using a Long Form Negation
Long form negation is probably the most grammatically clear way to negate a verb or adjective. It is commonly used in written Korean and in formal speech. To form a long form negation, you need to append an auxiliary verb to the stem of the verb or adjective you are negating. Then you conjugate the new verb accordingly. Which auxiliary verb that gets appended depends on the mood of your sentence: declarative and interrogative sentences use ~지 않다 or ~지 못하다 while imperative and propositive sentences use ~지 말다.
- 가지 않아요 = "does not go"
- 가지 못해요 = "cannot go"
- 가지 말아요 = "let's not go" or "must not go"
- 크지 않아요 = "is not big"
Again, only verbs can form the ~지 못하다 long form negation.
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