Lesson 2 Yes 네 예, No 아니요, Sorry in Korean 아니다

Lesson 2 Yes 네 예, No 아니요, Sorry in Korean 아니다

 

Lesson-2-Yes-네-예,-No-아니요,-Sorry-in-Korean-아니다

New Korean Vocabulary

 

yes
커피 coffee
아니다 to not be (descriptive verb)
tea
녹차 green tea
yes
여기 here
아니요 no
식당 restaurant
oh, ah, I see
죄송합니다 sorry
카페 cafe

 

Table of Contents Lesson 2 Yes 네 예, No 아니요, Sorry in Korean 아니다

죄송합니다, 미안합니다, Sorry in Korean

아니다, to not be in Korean

아니요, No in Korean

네 예, Yes in Korean

Lesson 2 Yes 네 예, No 아니요, Sorry in Korean 아니다 Review

 

죄송합니다, 미안합니다, Sorry in Korean

죄송합니다 is “Sorry” in Korean.

This is a more formal and more apologetic way to say sorry.

When a Korean that you don’t know says sorry to you they will probably say, “죄송합니다.”

People often bow when saying 죄송합니다, especially if they made a big mistake, are talking to an older person, or talking to a person in a high position.

 

미안합니다 is “Sorry” in Korean.

미안합니다 is often used with friends, family, and people close to you.

미안합니다 is used more often than 죄송합니다 when saying, “Sorry.”

미안합니다 sometimes gets shortened all the way down to 미안 which is very informal.

 

Very Informal Level Infromal Level Polite Level Honorific Level
미안 미안해 미안해요 미안합니다

Learn Korean Language Tips:

In English we use, “Sorry” to express sympathy after hearing some bad news. Koreans do not do this.

Ex.

A: My uncle just passed away.

B: I’m sorry to hear that.

Koreans do not use 죄송합니다 or 미안합니다 in these types of situations.

유감입니다 means “Sorry to hear that.” and can be used in that type of situation.

죄송합니다 can also be used to say, “Excuse me.” when you want to pass by people in your way.

 

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아니다, to not be in Korean

아니다 is “to not be” in Korean.

아니다 is the opposite of 이다.

아니다 has not been conjugated yet, the same way “not be” has not been conjugated yet.

“Not be” changes to “am not/is not/are not” based on the subject of a sentence in English. Ex. I am not, He is not, You are not

아니다 changes based on Korean honorifics from Lesson 1 (click the link and scroll down to find Korean Honorifics.).

Notice that the 아니다 ending does not attach to nouns the way 이다 does.

The construction is noun + subject particle 이/가 + 아니다.

 

아니다 Informal Level (present tense)

Word Subject Particle 이/가 아니다 ending Word + 이/가 + 아니다 ending Pronunciation English Translation
식당 아니야 식당이 아니야 [식당이 아니야] It is not a restaurant.
카페 아니야 카페가 아니야 [카페가 아니야] It is not a cafe.
커피 아니야 커피가 아니야 [커피가 아니야] It is not coffee.
아니야 차가 아니야 [차가 아니야] It is not tea.
이거 녹차 아니야 이거 녹차가 아니야 [이거 녹차가 아니야] This is not green tea.
아니야 제가 아니야 [제가 아니야] It is not me.
아니야 네가 아니야 [네가 아니야] It is not me.

 

아니다 Polite Level (present tense)

Word Subject Particle 이/가 아니다 ending Word + 이/가 + 아니다 ending Pronunciation English Translation
식당 아니에요 식당이 아니에요 [식당이 아니에요] It is not a restaurant.
카페 아니에요 카페가 아니에요 [카페가 아니에요] It is not a cafe.
커피 아니에요 커피가 아니에요 [커피가 아니에요] It is not coffee.
아니에요 차가 아니에요 [차가 아니에요] It is not tea.
이거 녹차 아니에요 이거 녹차가 아니에요 [이거 녹차가 아니에요] This is not green tea.
아니에요 제가 아니에요 [제가 아니에요] It is not me.
아니에요 네가 아니에요 [네가 아니에요] It is not me.

 

아니다 Honorific Level (present tense)

Word Subject Particle 이/가 아니다 ending Word + 이/가 + 아니다 ending Pronunciation English Translation
식당 아닙니다 식당이 아닙니다 [식당이 아님니다] It is not a restaurant.
카페 아닙니다 카페가 아닙니다 [카페가 아님니다] It is not a cafe.
커피 아닙니다 커피가 아닙니다 [커피가 아님니다] It is not coffee.
아닙니다 차가 아닙니다 [차가 아님니다] It is not tea.
이거 녹차 아닙니다 이거 녹차가 아닙니다 [이거 녹차가 아님니다] This is not green tea.
아닙니다 제가 아닙니다 [제가 아님니다] It is not me.
아닙니다 네가 아닙니다 [네가 아님니다] It is not me.

Learn Korean Language Tips:

Remember the pronunciation of 아닙니다 is [아님니다].

The subject particles 이 and 가 are dropped when it is clear who or what the subject in spoken Korean is.

The subject is also dropped when it is clear who or what the subject of a sentence is in spoken Korean is.

Ex.

A: 그거 커피예요? = Is that coffee?

B: 아니에요. = It is not coffee.

 

 

아니요, No in Korean

아니요 is, “No.” in Korean.

아니 is also, “No.” in Korean but is less formal.

 

 Informal Level  Polite Level
 아니  아니요

Learn Korean Language Tips:

Do not confuse 아니요 or 아니,no, with 아니다, to not be, from above.

This mistake is made often because they look and sound similar but they are different. Everyone has made this mistake so don’t feel bad if you do too.

Here is an example of how you can remember the difference:

A: 이사람 여자예요? = Is this person a woman?

B: 아니요. 여자아니에요. 남자예요. = No, that is not a woman. That is a man.

Now that would be embarrassing.

 

네 예, Yes in Korean

Formal Yes in Korean

네 is, “Yes.” in Korean.

예 is also, “Yes.” in Korean.

These are the most common ways of saying, “Yes.” in Korean but there are others.

 

Informal Yes in Korean

응 and 어 are also, “Yes.” in Korean. These are informal ways of saying, “Yes.” in Korean.

응 is considered cuter and can be used in text messages as “ㅇㅇ.” Cuteness is a common theme in Korean culture. 😉

어 sounds like a grunt to me. In fact, if I hear any kind of grunt sound like: 어, 으, 음, or 우 from a Korean, I assume they just mean to say, “Yes.” or “I agree.”

That was a culture shock for me. I’m sure your reaction will be the same too if you haven’t encountered this yet.

 

 Informal Level Polite Level
응, 어 네, 예

 

Yes to Answer Negative Questions

Yes in Korean can also be used to say, “That is correct.” No in Korean can also be used to say, “That is incorrect.”  This makes answering negative questions opposite of what it is in English.

Ex.

The English method:

A: You don’t like tea?

B: No, I don’t like tea.

The Korean method:

A: You don’t like tea?

B: 네(Yes, That’s correct), I don’t like tea.

 

Yes in Korean has many great uses.

 

Yes to mean “What did you say?”

Yes can mean “What did you say?” or “Pardon me?” or “Huh?”

Ex.

A: 안녕하세요? = Hello.

B: 네? = What?

A: 안녕하세요? = Hello.

B: 아녕하세요? =Hello.

 

Yes to Show You are Listening

In English, when one person continues to talk for a long time we can show that we are listening by using eye contact.

This can also be done by say short phrases like, “I see.” “Oh.” or “Yeah.”

In Korean they use 네, 예, 응, or 어.

Ex.

A: I had a big test last week and I had to study a lot.

B: 예.

A: I studied everyday for two weeks until two in the morning.

B: 예.

A: I ended up getting sick too. You want to hear the worst part?

B: 예.

A: I didn’t even pass the test.

In situations like these, expect to hear all kinds of caveman like grunts or humming noises made by person “B.”

Conversations like this happen very often, especially on the telephone.

If you do not say, “네.” or some other sound to signal you are listening, the person talking may check to see if you are still on the phone.

 

Lesson 2 Yes 네 예, No 아니요, Sorry in Korean 아니다 Review

토마스: 혜란, 여기 식당이에요?

토마스: Hyeran, Here is a restaurant?

 

혜란: 아니요. 카페예요.

혜란: No. It’s a cafe.

 

토마스: 아, 죄송합니다. 여기 카페예요?

토마스: Oh, sorry. Here is a cafe?

 

혜란: 네.

혜란: Yes.

 

토마스: 이거 커피예요?

토마스: This is coffee?

 

혜란: 커피아니에요. 차예요.

혜란: It is not coffee. It’s tea.

 

토마스: 녹차?

토마스: Green tea?

 

혜란: 예, 녹차예요.

혜란: Yes, it’s green tea.

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