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One should not: ~아/어서는 안 되다
One must not: ~(으)면 안 되다
Suggesting that one should: ~(으)면 되다
Vocabulary
Click on the English word to see information and examples of that word in use. Use these sentences to give yourself a feel for how each word can be used, and maybe even to expose yourself to the grammar that you will be learning shortly.
A PDF file neatly presenting these words and extra information can be found here.
Nouns:
선풍기 = electric fan
Common Usages:
선풍기를 틀다 = to turn on the fan
선풍기를 끄다 = to turn off the fan
Examples:
방이 너무 더워서 선풍기를 미풍으로 틀었어 = The room was too hot, so I turned the fan onto light
에어컨을 틀 수 없지만 선풍기를 틀 수는 있어요 = I can turn on the fan but not the air conditioner
도전 = challenge
Common Usages:
도전자 = challenge
무한도전 = The Infinite Challenge (an immensely popular Korean TV program that stopped running in 2018)
무모한 도전 = a reckless challenge (something not reasonable but going for it – like trying to climb Mt. Everest)
불가능에 도전하다 = to challenge the impossible
Examples:
새로운 도전을 그렇게 빨리 거절해서는 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t refuse new challenges that quickly
무조건 좋아하는 일이 있으면 포기하지 말고 도전해 보세요 = If you have a job that you like doing unconditionally, don’t give up and challenge yourself
도전자 = challenger
Examples:
그 사람을 태권도로 이길 수 있는 도전자는 아무도 없어요
= There aren’t any challengers who can beat that person in Taekwondo
오늘 총 10명의 도전자가 작년 우승자와 대결을 할 거예요
= Today, ten challengers in total will face the champion from last year
코피 = nosebleed
Common Usages:
쌍코피 = to have a nose blood in both nostrils
코피가 나다 = blood from one’s nose (a nose bleed)
코피를 흘리다 = to have a nose bleed
Examples:
코피가 나와요! 어떡하죠? = My nose is bleeding! What should I do?
코를 파다가 코피가 났어요 = I was picking my nose and then it started bleeding
코피를 휴지로 막으면 돼요 = You can block the nosebleed with a tissue
주어 = a subject in a sentence
Examples:
주어를 그 문장에서 그 위치에 쓰면 안 돼요
= You must not use the subject in that place in a that sentence
한국어에서는 주어를 문장 제일 처음에 써요
In Korean, the subject is used at the very beginning of a sentence
장애 = obstacle/barrier
Common Usages:
장애물 = barrier
언어장애 = a speech impediment
정서장애 = emotional disorder
신체장애 = physical disorder
장애를 극복하다 = to overcome an obstacle
Examples:
그 사람은 신체 장애를 극복하고 올림픽 선수가 되었어요
= That person overcame his physical disorder and became an Olympic athlete
점점 더 스트레스로 인한 정서장애를 앓고 있는 사람의 수가 늘고 있어요
= Gradually, the number of people who are suffering from emotional disorders due to stress is increasing
장애인 = disabled person
Common Usages:
장애인 차량 외 주차금지 = No parking except for handicapped
Examples:
장애인들을 놀려서는 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t make fun of disabled people
이 회사는 장애인들이 자기 장애를 극복할 수 있는 도와주는 제품을 만들어요
= This company makes products so people with physical disabilities can overcome their barriers
유아 = small/little child/toddler
Common Usages:
영유아 = infant
유아서적 = children’s book
유아교육 = child education
Examples:
그런 말을 유아에게 하면 안 돼요 = You must not say that type of thing to a child
유아서적을 사려면 좀 더 큰 서점에 가야 해요 = If you want to buy a children’s book, you need to go to a bigger bookstore
유아기 = early childhood period
Examples:
유아기에 애기들에게 우유를 줘서는 안 돼요
= During the early childhood period, you shouldn’t give milk to babies
행복한 유아기를 보낸 아이들이 커서 더 행복한 삶을 살 수 있어요
= Children that have a happy childhood can live happier lives when they are older
오염 = pollution
Common Usages:
오염물질 = pollutants
대기오염 = air pollution
환경오염 = environmental pollution
수질오염 = water pollution
Examples:
공장을 엄격하게 통제해야 오염물질을 대기에 배출하지 않을 거예요
= Only if we strictly control factories will they not discharge/belch pollutants into the atmosphere
암에 걸린 이유는 간접흡연 때문인지 오염 때문인 지 알 길이 없어요
= There is no way of knowing if the reason you caught cancer was because of second
hand smoke, or because of pollution
고무 = rubber
Common Usages:
고무줄 = rubber band
고무장갑 = rubber gloves
Examples:
고무를 입에 넣어서는 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t put rubber in your mouth
설거지를 할 때 고무장갑을 끼고 해야 손이 건조해지지 않아요 = When you do the dishes, you should wear rubber gloves so that your hands don’t get dry
대회 = big meeting, competition
Common Usages:
체육대회 = Sports Day (usually held once per year in Korean schools), where classes compete against each other in a variety of sports/games
대회에 참가하다 = to participate in a competition
Examples:
그 선수가 지난 대회에서 새로운 기록을 세웠어요
= That athlete set a new record at the last competition
제가 육상을 좋아해서 육상대회에 매번 참가했어요
= I like track-and-field so I attended the track events every time
이 대회에서는 많은 고등학생들이 수학 실력을 다투고 있어요
= In this competition, many high school students are competing (with their) math skills
독창성의 제일 뛰어난 작품을 고르는 것이 이 대회의 목표예요
= Choosing the piece with the most outstanding creativity is the goal of this contest
단시간에 대회를 준비하는 바람에 대회를 제대로 치를 수 없었다
= We couldn’t complete the competition fully because we only prepared it over a short time
미술대회에 참가하는 신입생들은 잊지 말고 꼭 10 시까지 모여주세요
= Freshmen participating in the art competition, don’t forget, and be sure to gather by 10 o’clock
이 대회의 상금이 크기 때문에 대회를 이길 수 있도록 열심히 노력할 거에요
= The prize money for this contest is big, so I will (be sure to) try hard to win
Verbs:
참여하다 = to participate, to take part in
The noun form of this word (참여) translates to “participation.”
Common Usages:
행사를 참여하다 = to attend an event
Examples:
그 대회를 참여하지 않으면 안 돼요?
= Are we able to not participate in that event?
이 프로젝트에 참여하고 싶은 희망자는 총 다섯 명입니다
= There are a total of five people (hopefuls) that want to take part in this project
업다 = to carry on one’s back
Common Usages:
포대기로 업다 = to carry somebody (usually a baby) on one’s back using a 포대기.
Examples:
애기가 피곤하면 업어 주면 돼요 = If the baby is tired, you can carry him on your back
한국에서는 아이들을 업을 때 포대기로 감싸서 업어요 = In Korea, when people put babies on their back they do so by wrapping them up in a 포대기
탓하다 = to blame
The noun form of this word (탓) translates to “fault.”
Common Usages:
남을 탓하다 = to blame somebody else
잘못을 탓하다 = to blame
Examples:
네 친구를 네 잘못에 대해 탓해서는 안 돼
= You shouldn’t blame your friends for your own mistakes
그 사람은 매사에 무슨 일이 있으면 남을 탓해요
= That person blames everything on somebody else
저장하다 = to save (a file on a computer)
The noun form of this word (저장) translates to “storage.”
Common Usages:
사진을 저장하다 = to save a photo
첨부파일을 저장하다 = to save an attached file
Examples:
이번 여행 사진을 모두 컴퓨터에 저장했어요
= I saved all of the photos from this trip onto my computer
중요한 파일을 저장할 때는 개인 컴퓨터를 써야 해요
= When you save important files, you must do it on your personal computer
누락하다 = to omit
The noun form of this word (누락) translates to “omission.”
Common Usages:
고의로 누락하다 = to intentionally omit
Examples:
실수로 작년 자료를 누락하고 입력해서 다시 해야 돼요
= By mistake I omitted the data from last year so I need up input it again
매출을 고의로 누락해서 세금신고를 하면 벌금을 내야 해요
= You intentionally omitted the sales, so when you report your taxes you will have to pay a fine
거절하다 = to refuse
The noun form of this word (거절) translates to “refusal.”
Common Usages:
거절당하다 = to be subject to rejection
차갑게 거절하다 = to reject coldly
Examples:
새로운 예산이 사장한테 거절되었어요 = The new budget was rejected by the CEO
아버지는 자기 아들의 요구를 거절했어요 = The father refused his son’s demand
새로운 도전을 그렇게 빨리 거절해서는 안 돼요
= You shouldn’t refuse new challenges that quickly
저는 그녀한테 데이트를 하자고 했다가 거절당했어요
= I asked her if she wanted to go on a date, and then I was rejected
Adverbs and Other Words:
수백 = hundreds of
Examples:
인터넷으로 동시에 수백 개의 물품을 사서는 안 돼요
= You shouldn’t buy hundreds of items from the internet at the same time
매일 수백 명의 사람들이 판다를 보러 동물원에 가요
= Everyday, hundreds of people go to the zoo to see the panda
수천 = thousands of
Examples:
수천 명의 사람들이 화산폭발로 이 마을을 떠났어요
= Thousands of people left the village because of the volcano explosion
대서양에서 태평양까지 운전하려면 수천 킬로의 광야를 통과해야 돼요
= If you want to drive from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, you need to pass through thousands
of kilometers of wilderness
수만 = tens-of thousands of
Examples:
수만 명의 사람들이 BTS콘서트 표를 사기 위해 대기했어요
= Tens of thousands of people waited in line to buy tickets to the BTS concert
공기가 깨끗한 곳에 가면 수만 개의 아름다운 별이 반짝이는 것 볼 수 있어요
= If you go to a place where there is clean (unpolluted) air, you can see tens of thousands of beautiful stars sparkling
기타 = and other, and so on
Examples:
수도권을 제외한 기타 지역에서는 인구밀도가 훨씬 낮아요
= Excluding the metropolitan area (in and around Seoul), the population density of the other areas is very low
주요 산업에서 관련 일을 하는 사람이 기타산업에서 일하는 사람보다 훨씬 많아요
= There are more people who work in major industries than in other industries
For help memorizing these words, try using our mobile app.
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn about two similar grammatical principles and their (similar) respective meanings. In this lesson, you will learn how to use ~아/어서는 안 되다 to mean “one should not” and ~(으)면 안 되다 to mean “one must not.” We will also look at the positive meaning of using ~(으)면 되다, which is a very natural expression but usually one that foreign learners of Korean don’t use right away. Let’s get started.
One should not: ~아/어서는 안 되다
In Lesson 49, you learned how to apply 되다 to many different types of sentences. In addition to the meanings introduced in Lesson 9 and Lesson 14, you learned that 되다 can be used to indicate that there is “no problem” with something. For example:
사업이 잘 되고 있어요? = Is your business going well?
여기서 Wi-Fi가 잘 돼요 = The Wi-Fi here works well
어제부터 선풍기가 안 됐어요 = The fan hasn’t worked since yesterday
You also saw that this can be applied to sentences with ~아/어도 to indicate that there is “no problem” with an action being done. You might remember, the most common translation for these types of sentences was “one may” or “one can.” For example:
지금 문을 열어도 돼요 = You may open the door now
제일 편리한 것을 선택해도 돼요 = You may choose the most convenient one
그 파일을 저의 컴퓨터에 저장해도 돼요 = You can store/save that file on my computer
Attaching ~아/어서는 안 되다 to the end of a clause indicates that there will be a problem if the action is completed. This type of sentence is essentially the opposite of the type of sentence above. Now, instead of indicating that there will not be a problem, (by just using 되다) we are indicating that there will be a problem (by using 안 되다). The typical English translation of this is usually “one should not.” For example:
밥을 많이 먹어서는 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t eat a lot
선생님을 무시해서는 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t ignore your teacher
장애인들을 놀려서는 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t make fun of disabled people
고무를 입에 넣어서는 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t put rubber in your mouth
그렇게 빨리 뛰어서는 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t run that fast
사람을 겉모습으로 평가해선 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t judge somebody on their looks
네 친구를 네 잘못에 대해 탓해서는 안 돼
= You shouldn’t blame your friends for your own mistakes
유아기에 애기들에게 우유를 줘서는 안 돼요
= During the early childhood period, you shouldn’t give milk to babies
새로운 도전을 그렇게 빨리 거절해서는 안 돼요
= You shouldn’t refuse new challenges that quickly
인터넷으로 동시에 수백 개의 물품을 사서는 안 돼요
= You shouldn’t buy hundreds of items from the internet at the same time
처음 만나는 사람을 첫인상으로 평가해서는 안 됩니다
= You shouldn’t judge somebody you meet for the first time on their first impression
아무 움직임 없이 한 시간 동안 앉아서 컴퓨터를 해서는 안 돼요
= You shouldn’t sit at a computer for an hour without any movement
Even though these sentences are used in the present tense, they are usually referring to actions that occurred in the past (unless somebody is just making a general statement that “one should not” do some action). For example, in the first example above:
그렇게 빨리 뛰어서는 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t run that fast
Immediately before that sentence was said, somebody was probably running too fast – which caused somebody to say the sentence “그렇게 빨리 뛰어서는 안 돼요.”
This one is fairly straightforward. Let’s move on to the next one.
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One must not: ~(으)면 안 되다
In Lesson 43 you learned about ~(으)면 and how it can be used to mean “if” or “when.” For example:
내일 비바람이 오면 경기가 취소될 거예요
= If it storms tomorrow, the match/game will be cancelled
지금 환경을 보존하지 않으면 미래에 더 큰 문제가 생길 것 같아요
= If we don’t preserve the environment, there will probably be bigger problems in the future
오늘 그 사람을 만나면 낯선 사람으로 대할 거예요
= If I meet that person today, I’m going to treat him like a stranger
You can use “안 되다” after “~(으)면 to indicate that there will be a problem when/if a something occurs. For example:
그렇게 하면 안 돼요 = You must not do it like that
This meaning is very similar to the meaning learned above (~아/어서는 안 되다), but I like to think that the meaning is slightly stronger when you use ~(으)면 안 되다. Below are more examples:
그 정보를 누락하면 안 돼요 = You must not omit that information
그 말을 영어로 하면 안 돼요 = You must not say that in English
이 차에 디젤을 넣으면 안 됩니다 = You must not put diesel fuel in this car
그런 말을 유아에게 하면 안 돼요 = You must not say that type of thing to a child
현재 오염 문제를 무시하면 안 돼요 = You must not ignore the current pollution problem
정서장애가 있는 친구들을 놀리면 안 돼요 = You must not pick on friends with emotional disabilities
주어를 그 문장에서 그 위치에 쓰면 안 돼요 = You must not use the subject in that place in a that sentence
~(으)면 안 되다 is often used in the form of a question. When used as a question, one is asking if there will be a “problem” if the action before ~(으)면 occurs. It is possible to translate these types of sentences to English in many ways, which I have provided. For example:
이렇게 하면 안 돼요?
= Can’t you do it like this?
= Are you able to do it like this?
= Is it okay if you do is like this?
= Will there be any problem if you do it like this?
더 빨리 하면 안 돼요?
= Can’t you do it faster?
= Are you able to do it faster?
= Is it okay if you do it faster?
= Will there be any problem if you do it faster?
조금 더 주면 안 돼요?
= Can’t you give me a little bit more?
= Are you able to give me a little bit more?
= Is it okay if you give me a little bit more?
= Will there be any problem if you give me a little bit more?
————————————
It is also possible to create a double negative with this type of question. For example, if you wanted to ask if you could eat now, you could say:
밥을 지금 먹으면 안 돼요?
= Can’t we eat now?
= Are we able to eat now?
= Is it okay if we eat now?
= Will there be any problem if we eat now?
However, by making the original action negative, the speaker can ask if it is alright if something is not done. For example:
밥을 지금 안 먹으면 안 돼요?
= Can we not eat now?
= Are we able to not eat now?
= Is it okay if we don’t eat now?
= Will there be any problem if we don’t eat now?
Other examples:
그 대회를 참여하지 않으면 안 돼요?
= Can we not participate in that event?
= Are we able to not participate in that event?
= Is it okay if we don’t participate in that event?
= Will there be any problems if we don’t participate in that event?
이번에 여행할 때 수천 장의 사진을 찍지 않으면 안 돼요?
= Can you not take thousands of pictures this time when we travel?
= Are you able to not take thousands of pictures this time when we travel?
= Is it okay if you don’t take thousands of pictures this time when we travel?
= Will there be any problem if you don’t take thousands of pictures this time when we travel?
———————————–
This form is actually a very polite way to ask for something to be done. As such, it is common for ~아/어 주다 (Lesson 41) to be used with the question version of ~(으)면 안 되다. For example:
밥을 사 주시면 안 돼요?
= Are you able to buy me rice?
= Is it okay if you buy me rice?
교통카드를 충전해 주면 안 돼요?
= Are you able to charge my subway card?
= Is it okay if you charge my subway card?
If you ask somebody a question like this (or any other question asking if something can be done), the answer that is typically given when it cannot be done is “안 돼요.” For example:
교통카드를 충전해 주면 안 돼요? = Are you able to charge my subway card?
안 돼요 = No/I can’t do it here/It won’t work here
You can also use the form ~(으)면 안 되다 without “안” to create a different meaning. I will talk about this next.
Suggesting that one should: ~(으)면 되다
By adding ~(으)면 되다 to the end of a sentence or clause, you create a meaning that is very similar to ~아/어야 하다, which you learned in Lesson 46. This form has the meaning of “you must” or “you should” depending on the situation. For example:
서울역에서 내려야 돼요 = You must/should get off at Seoul station
Using ~(으)면 되다 creates a similar meaning. For example:
서울역에서 내리면 됩니다 = You should get off at Seoul station
Here, the speaker is basically indicating “it/everything will be okay if you get off at Seoul station.” Although the meaning is similar to ~아/어야 되다, using ~(으)면 되다 is more of a suggestion. Because this is more of a suggestion, its meaning is very soft and is often used by people when they are asked for advice. For example, one time a woman asked my wife how to get to 사당 station, to which my wife replied:
다음 역에서 내리면 돼요
= You can/should get off at the next station
= There will be no problem (it will be okay) if you get off at Seoul Station
A more natural translation could sometimes be “one can.” For example:
조금만 넣으면 돼요 = Just put a little bit in
조금 더 올라가면 돼요 = Just keep going up a little bit further
코피를 휴지로 막으면 돼요 = You can block the nosebleed with a tissue
소금을 얼마나 더 넣어야 돼요? = How much more salt should I put in?
애기가 피곤하면 업어 주면 돼요 = If the baby is tired, you can carry him on your back
That’s it for this lesson!
Click here for a Workbook to go along with this lesson.
Click here for Korean Short Stories specifically tailored to learners at this level.