Korean grammar V + 지 못하다
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Verb + 지 못하다 or 못 Verb
-지 못하다 is a Korean grammar construction that shows that someone is not able to do something. It is added to the end of a verb and means that the person cannot do something because they either don't have the ability to do it or there are other things stopping them from doing it. 못 is another way you can say the same thing by adding it before verbs. Both -지 못하다 and 못 mean "cannot".
See examples,
(click on translation and grammar buttons)
두리안을 먹지 못합니다. / 두리안을 못 먹습니다.
Korean
먹다
English
to eat
I can't eat durian.
두리안을 먹+지 못하+ㅂ니다.
두리안을 못 먹+습니다.
내일은 만나지 못합니다. / 내일은 못 만납니다.
Korean
내일
만나다
English
tomorrow
to meet
I cannot meet tomorrow.
내일은 만나+지 못하+ㅂ니다.
내일은 못 만나+ㅂ니다.
In the case of verbs formed by combining nouns with the verb 하다, place 못 before 하다.
A significant part of Korean verbs is formed by adding 하다 to a noun. (생각하다 - to think, 공부하다 - to study, 고민하다 - to worry, 일하다 - to work, and many many others.)
See examples,
(click on translation and grammar buttons)
오늘은 일 못 합니다.
(not 못 일합니다)
Korean
오늘
일
하다
일하다
English
today
work
to do
to work
I cannot work today.
오늘은 일 못 하+ㅂ니다.
저는 금년에 대학교를 졸업 못 합니다.
(not 못 졸업합니다)
Korean
금년
대학교
졸업
하다
졸업하다
English
this year
university
graduation
to do
to graduate
I cannot graduate from the university this year.
저는 금년에 대학교를 졸업 못 하+ㅂ니다.
Quick reference (click to open)
Vowels: a, e, i, o, u
Consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j
Syllable: Bra-zil (2 syllables), Ar-gen-ti-na (4), In-di-a (3), Viet-nam (2), thin-king (2), beau-ti-ful (3), good (1)
Batchim: is a final consonant in a syllable. → Bra-zil (batchim: 'l'), Ar-gen-ti-na (batchims: 'r' and 'n'), In-di-a ('n'), Viet-nam ('t', 'm')
Romanization: is a conversion of text (not pronunciation ! ) from different writing system (Korean, Arabic, Russian, etc.) to the Roman (Latin) alphabet.
IPA: is an alphabetic system of phonetic (pronunciation) notation.
Noun: road, user, sister, table, sky
Pronoun: I, my, we, you, they, her
Verb: to go, to study, to think, to feel
Adjective: cold, kind, hungry, curious, expensive
Adverb: quickly, nicely, never, exactly, urgently
Preposition: from, to, on, in, with, till
Conjuction: and, because, if, but, while
Declarative sentence: I learn Korean.
Interrogative sentence: Do you learn Korean?
Imperative sentence: You must learn Korean!
Exclamative sentence: Wow, you learn Korean!
Verb / Adj. stem in Korean: part of a verb or adj. which is left after removing the last syllable -다 ( e.g. 가다 → 가, 예쁘다 → 예쁘, 듣다 → 듣 ).