How to say 'I don't want' in Korean?
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Verb + 고 싶지 않다 / 고 싶어하지 않다
In Korean, there are two different ways to say "I don't want". The first way is to use the negative form of -고 싶다, which was explained in the previous lesson. To make the negative form, you need to combine two grammar constructions: -고 싶다 and -지 않다. For first and second-person subjects (I, we, you), you use -고 싶지 않다. For third-person subjects (he, she, they), you use -고 싶어하지 않다.
See examples,
(click on translation and grammar buttons)
저는 일찍 일어나고 싶지 않습니다.
Korean
저
일찍
일어나다
English
I
early
to get up, to rise, to stand up
I don't want to get up early.
저는 일찍 일어나고 싶+지 않+습니다.
우리는 운전하고 싶지 않습니다.
Korean
우리
운전하다
English
we
to drive
We don't want to drive.
우리는 운전하고 싶+지 않+습니다.
그들은 영화를 보고 싶어하지 않습니다.
Korean
그들
영화
보다
English
they
movie
to see, to look, to watch
They don't want to watch a movie.
그+들+은 영화를 보고 싶어하+지 않+습니다.
Verb + 기 싫다 / 기 싫어하다
The second way to say "I don't want" in Korean is to use the grammar -기 싫다 for first and second-person subjects, and -기 싫어하다 for third-person subjects.
See examples,
(click on translation and grammar buttons)
저는 일찍 일어나기 싫습니다.
I don't want to get up early. (I don't like doing it. I hate it.)
저는 일찍 일어나기 싫+습니다.
우리는 운전하기 싫습니다.
We don't want to drive. (We don't like doing it. We hate it.)
우리는 운전하기 싫+습니다.
그들은 영화를 보기 싫어합니다.
They don't want to watch a movie. (They don't like doing it. They hate it.)
그+들+은 영화를 보기 싫어하+ㅂ니다.
There is a difference between -고 싶지 않다/싶어하지 않다 and -기 싫다 / 싫어하다. -고 싶지 않다/싶어하지 않다 means that you simply don't want to do something and have no intention of doing it. However, -기 싫다 / 싫어하다 expresses a negative feelings or attitude towards performing an action.
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 ).