안 negates verbs and adjectives by placing it directly before the word. This is the short/simple negation form, equivalent to "not" in English.
Action negation - "not doing something"
State negation - "not being something" (with adjectives)
Quick denial - Casual, everyday speech
I'm not going today.
For 하다 verbs, 안 goes between the noun and 하다: 공부 안 해요 (not 안 공부해요).
Position matters for 하다 verbs
- ✅ 공부 안 해요
- ❌ 안 공부해요
Cannot negate nouns directly - use 아니다 instead
- ❌ 안 학생이에요
- ✅ 학생이 아니에요
Some words don't use 안 - 모르다 (don't know), 없다 (don't have) are inherently negative
I don't eat meat.
The weather is not good today.
I don't exercise.
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