How To Say 'Don't' In Korean ~지 마세요

In the previous 2 lessons, we covered how to ask or tell someone to do something. In this lesson, you will learn how to use ‘don’t’ in Korean to tell someone to not do something or to stop doing something. So, how do you say ‘don’t’ in Korean?

To tell someone ‘don’t’ in Korean, you add ~지 마세요 to an action verb to tell someone to stop doing that action or to not do that action. For example, ‘don’t do’ something in Korean is 하지 마세요 which is the verb 하다 (to do) plus the negative imperative ending ~지 마세요. ‘Don’t go’ in Korean is 가지 마세요 which is the verb 가다 (to go) plus ~지 마세요.

Let’s look at how this Korean negative imperative expression is made and some useful example sentences using ‘don’t’ in Korean.

Don’t In Korean ~지 마세요.

~지 마세요 comes from the verb 말다 (to stop doing / to not do) plus the imperative ending ~(으)세요. Adding ~(으)세요 to a verb stem makes that verb into a command or request that means ‘please do’. When you put together 말다 (to stop doing / to not do) with ~(으)세요 to make 마세요 it makes a command that means ‘please don’t’.

To attach 마세요 to a verb stem, you must first add ~지 to the verb stem. So, to say ‘don’t’ in Korean you attach ~지 마세요 to the verb stem. Let’s look at some examples.