Imperatives - 해, 하지마
Imperative | Positive | Negative |
Informal | 해 가 먹어 | 하지마 가지마 먹지마 |
Formal | 해요 가요 먹어요 | 하지마요 가지마요 먹지마요 |
Honorific | 하세요 가세요 드세요 | 하지마세요 가지마세요 드시지마세요 |
The informal form is used among very close friends or when talking to a younger person who is very close to you in informal situations.
The formal form and the honorific form are used in formal situations. However, if I were to choose which one to use, I would choose the honorific form because the formal form is a bit casual-ish. It is safe to use the honorific form if you are unsure which one to use.
Note: The honorific form of verbs is present in Korean such as:
먹다 → 드시다 = eat
자다 → 주무시다 = sleep
죽다 → 돌아가시다 = die, pass away
먹어's honorific form is 드세요. It is usually used when talking to people above your age or in formal situations.
Rules
Informal positive (Imperative) = Present positive (spoken Korean)
- 해! = Do!
- 저리 가! = Go over there! (Leave me alone!)
- 이 과자 좀 먹어. = Eat some of these snacks.
- 물 좀 마셔. = Drink some water.
Informal negative = Take 다 off a plain form of verbs and attach 지마 to it.
- 가지마! = Don't go!
- 이 영화는 보지마! = Don't watch this movie!
- 이거는 먹지마. = Don't eat this.
- 이 책은 읽지마. = Don't read this book.
Formal positive and negative = Attach 요 to informal forms
Honorific positive =
1. Take 다 off a plain form of verbs and then attach 세요 to verbs without a final consonant.
2. Attach 으세요 to verbs with a final consonant.
3. For verbs with a final consonant of ㄹ, drop it off and attach 세요 to it.
- 가세요! = Please go!
- 이리 오세요. = Please come here.
- 빨리 떠나세요! = Please leave quickly!
- 어서 드세요. = Please eat already.
- 물고기 손으로 잡으세요. = Please catch the fish with your hands.
- 손 흔드세요! = Please wave your hands! (흔들다 = wave)
- 빙글빙글 도세요! = Please turn round and round! (돌다 = turn round, spin)
Honorific negative = Take 다 off a plain form of verbs and attach 지마세요.
- 장난 하지 마세요! = Please don't fool around!
- 저 곳에는 가지 마세요. = Please don't go to that place. (Keep away from that place.)
- 박물관에 있는 물건들은 만지지 마세요. = Please don't touch things in the museum.
it was very helpful, thanks
ReplyDeleteHi it's me again...hehe sorry to bother you so much :)
ReplyDeleteSo sometimes I see 울지말 or 울지만instead of 울지마
Why is that??
울지말아 is just another form of 울지마. For example, 하지마 and 하지말아 are the same expression except that the 말아 form is more assertive.
ReplyDelete울지만 is 울다 + 하지만. Its meaning is "although (I'm) crying".
whats the difference between 저리 and 저 곳?
ReplyDeletesomeone can help me? what is the mean of -ㄹ 테니까 and how to use it?
ReplyDeletewhat different between -ㄹ 테니까 and -면서?
Thank you
someone can help me? what is the mean of -ㄹ 테니까 and how to use it?
ReplyDeletewhat different between -ㄹ 테니까 and -면서?
Thank you
Awesome! Your blog has helped me so much! Will be sitting for my level 2 Korean final exam in a few days. Wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteWhy does one place a topic particle on 저 곳에는 ?
ReplyDelete저 곳에는 가지 마세요. = Please don't go to that place. (Keep away from that place.)
Thanks.
Btw, you blog is fantastic!
는 is used in a different sense, here.
ReplyDelete는 means "in regards to/as far as something is concerned"
For example,
저 곳에는 = In regards to that place/as far as that place is concerned.
저 곳에는 가지 마세요 = In regards to that place, please don't go there.
I'm confused about the informal/formal negative imperatives.
ReplyDeleteI know with the honorific suffix -세요 that the verb 말다 drops the ㄹ from the stem.
하지 말다 -> 하지 마 + 세요 -> 하지 마세요
But if you are just using the informal/formal, why isn't 말다 conjugated the regular way?
하지 말다 -> 하지 말 + 아요 -> 하지 말아요 ??
Maybe it's because the negative imperative base is just -지 마 no matter what?
Hi William,
DeleteYou can use both 말아요 and 마세요 depending on how polite you want to be.
말아요 is the polite form and 마세요 is the honorific form.
It really depends on how formal you need to be.
I'd use 말아요 if I was talking to a colleague of my age, and 마세요 for someone who is quite older than me.