아니다

Korean

Etymology

Native Korean word, first recorded in the Seokbo sangjeol, 1447, as Middle Korean 아니〮다〮 (ànítá), a contraction of 아니〮 (àní, “that which is not”) and 이다〮 (ìtá, “to be”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):

  • (file)

• Phonetic hangul:

Adjective

아니다 • (anida) (infinitive 아녀 or 아니어, sequential 아니니)

1. to be not (something)

   사람은 짐승이 아니다.

   saram-eun jimseung'i anida.

   People are not beasts.

Usage notes

• 아니다 (anida) is the Korean negative copula. Along with its positive, -이다 (-ida), it is often categorized as a Korean adjective, but often placed in their own grammatical category distinct from both verbs and adjectives. Unlike -이다 (-ida), 아니다 (anida) is not appended to the preceding word, but written after an intervening space.
• 아니다 (anida) and 되다 (doeda) are the only two Korean words that take a subject complement, which is marked with case marker -이 (-i) / -가 (-ga).

Conjugation

Antonyms

• 이다 (ida, “to be (something)”)

See also

• 있다 (itda, “to exist”)
• 없다 (eopda, “not to exist”)