Not (-지 않다)

-지 않다 is the standard negation pattern in Korean. It attaches to any verb or adjective stem and means 'do not' or 'is not'. It is the long-form alternative to the short-form negation with 안. For example, 먹지 않다 and 안 먹다 both mean 'do not eat'.

-지 않다 is considered slightly more formal and is always correct, whereas the short form 안 cannot be used with all verbs (particularly 하다 compound verbs in formal situations). For 하다 verbs, -지 않다 is often preferred: 공부하지 않다 rather than 안 공부하다.

The pattern conjugates through 않다: 않아요 (present polite), 않았어요 (past polite), 않을 거예요 (future). This is the negation pattern you will see most often in written Korean and on the TOPIK exam.