-지

Usage notes

(contrastive suffix):

• The first fact is often given further emphatic force through the construction 으면... 지 (-eumyeon... -ji), as in one of the examples above.

Alternative forms

• 재 (-jae) — Gyeongsang, sometimes in colloquial Seoul
• 지비 (-jibi) — Hamgyong

Usage notes

In long negation, a clause is negated with the verbs 않다 (anta, “to not...”), 아니하다 (anihada, “(formal) to not...”) 못하다 (mothada, “to be unable to...”), or 말다 (malda, “to not do”). The verb or adjective of the negated clause takes the suffix 지 (-ji), which transforms the verb or adjective into the direct subject or object of the negating verb. Therefore, the verb negated via long negation can take 가 (-ga, subject marker) or 를 (-reul, direct object marker). Such case markers add a more emphatic nuance to the negation.

Long negation has a more formal connotation than the adverbial negators 안 (an, “not”) and 못 (mot, “cannot”). Compare:

• 야, 나 안 먹었어. ― Ya, na an meogeosseo. ― Hey, I didn't eat.
• 교수님, 저는 먹지 않았습니다. ― Gyosu-nim, jeo-neun meokji anatseumnida. ― I didn't eat, Professor.

Certain terms or expressions have a strong, sometimes obligatory, preference for one negation type or another. For example, adjectives derived from 스럽다 (-seureopda) are almost always negated by long negation, as are inherently negative verbs such as 없다 (eopda, “to not have”) and 모르다 (moreuda, “to not know”).

The adverbs negate only the verb or adjective, whereas long negation negates the entire embedded clause. While this difference is often not semantically meaningful, it can also lead to contrasting meanings, such as when the particle 만 (-man, “only”) is involved:

• 사과만 안 먹어.

  Sagwa-man an meogeo.

  Apples are the only thing they don't eat.

• 사과만 먹지 않아.

  Sagwa-man meokji ana.

  They don't only eat apples [but they eat other things too].

In the first case, only the verb 먹다 (meokda, “to eat”) is negated. In the latter, the entire clause 사과만 먹다 (sagwa-man meokda, “to eat only apples”) is negated.

For negative imperatives, long negation with 말다 (malda) is the only possibility, as no corresponding adverb exists.