Imperatives

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.

12 comments:

Anonymous1:24 AM, February 12, 2010
it was very helpful, thanks
Winn4:54 PM, March 21, 2010
Hi it's me again...hehe sorry to bother you so much :)
So sometimes I see 울지말 or 울지만instead of 울지마
Why is that??
Luke7:31 PM, March 26, 2010
울지말아 is just another form of 울지마. For example, 하지마 and 하지말아 are the same expression except that the 말아 form is more assertive.

울지만 is 울다 + 하지만. Its meaning is "although (I'm) crying".
Anonymous8:51 PM, June 13, 2010
whats the difference between 저리 and 저 곳?
Christine4:23 PM, July 31, 2010
someone can help me? what is the mean of -ㄹ 테니까 and how to use it?
what different between -ㄹ 테니까 and -면서?

Thank you
Christine4:23 PM, July 31, 2010
someone can help me? what is the mean of -ㄹ 테니까 and how to use it?
what different between -ㄹ 테니까 and -면서?

Thank you
Anonymous2:03 AM, November 06, 2010
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!
Anonymous3:38 PM, August 27, 2011
Why does one place a topic particle on 저 곳에는 ?

저 곳에는 가지 마세요. = Please don't go to that place. (Keep away from that place.)

Thanks.

Btw, you blog is fantastic!
Luke4:15 PM, September 10, 2011
는 is used in a different sense, here.

는 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.
William Kelley11:04 AM, January 13, 2013
I'm confused about the informal/formal negative imperatives.

I 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?