Saying ‘Yes’ and ‘No’

Now, let’s learn how to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the question in previous topic.

	Casual	Polite
Yes	어 or 응 (eo or eung)	네 (ne)
No	아니 (ani)	아니요 (aniyo)

If you like pizza, you can just say 어 (eo = yes), or say 어 (eo) and repeat the verb 좋아해요 (joahaeyo = like) as in the dialogue below. In English, we can add ‘I do’ as in ‘Yes, I do’. But in Korean, simply repeat the verb.

Friend 1  :   피자 좋아해?                                      Do you like pizza?

                  Pija joahae?

Friend 2  :   어, 좋아해.                                          Yes, I do.

                  Eo, joahae.

If you don’t like pizza, you can just say 아니 (ani = no) to your friend. You can also add the verb, but in this case you have to use the negative of the verb (just as in English you say ‘No, I don’t’) which you can form by putting the negative word 안  (an = not) right before the verb 좋아해 (joahae = like) as in the dialogue below.

Friend 1  :   피자 좋아해?                                     Do you like pizza?

                   Pija joahae?

Friend 2  :   아니, 안 좋아해.                                No, I don’t.

                   Ani, anjoahae.

However, it sounds too direct, so an indirect reply is often used, as in the dialogue below.

Friend 1  :   피자 좋아해?                                 Do you like pizza?

                   Pija joahae?

Friend 2  :   난 별로야                                       Not really.

                   Nan pyeolroya.

In Korean, it is considered impolite to say ‘no’ directly. Instead, you would normally give an excuse or reason without actually saying 아니요 (aniyo = no). For example, if someone asked you if you had a spare moment to lend them a hand, you might reply with 좀 바쁜데요 (Jom pappeundeyo = I am a little bit busy).

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