아니에요 — 이/가 아니에요 (Not: 이/가 아니에요)

What You Will Learn in This Unit

In this unit, you learn how to say that a person or thing is not something by putting '아니에요' (is not) after a noun. You choose between '이' and '가' depending on whether the last syllable of the preceding noun has a final consonant (받침, batchim). You also learn to change it into the formal form '아닙니다' (is not, formal). Finally, you practice short answers of '네' (yes) and '아니요' (no) to questions.

Noun + 이/가 아니에요

When '아니에요' follows a noun, it means that the preceding noun is not something. In this case, '이' or '가' must come between the noun and '아니에요', and which one to use is decided by whether the last syllable of the noun has a final consonant. If the last syllable has a final consonant, use '이'. If it has no final consonant, use '가'. This rule has the same final-consonant condition as the affirmative '이에요/예요' (is).

As the table shows, '이' is attached to nouns with a final consonant, and '가' is attached to nouns without one. The last syllable '생' of '학생' has the final consonant ㅇ, so '이' is attached. Because this word is pronounced [학쌩], '이' is read as [학쌩이].

아니에요 and 아닙니다

'아니에요' is the polite informal style (해요체), and '아닙니다' is the formal style (격식체). Both forms have the same condition for attaching '이' or '가' to the preceding noun. Therefore, by checking only the final consonant of the noun, you can use both forms correctly. The principle by which the formal ending '-ㅂ니다' is formed is covered in Unit 24.