Can’t, and how well: 못, 잘해요, 못해요

못 takes the place of 안

가요 — I’m going. 안 가요 — I’m not going. 못 가요 — I can’t go. 오늘 학교에 못 가요. 고기를 못 먹어요.

못 stands exactly where 안 stands: directly before the verb, as a separate word. The difference is in the meaning. 안 says you do not do it, often by choice. 못 says you are not able to: something prevents it, or you never learned how. 고기를 안 먹어요 is a decision; 고기를 못 먹어요 is not.

The last sound of 못 shifts with the word that follows. Listen to each example rather than reading it letter by letter.

With noun + 해요 verbs, 못 goes in the middle

수영해요 (swim) becomes 수영 못 해요. 운전해요 (drive) becomes 운전 못 해요. This is what 안 did in 공부 안 해요: the verb is 해요, so the small word lands between the noun and 해요.

The dictionary forms are 수영하다 and 운전하다. English says “I can’t swim” for both “I never learned” and “I’m unable to today”; 수영 못 해요 covers both as well.

못 해요 is pronounced [모태요].

Good at, bad at: 잘해요 and 못해요

지아 씨는 영어를 잘해요 — Jia is good at English. 저는 수영을 못해요 — I’m bad at swimming.

잘해요 and 못해요 are each a single verb, written without a space, and the skill is their object with 을 / 를. So there are two things that look alike. 수영 못 해요, spaced, is 못 plus 해요: I can’t swim. 수영을 못해요, one word, grades your skill: I swim badly. The new noun is 영어, English.

The modest middle: 잘 못해요

저는 한국말을 잘 못해요 — I don’t speak Korean very well.

잘 on its own is the adverb “well”. Put it in front of 못해요 and “bad at” softens into “not very good at”. This is the natural, modest way to describe your own Korean, and a sentence worth knowing by heart. 한국말 is the everyday word for the spoken language; 한국어 is the neutral word you see on textbooks.

한국말 is pronounced [한궁말].

잘 and 못 before other verbs

노래해요 (sing) → 민수 씨는 노래를 잘해요. 춤춰요 (dance) is one word, but with 잘 it opens up like a 하다 verb: 춤을 잘 춰요. And for instruments: 피아노를 쳐요, play the piano → 피아노를 잘 쳐요, 피아노를 못 쳐요.

잘 and 못 both sit directly before the verb. The verbs themselves are built as in lesson 1 of this unit: 춤추다 → 춤춰요, 치다 → 쳐요.

쳐요 is pronounced [처요].