✍️ Intermediate Day 13: Giving Advice – ~는 게 좋아요 / ~지 마세요

📘 Intermediate Day 13: Giving Advice – ~는 게 좋아요 / ~지 마세요

Welcome to Day 13 of the Intermediate Korean series! 💬 In today’s lesson, you’ll learn how to give friendly advice or suggestions in Korean using two very common expressions:

  • ~는 게 좋아요 – “It’s good to...” / “You should...”
  • ~지 마세요 – “Please don’t...” / “Don’t do...”

These are polite, practical, and used all the time in daily conversations. Let’s learn how to use them naturally!

📘 1. ~는 게 좋아요 – Giving Positive Suggestions

~는 게 좋아요 means “It’s good to...” or “You should...” It comes from the structure:

  • Verb stem + 는 것 + 이 + 좋다 → 는 게 좋아요

📌 Examples:

  • 운동하는 게 좋아요.
    un-dong-ha-neun ge jo-a-yo
    👉 It’s good to exercise. / You should exercise.
  • 물을 많이 마시는 게 좋아요.
    mu-reul man-hi ma-si-neun ge jo-a-yo
    👉 It’s good to drink a lot of water.
  • 일찍 자는 게 좋아요.
    il-jjik ja-neun ge jo-a-yo
    👉 You should sleep early.

📘 2. ~지 마세요 – Telling Someone Not to Do Something

~지 마세요 is the polite way to tell someone not to do something. It comes from the negative command form of a verb:

  • Verb stem + ~지 마세요 = “Please don’t...”

📌 Examples:

  • 너무 늦게 자지 마세요.
    neo-mu neut-ge ja-ji ma-se-yo
    👉 Don’t sleep too late.
  • 거기서 사진을 찍지 마세요.
    geo-gi-seo sa-jin-eul jjik-ji ma-se-yo
    👉 Please don’t take pictures there.
  • 걱정하지 마세요.
    geok-jeong-ha-ji ma-se-yo
    👉 Don’t worry.

📘 비교표 – Positive vs Negative Advice

Expression Meaning Example Romanization
~는 게 좋아요 It’s good to / You should 운동하는 게 좋아요 un-dong-ha-neun ge jo-a-yo
~지 마세요 Please don’t 걱정하지 마세요 geok-jeong-ha-ji ma-se-yo

💬 Real-Life Dialogue

👦 준호: 요즘 피곤해서 자주 늦게 자요.
👧 수지: 일찍 자는 게 좋아요. 건강에 좋아요!
👦 준호: 맞아요. 커피도 너무 많이 마셔요.
👧 수지: 그럼 늦은 시간에는 마시지 마세요.


📘 Practice Sentences

  • 밖이 추우니까 따뜻하게 입는 게 좋아요.
  • 시험이 있으니까 미리 공부하는 게 좋아요.
  • 지하철에서는 큰 소리로 말하지 마세요.
  • 아픈데 무리하지 마세요.

🧪 Mini Quiz – Advise Like a Pro!

  1. Translate: “You should eat breakfast.”
    Click to Show Answer

    아침을 먹는 게 좋아요.

  2. Say: “Don’t speak too loudly.”
    Click to Show Answer

    너무 크게 말하지 마세요.

  3. Which is correct?
    a) 운동는 게 좋아요
    b) 운동하는 게 좋아요
    c) 운동할 게 좋아요
    Click to Show Answer

    ✅ b) 운동하는 게 좋아요


✅ Conclusion

💡 You did great! Now you can give advice, recommendations, or gentle warnings politely in Korean.

  • ✔️ Use ~는 게 좋아요 for soft suggestions
  • ✔️ Use ~지 마세요 for polite prohibitions
  • ✔️ Practice with your daily routine and situations

📘 Coming Up Next

Tomorrow: Intermediate Day 14: Expressing Intentions – ~(으)려고 해요 Learn how to say “I’m planning to...” or “I intend to...” in Korean!

Related Keywords:
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