Lesson 12. “You don’t have to verb” (안 A/V아/어도 되다, A/V-지 않아도 되다)

When saying “I/You/One don’t have to verb,” you can use A/V-아/어도 되다 by negating A/V.

1. 안 + A/V-아/어도 되다
2. A/V-지 않아도 되다

It literally means “It’s okay not to A/V.” You can also replace 되다 with 괜찮다 (to be okay.)

e.g.
숙제를 오늘까지 안 해도 돼요. I don’t have to finish homework by today.

바쁘면 안 와도 돼요. If you’re busy, you don’t have to come.

너무 비싸면 사지 않아도 돼요. If it’s too expensive, you don’t have to buy it.

내일 주말이라서 일찍 일어나지 않아도 돼요. Tomorrow is weekend, so I don’t have to wake up early.

똑똑하지 않아도 괜찮아요. It’s okay not to be smart.

Variation

• Adding the meaning of “don’t necessarily~” 

안 + A/V-아/어도 되다 or A/V-지 않아도 되다 can also be used with 는, like this : Verb/Adj-아/어야 되지는 않다, 하지는 않다. 

되지는/하지는 are often contracted to “되진/하진.”

In this case, it means “One doesn’t necessarily have to V/A.”

e.g.

이 약을 매일 먹어야 되지는 않아요. I don’t necessarily have to take this medicine every day. 

숙제를 반드시* 이번 주 까지 끝내야 하진 않아요. I don’t necessarily have to finish the homework by this week.

모델이 되려면 꼭* 날씬해야 되진 않아요. You don’t necessarily have to be thin to become a model.

*반드시/꼭 can also be added to emphasize that it’s not a must.