Lesson 11
To say “anyone”, “anything”, or “anywhere” in Korean, the word that you need to remember is 아무.
아무 basically means “any” in a positive context, and it HAS TO be used along with other nouns - no exceptions! When it is used in a negative context, it means “no” + noun.
Sample Expressions (positive sentences)
For positive sentences, add -나 at the end of the word.
- 아무나 = anybody; does not matter who; anyone
Ex) 아무나 올 수 있어요. = Anyone can come.
- 아무거나 = anything; does not matter what
Ex)
아무거나 주세요. = Just give me anything.
(아무거나 comes from 아무 + 것이나. 것 means “thing”.)
- 아무 데나 = anywhere; any place
Ex)
아무 데나 좋아요. = Any place is good.
(In the dictionary, 데 means “place” or “spot”.)
Sample Expressions (negative sentences)
For negative sentences, add -도 at the end of the word.
- 아무도 = nobody; not anybody
Ex)
아무도 없어요? = Nobody is here?
- 아무것도 = nothing; not anything
Ex)
아무것도 만지지 마세요. = Do not touch anything.
아무것도 몰라요. = I do not know anything.
- 아무 데도 = nowhere; not any place
Ex)
아무 데도 안 갈 거예요. = I am not going anywhere.
How to say “not just anything/anyone/anywhere”
If you want someone to be careful making a choice when saying something such as “Do not hang out with just anyone”, “Do not buy just anything”, or “Do not eat just anywhere”, use the expression 아무나 (anyone), 아무거나 (anything), or 아무 데나 (anywhere).
Ex)
(1)
아무나 올 수 없어요.
= Not everyone can come.
아무도 올 수 없어요.
= Nobody can come.
(2)
아무거나 먹으면 안 돼요.
= You should not eat just anything.
아무것도 먹으면 안 돼요.
= You should not eat anything at all.
(3)
아무 데나 가고 싶지 않아요.
= I do not want to go just anywhere.
아무 데도 가고 싶지 않아요.
= I do not want to go anywhere.
There are more types of expressions using 아무, such as 아무때나 for “anytime” and 아무한테나 for “to anyone”, but those will be covered in a future lesson.