How to Say "The boy must not go to the river at night" in Korean | -(으)면 Grammar

Quick Answer: "The boy must not go to the river at night" in Korean is "소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 돼요." (sonyeoneun bame gange gamyeon an dwaeyo.). It uses the -(으)면 grammar pattern (If/When (-(으)면)). Level: A2.

Curious how Koreans express "The boy must not go to the river at night"? The answer is "소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 돼요.". Here you will see -(으)면 in action — a A2-level grammar point every learner needs.

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What does "The boy must not go to the river at night" mean in Korean?

The Korean sentence "소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 돼요." translates to "The boy must not go to the river at night." in English. "소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 돼요." captures the feeling of "The boy must not go to the river at night" in a way that sounds gentle and approachable. The polite "-요" ending adds a layer of respect and warmth.

Pronunciation guide: sonyeoneun bame gange gamyeon an dwaeyo.

Grammar Point: If/When (-(으)면)

The ending -(으)면 expresses a condition ('if') or temporal trigger ('when'). Use -면 after vowel-ending stems, -으면 after consonant-ending stems.

가다 → 가면 (if [someone] goes), 먹다 → 먹으면 (if [someone] eats).

Korean Sentence Structure Breakdown

Korean follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order, which is different from English (SVO). In "소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 돼요.", the verb comes at the end of the sentence. Here is the word-by-word breakdown: • 소년은 (sonyeoneun) • 밤에 (bame) • 강에 (gange) • 가면 (gamyeon) • 안 (an) • 돼요 (dwaeyo)

Listen for the rhythm: Korean syllables tend to be evenly timed, unlike English which stresses certain syllables. This gives Korean its distinctive flowing sound.

Why This Korean Expression Sounds Natural

In English, we say "The boy must not go to the river at night" in a fairly neutral way. Korean reshapes this idea with particles and endings that bake politeness directly into the grammar — no extra words needed.

Cultural Insight

한국의 전통 마을은 산을 뒤에, 물을 앞에 두는 배산임수(背山臨水) 지형을 이상적으로 여겼어요. 이 조화로운 풍경이 많은 이야기의 배경이 됩니다.

Examples

소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 돼요. — sonyeoneun bame gange gamyeon an dwaeyo. — The boy must not go to the river at night.

소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 돼요? — sonyeoneun bame gange gamyeon an dwaeyo? — Does the boy must not go to the river at night?

주말에 소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 돼요. — jumale sonyeoneun bame gange gamyeon an dwaeyo. — On weekends, the boy must not go to the river at night.

Common Mistakes

Incorrect: 먹면 → Correct: 먹으면. After a consonant-ending stem (먹-), you need the vowel buffer 으 before 면.

Incorrect: 돼요 소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 → Correct: 소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 돼요. Korean uses Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. The verb must come at the end of the sentence, unlike English where it comes after the subject.

Quiz

How do you say "The boy must not go to the river at night" in Korean?

The correct Korean translation is "소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 돼요.". sonyeoneun bame gange gamyeon an dwaeyo.

Fill in the blank: 소년은 밤에 강에 가면 안 ___

The correct ending is "돼요". The polite -요 form is essential for everyday Korean conversation.