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

Quick Answer: "The puppy must not go to the path at night" in Korean is "강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 돼요." (gangajineun bame gile gamyeon an dwaeyo.). It uses the -(으)면 grammar pattern (If/When (-(으)면)). Level: A2.

How would a Korean say "The puppy must not go to the path at night"? Exactly like this: "강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 돼요.". Notice the -(으)면 ending — once you recognize it, you will spot it everywhere.

Category: 동물

What does "The puppy must not go to the path at night" mean in Korean?

The Korean sentence "강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 돼요." translates to "The puppy must not go to the path at night." in English. Korean learners love sentences like "강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 돼요." because they are practical and memorable. Meaning "the puppy must not go to the path at night", it teaches core vocabulary and grammar in a single, elegant package.

Pronunciation guide: gangajineun bame gile 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 "강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 돼요.", the verb comes at the end of the sentence. Here is the word-by-word breakdown: • 강아지는 (gangajineun) • 밤에 (bame) • 길에 (gile) • 가면 (gamyeon) • 안 (an) • 돼요 (dwaeyo)

Korean uses postpositions (after the noun) instead of prepositions (before the noun). 'In the house' becomes '집에서' — house + at/in.

Why This Korean Expression Sounds Natural

The Korean phrasing sounds authentic because it avoids literal translation traps. Instead of mapping each English word to Korean, it repackages the meaning using Korean-native structures.

Cultural Insight

한국 전통 이야기에서 호랑이는 무서운 존재이면서도 때로는 어리숙한 캐릭터로 등장해요. '호랑이와 곶감' 같은 이야기가 대표적입니다.

Examples

강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 돼요. — gangajineun bame gile gamyeon an dwaeyo. — The puppy must not go to the path at night.

강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 돼요? — gangajineun bame gile gamyeon an dwaeyo? — Does the puppy must not go to the path at night?

주말에 강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 돼요. — jumale gangajineun bame gile gamyeon an dwaeyo. — On weekends, the puppy must not go to the path at night.

Common Mistakes

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

Incorrect: 돼요 강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 → Correct: 강아지는 밤에 길에 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 puppy must not go to the path at night" in Korean?

The correct Korean translation is "강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 돼요.". gangajineun bame gile gamyeon an dwaeyo.

Fill in the blank: 강아지는 밤에 길에 가면 안 ___

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