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How to Say “I couldn’t sleep last night” in Korean

어젯밤에 잠을 못 잤어요

eojetbame jameul mot jasseoyo

Situation: Café & daily lifeLevel: Intermediate (TOPIK 3–4)

Meaning

I couldn’t sleep last night.

못 expresses inability (“cannot”). Note the difference from 안 (“do not”).

Romanization follows the Revised Romanization system and is a guide to pronunciation.

Syllables: 10 · Words: 4

In natural speech, sounds link and shift across words. The table below reads each word separately, as it sounds when said on its own.

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
어젯밤에
어	ㅇ+ㅓ	eo
젯	ㅈ+ㅔ+ㅅ	[젣] jet
밤	ㅂ+ㅏ+ㅁ	[빠] ba
에	ㅇ+ㅔ	[메] me
잠을
잠	ㅈ+ㅏ+ㅁ	[자] ja
을	ㅇ+ㅡ+ㄹ	[믈] meul
못	ㅁ+ㅗ+ㅅ	[몯] mot
잤어요
잤	ㅈ+ㅏ+ㅆ	[자] ja
어	ㅇ+ㅓ	[써] sseo
요	ㅇ+ㅛ	yo

A ㅇ at the start of a syllable is silent; at the end of a syllable it sounds like “ng”.

Tensing: after a final ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ sound, ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ and ㅈ become tense (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ). 젯밤에 → [젣빠메]
Linking: when a syllable ending in a consonant (patchim) is followed by a syllable that starts with a vowel, the consonant moves over to the next syllable. 밤에 → [바메]
Final-sound reduction: every final consonant is pronounced as one of seven sounds — ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ or ㅇ. 못 → [몯]