How to Say “Don’t worry” in Korean: 걱정하지 마세요

걱정하지 마세요

geokjeonghaji maseyo

Situation: Feelings & cheeringLevel: Intermediate (TOPIK 3–4)

Meaning

Don’t worry.

-지 마세요 means “please don’t….” 걱정하지 마세요 is the basic phrase for reassuring someone.

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

Syllables: 7 · Words: 2

Said aloud, it sounds like [걱쩡하지 마세요].

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
걱정하지
걱	ㄱ+ㅓ+ㄱ	geok
정	ㅈ+ㅓ+ㅇ	[쩡] jeong
하	ㅎ+ㅏ	ha
지	ㅈ+ㅣ	ji
마세요
마	ㅁ+ㅏ	ma
세	ㅅ+ㅔ	se
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). 걱정 → [걱쩡]

Style: Polite (해요체)Sentence type: Statement or set phrase

Ends in -요. The everyday polite style, and a safe choice with shop staff, colleagues, strangers and anyone older than you.

It contains the honorific -(으)시-, which shows respect to the person being talked about or talked to.

These words from the TOPIK vocabulary lists appear in the phrase (shown in dictionary form).

Korean	Part of speech	Meaning	Level
걱정	noun	worry	TOPIK level 2

Test yourself before you move on. Tap an answer.

Question 1 What does “걱정하지 마세요” mean?

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Answer: Don’t worry

Question 2 How do you say “Don’t worry” in Korean?

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Answer: 걱정하지 마세요 geokjeonghaji maseyo

Question 3 How is “걱정하지 마세요” pronounced?

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Answer: [걱쩡하지 마세요]

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