“Should” in Korean

Korean has a verb suffix for conveying an obligation or gentle criticism.

The suffixes are -아여지, -여야지, and -어야지. depending on the verb's final vowel.

"Should" is really quite difficult to translate directly. Consider instead saying "-면 좋아요" ("it'd be good if you ...").

-지 말다

"you should not" — direct command

-어 보다

"try to" — used for less demanding requests/commands

-지

polite requests

-면 안 되다

"it's not okay to, you should not"

-면 좋다

"it'd be good if you'd"

-어야지

See also