Let’s take a look at the Korean sentence pattern Noun + 아니라. We use this to correct an error in someone’s statement. For example, the 2018 Winter Olympics is going to be held in Pyeongchang (Korea). My friend, a fan of winter sports, is thinking of going there. He says I am going to Pyeongyang this winter. He mistakenly confuses Pyeongyang for Pyeongchang. Pyeongyang is on the other side of the Korean peninsula. I correct him and say It’s Pyeongchang, not Pyeongyang. There are two main nouns; the mistake (평양) and the correction (평창). We add 아니라 to the mistake and then the correction. The actual form is 평양() 아니라 평창. The subject particle (/) may be attached to the error. To form a real sentence, we can add 이다 at the end as in 평양() 아니라 평창이야.


영화가 아니라 드라마야.

It’s a drama, not a movie.


오빠가 아니라 형이야.

You are not supposed to call me oppa, but hyung because you are a man too.


삼월 아니라 사월이야.

My birthday is in April, not March.