Learn Korean: Verb + 지 말았어야지

Let’s take a look at the pattern Verb + 지 말았어야지. This is a casual sentence we can use to tell someone that he or she shouldn’t have done something that only caused a problem in the present. For example, Donghun just found some intimate photos of his girlfriend with another guy and it turns out that she really cheated on him before. Donghun called it quits but his girlfriend is asking to give her a chance. He told her that she shouldn’t have let herself get caught through the photos. Even if she did cheat on him in the past, he wouldn’t mind not knowing all that. But she should have burned the photos or done something about them. The main verb is 들키다 (to be caught). We take the verb stem and attach 지 말았어여지. The actual sentence is 사진은 들키지 말았어야지.

나랑 만나면서 연락은 하지 말았어야지.

He shouldn’t have kept in touch with her while we were dating. (that caused so much damage in our relationship)

약속은 하지 말았어야지.

She shouldn’t have made a promise (she can’t keep).

전화 번호 주지 말았어야지.

You shouldn’t have given your phone number away.

(now the guys endless text messages creeps you out)