Korean at the Pharmacy: -으면 (If) and -지 마세요 (Don't)

At a Korean pharmacy (약국) the pharmacist’s instructions ride on two patterns: -으면 = “if” (아프면 = if you’re sick) and -지 마세요 = “don’t” (술은 마시지 마세요 = don’t drink). Add a dosage you can read — 하루에 세 번, 식후 30분 (three times a day, 30 min after meals) — and you can fill a prescription on your own. This lesson turns the doctor’s visit into action.

In the last lesson you described your symptoms with -을 때. Now you take the 처방전 (prescription) to the 약국 and follow what the 약사 (pharmacist) tells you — which is almost always a string of “if this, then take that, and don’t do this.”

Ten words for the pharmacy

The medicine cabinet first — what you’ll buy and the verbs for taking it.

-으면: saying “if / whenever”

The ending -으면 sets up a condition — “if” or “whenever.” Attach it to the verb stem: consonant stem + 으면, vowel stem + 면. Pharmacy talk is full of it, because every instruction is conditional: 아프면 드세요 (take it if it hurts), 열이 나면 (if you have a fever).

Remember the contrast from last lesson: -으면 = condition (“if”), -을 때 = time (“when”). 아프면 약을 드세요 is “if you’re sick”; 아플 때 약을 드세요 is “at the time you’re sick.” For pharmacy instructions, -으면 is your workhorse.

How do I tell someone “don’t”? -지 마세요

To tell someone not to do something, take the verb stem and add -지 마세요. This is the prohibitive command — the pharmacist’s “please don’t.” It’s different from 안 (which just describes): 술을 안 마셔요 = “I don’t drink”; 술을 마시지 마세요 = “don’t drink.” Chinese speakers can map it to 別… / 不要….

So a pharmacist often pairs them: 이 약을 드시고, 술은 마시지 마세요 = “take this medicine, and don’t drink alcohol.” The -고 links the do; -지 마세요 delivers the don’t.

Reading the dosage

The label looks scary but it’s just three slots: how often, when, and the verb “take.” 하루에 = per day, 세 번 = three times, 식후 = after meals, 30분 = 30 minutes, 드세요 = take (it). Assemble them: 하루에 세 번, 식후 30분에 드세요 = take it three times a day, 30 minutes after meals. Swap pieces freely — 하루에 두 번 (twice a day), 식전 (before meals), 자기 전에 (before bed).

At the pharmacy

Watch -으면, -지 마세요, and the dosage line all land in one counter visit:

See the structure: the do-this comes with 드세요, the don’t with 마시지 마세요, and the “if it doesn’t improve” with 안 나으면. That’s the whole grammar of a pharmacy visit — condition, instruction, prohibition — in four lines.

FAQ

What’s the difference between -으면 and -을 때? -으면 means “if / whenever” — a condition: 아프면 약을 드세요 = if you feel sick, take the medicine. -을 때 means “when / at the time of” — a moment in time: 아플 때 = when (you’re) sick. At the pharmacy you’ll hear -으면 constantly because instructions are conditional: 열이 나면 (if you have a fever), 안 나으면 (if it doesn’t get better). For Chinese speakers: -으면 ≈ 「如果／…的話」, -을 때 ≈ 「…的時候」.

Is -지 마세요 different from 안? Yes — they negate different things. 안 / 못 negate a statement: 술을 안 마셔요 = I don’t drink. -지 마세요 is a COMMAND telling someone NOT to do something: 술을 마시지 마세요 = don’t drink (alcohol). So use 안 to describe, and -지 마세요 to instruct or warn. The polite form is stem + -지 마세요; a softer/closer version is -지 마 (no 요). It maps neatly to Chinese 別… / 不要….

How do I read a Korean dosage label? Three pieces do most of the work. Frequency: 하루에 세 번 = three times a day (하루에 = per day). Timing: 식후 = after meals, 식전 = before meals, 30분 = 30 minutes, so 식후 30분 = 30 minutes after eating. And the verb 드시다 (the honorific of 먹다) means “take / consume”: 식후에 드세요 = take it after meals. Put together: 하루에 세 번, 식후 30분에 드세요 = take it three times a day, 30 minutes after meals.

---

Next: moods and feelings — 기분이 안 좋은 것 같아요 and -는 것 같다. Previous: at the doctor’s — -을 때 and symptom words. Full path: curriculum hub.