Don’t get your hands wet in Korean 🇰🇷

Sentence info.

Breakdown of “손을 젖게 하지 마세요” (son-eul jeot-ge ha-ji ma-se-yo):

• 손 (son)
 – Means “hand”
• 을 (eul)
 – Object marker attached to “손,” indicating that “hand” is the object of the action
• 젖게 (jeot-ge)
 – Derived from the verb “젖다” (jeot-da), meaning “to get wet.”
 – The ending “-게” turns it into an adverbial form meaning “in a state of being wet” or “wetly”
• 하지 (ha-ji)
 – From the verb “하다” (ha-da), meaning “to do”
 – Here it is the stem used with the negative command pattern
• 마세요 (ma-se-yo)
 – A polite command form that means “don’t do.”
 – Combined with “하지” it forms “하지 마세요” which means “don’t do (it)”

Thus, the whole sentence literally means “Don’t make (your hands) get wet” which is understood as “Don’t get your hands wet.”

Tips to remember:
 • The structure “verb stem + 지 마세요” is a common polite way to form negative imperatives (“don’t do something”).
 • When you see a descriptive adverbial ending like “-게,” know that it’s modifying the state (here, becoming wet).
 • Recognize that particles like “을” mark objects in the sentence, helping you understand who or what is affected by the action.

Alternate ways to say “Don’t get your hands wet”:
 1. 손이 젖지 않게 하세요.
  – Romanized: son-i jeot-ji an-ke ha-se-yo
  – Translation: “Make sure your hands do not become wet.”
 2. 손에 물이 묻지 않게 하세요.
  – Romanized: son-e mu-ri mut-ji an-ke ha-se-yo
  – Translation: “Make sure water doesn’t stick to your hands.”

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