Start 7-day free trial
TOPIK II · LEVEL 3

-게 되다

-게 되다 says that someone comes to do something or ends up in a new situation, usually because of circumstances or the passing of time rather than their own plan.

변화·피동·사동Change, passive & causative

Han: 쉽다 is an adjective, so its change of state is expressed with -아/어지다 (쉬워지다); -게 되다 belongs with verbs, and 쉽게 되다 sounds like 'it went easily'.

Examples

회사 일 때문에 다음 달에 부산으로 이사하게 됐어요.Because of work, I'm going to move to Busan next month.
한국 드라마를 보다가 한국어에 관심을 가지게 됐어요.While watching Korean dramas, I became interested in Korean.
열심히 연습하면 곧 운전할 수 있게 될 거예요.If you practice hard, you'll soon be able to drive.
처음에는 김치를 못 먹었는데 이제는 잘 먹게 됐어요.At first I couldn't eat kimchi, but now I've come to eat it without any problem.

Don’t mix up

-게 되다vs-기로 하다-기로 하다 stresses the subject's own decision; -게 되다 stresses that circumstances led to it: 이사하기로 했어요 (I decided to move) vs 이사하게 됐어요 (it turned out that I'm moving).-게 되다vs-아/어지다For a change of state, -아/어지다 is used with adjectives and -게 되다 with verbs: 날씨가 좋아졌어요 (the weather got better) vs 한국 음식을 좋아하게 됐어요 (I came to like Korean food).-게 되다vs-게 하다-게 하다 means someone makes or lets another person do something; -게 되다 means the person ends up doing it: 엄마가 동생에게 청소를 하게 했어요 vs 동생이 청소를 하게 됐어요.

How to build it

V+게 되다

가다 → 가게 되다 → 가게 됐어요

  1. Tense and politeness go on 되다, not on the verb before 게: 가게 됐어요 (past), 가게 될 거예요 (future). 갔게 됐어요 is wrong.
  2. It attaches naturally to verbs. For a change in an adjective's state, use -아/어지다 instead: 예뻐졌어요, not 예쁘게 됐어요.
  3. It presents the result as something that happened, not as a choice. In formal announcements Koreans also use it for their own decisions to sound modest: 이번에 회사를 그만두게 되었습니다.
  4. To say you became able to do something, combine it with -(으)ㄹ 수 있다: 운전할 수 있게 됐어요.

Classic mistake

Wrong: 한국어 공부가 요즘 쉽게 됐어요.

Right: 한국어 공부가 요즘 쉬워졌어요.

쉽다 is an adjective, so its change of state is expressed with -아/어지다 (쉬워지다); -게 되다 belongs with verbs, and 쉽게 되다 sounds like 'it went easily'.

Practise -게 되다 on real TOPIK questions

Hannim plans each day up to your exam date: questions on this pattern, reviews, full mock papers and graded writing. 7 days free, no card.

Start 7-day free trial

More level 3 grammar

All TOPIK grammar