-(으)ㄹ 망정
-(으)ㄹ망정 means 'even if I have to accept this bad situation, I still won't give up something more important,' or 'although X is true, Y still holds.'
대조·양보Contrast & concessionHan: The second clause must contrast with the first. Having no money naturally leads to unhappiness, so 불행해요 is an expected result, not a contrast, and -(으)ㄹ망정 doesn't fit (use -어서 for cause). 행복해요 goes against expectation, so it works.
Examples
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ 망정vs-더라도-더라도 is a neutral 'even if' for any condition; -(으)ㄹ망정 needs a bad or extreme premise and adds strong resolve: 비가 오더라도 갈 거예요 vs 비를 맞을망정 우산은 안 빌릴래요.-(으)ㄹ 망정vs-는 한이 있더라도Same 'even at the worst' resolve, but -는 한이 있더라도 attaches only to verbs; -(으)ㄹ망정 also works with adjectives for plain concession: 밤을 새우는 한이 있더라도 끝낼 거예요 vs 몸은 작을망정 힘은 세요.How to build it
굶다 → 굶을망정, 작다 → 작을망정, 학생이다 → 학생일망정
- The first clause names an undesirable or extreme situation the speaker is willing to accept; the second clause must go against what that situation would lead you to expect.
- It often appears with 차라리 or 비록, and the second clause is often a firm refusal such as -지 않겠다 or 안 할 거예요.
- It sounds bookish and emphatic; in casual conversation Koreans usually prefer -더라도 or -아/어도.
- For a past fact, use -았/었을망정: 가난했을망정 정직하게 살았다.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 돈은 없을망정 불행해요.
Right: 돈은 없을망정 행복해요.
The second clause must contrast with the first. Having no money naturally leads to unhappiness, so 불행해요 is an expected result, not a contrast, and -(으)ㄹ망정 doesn't fit (use -어서 for cause). 행복해요 goes against expectation, so it works.
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㄹ 테지만From -(으)ㄹ 터이지만: 'surely / probably …, but'. The speaker grants a confident assumption, often about the listener's feelings or situation, and then adds a contrasting point. A little more formal than -겠지만.
- -(으)ㄹ지언정Use it to say you would accept even something bad in the first clause, but you will firmly hold to what you say in the second: "even if X, I still (won't) Y" or "X may be so, but Y."
- -(느)ㄴ다기보다는Use it to say that a first description is not quite accurate and then give a better one: 'it's not so much X as Y.'
- -지 (대조)A linking -지 that sets what is true against what is not: 'it is A, not B' / 'it only does A and not B'. Most often met as N(이)지 N이/가 아니다; neutral, used in speech and writing.
- -아/어 봤자-아/어 봤자 says that even if you do something, it will be useless or the result will be small, so it is not worth doing.
- -고도-고도 means that even after A has actually happened, B happens or stays the opposite of what A would lead you to expect.
- -에도 불구하고N에도 불구하고 'despite N, in spite of N': a known fact, expressed by a noun, that should have prevented the result, yet the result happened. Formal: news, reports, speeches.
- -(이)란N(이)란 picks out a concept that you are about to define or explain the essence of: "N is (by its nature)…", "what we call N is…".
- -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다Use -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 when the situation makes it plain to you that something, usually something bad, will happen or has happened.