TOPIK II · LEVEL 4
-(으)ㄹ 바에는
Use -(으)ㄹ 바에는 to say that if the only way is to do this unpleasant thing, you would rather do something else instead.
조건·가정Conditions & what-ifsHan: No past tense goes before 바에는; keep -(으)ㄹ and show the past only at the end of the sentence (나았겠어요).
Examples
비싼 돈 내고 맛없는 음식을 먹을 바에는 차라리 집에서 라면을 끓여 먹겠어요.Rather than pay a lot for bad food, I'd sooner make ramyeon at home.
택시를 한 시간이나 기다릴 바에는 그냥 걸어가는 게 낫겠다.If it means waiting a whole hour for a taxi, we'd better just walk.
이렇게 대충 할 바에는 아예 시작하지 마세요.If you're going to do it this sloppily, don't start at all.
억지로 회사에 다닐 바에는 그만두고 하고 싶은 일을 찾는 게 나아요.Rather than keep going to a job you hate, it's better to quit and find what you want to do.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ 바에는vs-느니 (차라리)Almost the same meaning, but -느니 sounds more colloquial and casual, while -(으)ㄹ 바에는 is a bit firmer and also common in writing: 그 사람한테 부탁하느니 혼자 하겠어요.-(으)ㄹ 바에는vs-는 대신에-는 대신에 is a neutral substitution and can describe what actually happened in the past; -(으)ㄹ 바에는 judges the first option as bad: 영화를 보는 대신에 책을 읽었어요.
How to build it
V+(으)ㄹ 바에는
가다 → 갈 바에는, 먹다 → 먹을 바에는
- Do not put a past tense before it (*갔을 바에는). Even when looking back on the past, keep the verb in the -(으)ㄹ form and put the past tense at the end of the sentence.
- The first clause is an option the speaker sees as bad or unsatisfying; the second clause gives the preferred alternative, usually with 차라리/아예 and endings like -는 게 낫다, -겠다 or -(으)ㄹ래요.
- It is not used for a neutral choice between two equally fine options; for a simple swap use -는 대신에.
- 바 is a separate noun, so write it with a space: 할 바에는. The forms 할 바에 and the more emphatic 할 바에야 are also used.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 그렇게 오래 택시를 기다렸을 바에는 걸어가는 게 나았겠어요.
Right: 그렇게 오래 택시를 기다릴 바에는 걸어가는 게 나았겠어요.
No past tense goes before 바에는; keep -(으)ㄹ and show the past only at the end of the sentence (나았겠어요).
Practise -(으)ㄹ 바에는 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(이)면 (조사)Attaches to a noun to mean 'if it is N / whenever it is N'; repeated as N(이)면 N, it means 'in every field, whatever you name'.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 한Sets a condition that must keep holding for the result to stay true: 'as long as…', and with -지 않는 한, 'unless…'.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 셈치다Used when you deliberately choose to treat something as if it were true, even though it isn't, usually to accept a loss or to take a chance.
- -만 같아도Means 'if things were even like N': it holds up a past time or a standard and says how different the result would be (or was) then, often with regret or surprise at change.
- -다가는-다가는 warns that if you keep doing something (or do it at all), something bad will happen.
- -(으)나-(으)나 is a formal written 'but / however', linking two contrasting clauses.
- -(으)되-(으)되 states or allows a first action and then adds a condition or limit to it, in a formal or written style.
- -(으)ㄹ 게 아니라Use it to say that doing X is not the right move, so you should do Y instead: "rather than doing X, do Y."
- -(으)ㄹ 무렵-(으)ㄹ 무렵 means 'around the time when …'.