TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-(으)ㄹ지언정
Use 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."
대조·양보Contrast & concessionHan: The learner put the rejected option (stealing) before -(으)ㄹ지언정. That clause must hold what you accept; to reject the first option, use -느니.
Examples
혼자 살지언정 그런 사람하고는 결혼 안 할 거예요.I may end up living alone, but I won't marry someone like that.
월급은 적을지언정 이 일은 저한테 보람이 있어요.The pay may be low, but this job is rewarding for me.
경기에서 졌을지언정 우리는 최선을 다했다.We may have lost the match, but we gave it our all.
굶을지언정 남의 돈은 훔치지 않겠어요.Even if I go hungry, I won't steal someone else's money.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ지언정vs-느니 (차라리)With -느니 the first clause is the option you reject; with -(으)ㄹ지언정 it is the bad option you accept: 그 사람과 결혼하느니 혼자 살겠어요.-(으)ㄹ지언정vs-더라도-더라도 is a neutral everyday "even if"; choose -(으)ㄹ지언정 only for emphatic, high-stakes resolve: 좀 늦더라도 꼭 갈게요.How to build it
V/A+(으)ㄹ지언정
N+(이)ㄹ지언정
past: V/A+았/었을지언정
굶다 → 굶을지언정, 적다 → 적을지언정, 지다 → 졌을지언정
- The first clause is what the speaker is willing to accept (often something unpleasant); the second clause is what they refuse or still insist on. This is the opposite order to -느니, where the first clause is the rejected option.
- The second clause is usually a strong statement of will (-겠다, -(으)ㄹ 거예요, 안/못 …) or a contrasting fact; it sounds strange for ordinary, low-stakes concessions like weather or small plans.
- For past events put the past marker inside: 졌을지언정. Do not attach -겠- before -(으)ㄹ지언정.
- It sounds formal, literary and dramatic; in relaxed everyday speech -더라도 or -어도 is far more common.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 남의 돈을 훔칠지언정 차라리 굶겠어요.
Right: 남의 돈을 훔치느니 차라리 굶겠어요.
The learner put the rejected option (stealing) before -(으)ㄹ지언정. That clause must hold what you accept; to reject the first option, use -느니.
Practise -(으)ㄹ지언정 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(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.'
- -(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.
- -(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.