TOPIK II · LEVEL 3
-기만 하면
-기만 하면 means 'whenever / every time A happens, B (always) follows' or 'as long as you just do A'.
조건·가정Conditions & what-ifsHan: -기만 하면 describes a habitual result, not a one-off instruction; use -(으)면.
Examples
이 노래를 듣기만 하면 고향 생각이 나요.Every time I hear this song, I think of home.
이 서류에 이름을 쓰기만 하면 돼요.You only need to write your name on this form.
저는 우유를 마시기만 하면 배가 아파요.Whenever I drink milk, my stomach hurts.
Don’t mix up
-기만 하면vs-(으)ㄹ 때마다-(으)ㄹ 때마다 is neutral 'every time'; -기만 하면 adds 'without fail, just A is enough'.
How to build it
V+기만 하면
먹다 → 먹기만 하면, 보다 → 보기만 하면
- The second clause is usually a habitual or certain result.
- Stronger than -(으)면: stresses that A alone is enough to trigger B.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 비가 오기만 하면 우산을 가져가세요.
Right: 비가 오면 우산을 가져가세요.
-기만 하면 describes a habitual result, not a one-off instruction; use -(으)면.
Practise -기만 하면 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(느)ㄴ다면-(느)ㄴ다면 means 'if (hypothetically)': a condition that is unlikely or imagined.
- -다 보면-다 보면 means 'if you keep doing A (for a while), B will happen'.
- -아/어야-아/어야 means 'only if / you have to A for B to happen': A is a necessary condition.
- -아/어야지 (필수 조건)An emphatic, conversational form of -아/어야: 'only if A (can B)'. It insists that A is required, often with an obvious or rhetorical second clause: 먹어 봐야지 알지.
- -거든-거든 means 'if / when (that happens), then …', and the second clause is usually a request, suggestion or intention.
- N만 아니면'If it weren't for N / if only N weren't the case': names the one obstacle that stops something from happening, often with regret.
- -(으)ㅁ-(으)ㅁ turns a verb or adjective into a noun; it is used in notes, notices, memos and written records.
- -(으)며-(으)며 is a formal, written 'and' (listing) or 'while' (two actions at once).
- -(이)야-(이)야 emphasizes a topic as obvious or as the only one meant: 'as for N, of course …'.
