TOPIK II · LEVEL 3
-(느)ㄴ다면
-(느)ㄴ다면 means 'if (hypothetically)': a condition that is unlikely or imagined.
조건·가정Conditions & what-ifsHan: 날다 is a ㄹ-stem: -(으)ㄹ 거예요 gives 날 거예요, not 날을 거예요.
Examples
그 사실을 미리 알았다면 거기에 안 갔을 거예요.If I had known that beforehand, I wouldn't have gone there.
다시 학생이라면 더 열심히 공부할 거예요.If I were a student again, I'd study harder.
복권에 당첨된다면 세계 여행을 하고 싶어요.If I won the lottery, I'd like to travel the world.
Don’t mix up
-(느)ㄴ다면vs-(으)면-(으)면 is a real, likely condition; -(느)ㄴ다면 is hypothetical or unlikely: 시간이 있으면 갈게요 vs 시간이 있다면 갈 텐데.How to build it
V(vowel)+ㄴ다면
V(consonant)+는다면
A+다면
N+(이)라면
가다 → 간다면, 먹다 → 먹는다면, 크다 → 크다면, 학생 → 학생이라면
- Past hypothetical: -았/었다면 'if I had …': 알았다면 'if I had known'.
- Often followed by -(으)ㄹ 거예요 / -겠어요 / -(으)ㄹ 텐데.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 내가 새라면 하늘을 날을 거예요.
Right: 내가 새라면 하늘을 날 거예요.
날다 is a ㄹ-stem: -(으)ㄹ 거예요 gives 날 거예요, not 날을 거예요.
Practise -(느)ㄴ다면 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -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.
- -기만 하면-기만 하면 means 'whenever / every time A happens, B (always) follows' or 'as long as you just do A'.
- 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 …'.
