TOPIK II · LEVEL 3
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.
조건·가정Conditions & what-ifsHan: 만 아니면 follows a noun. With a verb, say 비만 안 오면 or 비가 오지만 않으면.
Examples
내일 시험만 아니면 같이 영화 보러 갈 텐데.If it weren't for tomorrow's exam, I'd go to the movies with you.
그날 교통사고만 아니었으면 제시간에 도착했을 거예요.If it hadn't been for the car accident that day, I would have arrived on time.
가격만 아니면 이 집을 당장 계약하고 싶어요.If it weren't for the price, I'd sign for this house right away.
Don’t mix up
N만 아니면vsN만 있으면N만 있으면 names the one thing needed; N만 아니면 names the one obstacle: 돈만 있으면 여행 갈 거예요 vs 일만 아니면 여행 갈 거예요.
N만 아니면vs-지만 않으면The verb version: 늦지만 않으면 괜찮아요 'it's fine as long as you're not late' vs 출근 시간만 아니면 길이 안 막혀요.
How to build it
N+만 아니면
past counterfactual: N+만 아니었으면 (아니었더라면)
시험 → 시험만 아니면; 비 → 비만 아니면; 가격 → 가격만 아니면; 사고 → 사고만 아니었으면
- N is the single thing standing in the way; the second clause says what would happen without it: 시험만 아니면 놀러 갈 텐데.
- The second clause often ends in -(으)ㄹ 텐데, -(으)ㄹ 거예요 or, for the past, -았/었을 거예요 / -았/었을 텐데.
- It attaches to nouns. With verbs and adjectives use -지만 않으면 (비가 오지만 않으면) or N만 안 V-(으)면 (비만 안 오면).
Classic mistake
Wrong: 비가 오만 아니면 등산 갈 거예요.
Right: 비만 안 오면 등산 갈 거예요.
만 아니면 follows a noun. With a verb, say 비만 안 오면 or 비가 오지만 않으면.
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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.
- -기만 하면-기만 하면 means 'whenever / every time A happens, B (always) follows' or 'as long as you just do A'.
- -(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 …'.
