TOPIK II · LEVEL 4
-게 생겼다
-게 생겼다 says you are about to end up in a bad (sometimes good) situation: 'I'm going to end up …'.
정도·비교Degree & comparisonHan: The fixed form is past 생겼다 even for what's about to happen.
Examples
길이 너무 막혀서 비행기를 놓치게 생겼어요.The traffic is so bad I'm going to miss my flight.
숙제를 안 해서 선생님께 혼나게 생겼어요.I didn't do my homework, so I'm going to get scolded by the teacher.
이러다가 다 굶게 생겼네.At this rate we're all going to go hungry.
Don’t mix up
-게 생겼다vs-게 되다-게 되다 is a neutral 'come to'; -게 생겼다 stresses an imminent, usually unwelcome result.How to build it
V+게 생겼다
늦다 → 늦게 생겼어요, 혼나다 → 혼나게 생겼어요
- Always in the past form 생겼다, though it describes what's about to happen.
- Spoken; often with a sense of trouble.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 늦게 생겨요.
Right: 늦게 생겼어요.
The fixed form is past 생겼다 even for what's about to happen.
Practise -게 생겼다 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㄹ 뿐이다-(으)ㄹ 뿐이다 says that something is just this and nothing more, and is often used to downplay a fact or to sound modest.
- -(으)ㄹ 따름이다Says that something is simply this and nothing more; it is a formal, often humble way to say 'I merely…' or 'I can only feel…'.
- -(으)ㄹ 지경이다Says that a situation has become so bad that it has almost reached an extreme state, often as an exaggeration, like 'I'm about to die / go crazy'.
- -에 비해(서)/-에 비하면Compares something with N as the standard: 'compared to N, relative to N'. 에 비하면 adds an evaluation, often 'X is nothing compared to N'.
- -듯이Links two clauses by likeness: 'just as A, so B'. It also forms fixed similes such as 물 쓰듯이 ('like water') and 밥 먹듯이 ('as often as eating').
- -(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.
- -(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)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."