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TOPIK II · LEVEL 4

-만 같아도

Means 'if things were even like N': it holds up a past time or a standard and says how different the result would be (or was) then, often with regret or surprise at change.

조건·가정Conditions & what-ifs

Han: The second clause must describe how things were or would be different from now, not a present fact.

Examples

불과 십 년 전만 같아도 휴대폰으로 은행 업무를 본다는 건 상상하기 어려웠다.Just ten years ago, doing your banking on a phone was hard to imagine.
동생이 너만 같아도 엄마가 걱정을 덜 하실 텐데.If my younger brother were even a bit like you, Mum wouldn't worry so much.
평소만 같아도 벌써 도착했을 텐데 오늘은 길이 너무 막히네요.On a normal day we'd have arrived by now, but the traffic is terrible today.

Don’t mix up

-만 같아도vs-(이)라면(이)라면 sets up any imagined case; 만 같아도 compares with a real time or standard that the present falls short of: 내가 부자라면 vs 작년만 같아도 샀을 거예요.
-만 같아도vsN만 아니면N만 아니면 names the single obstacle ('if only not for N'); N만 같아도 names the better condition ('if only it were like N'): 비만 아니면 갈 텐데 vs 평소만 같아도 벌써 왔을 텐데.

How to build it

N+만 같아도

작년 → 작년만 같아도; 평소 → 평소만 같아도; 몇 년 전 → 몇 년 전만 같아도; 너 → 너만 같아도

  1. N is usually a past time (작년, 예전, 몇 년 전), 평소 'usually', or a person taken as a good standard (너만 같아도).
  2. The second clause shows a result different from the present: a hypothesis with -았/었을 거예요, -(으)ㄹ 텐데, -겠다, or a past fact that has since changed (상상도 못 했다).
  3. It implies that the current situation is not like N; 만 here means 'even just, only as much as'.

Classic mistake

Wrong: 몇 년 전만 같아도 스마트폰을 많이 써요.

Right: 몇 년 전만 같아도 스마트폰이 이렇게 흔하지 않았어요.

The second clause must describe how things were or would be different from now, not a present fact.

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