TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-기 십상이다
Says that something bad is very likely to happen in a certain situation, often as a warning or a general observation.
추측·판단Guessing & judgingHan: Success is a desirable result, and -기 십상이다 is used for bad outcomes; for a positive natural result use -기 마련이다.
Examples
계획 없이 쇼핑을 하다가는 돈을 낭비하기 십상이다.If you shop without a plan, you'll most likely end up wasting money.
겨울에 얇게 입고 다니면 감기에 걸리기 십상이죠.If you go around in thin clothes in winter, you're very likely to catch a cold.
급하게 서두르다 보면 실수하기 십상이다.When you rush things, you're bound to make mistakes.
이렇게 무리하면 건강을 해치기 십상이에요.If you push yourself like this, you're likely to ruin your health.
Don’t mix up
-기 십상이다vs-기 쉽다-기 쉽다 is weaker and also means 'easy to do' (이 책은 읽기 쉬워요); -기 십상이다 only predicts a likely bad outcome and sounds stronger: 빙판길에서는 넘어지기 십상이에요.
-기 십상이다vs-기 마련이다-기 마련이다 states a natural, inevitable rule and can be positive; -기 십상이다 warns of a likely bad result: 노력하면 실력이 늘기 마련이다.-기 십상이다vs-(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다-(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 is the speaker's near-certainty about one specific situation; -기 십상이다 describes a general tendency: 지금 출발하면 늦을 게 뻔해.How to build it
V+기 십상이다
실수하다 → 실수하기 십상이다 / 실수하기 십상이에요
- Used for undesirable results (mistakes, illness, losses). For a good or neutral natural outcome use -기 마련이다 instead.
- No tense before 기 (잤기 십상이다 is wrong). To talk about the past, put the tense on 십상이다: 실수하기 십상이었다.
- It is usually paired with a condition such as -(으)면 or -다가는 that names the risky behaviour.
- It is a judgment about likelihood, so it does not take command or suggestion endings (no -기 십상이세요/-읍시다).
Classic mistake
Wrong: 꾸준히 노력하면 성공하기 십상이다.
Right: 꾸준히 노력하면 성공하기 마련이다.
Success is a desirable result, and -기 십상이다 is used for bad outcomes; for a positive natural result use -기 마련이다.
Practise -기 십상이다 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다Use -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 when the situation makes it plain to you that something, usually something bad, will happen or has happened.
- -(으)ㄹ 턱이 없다Use -(으)ㄹ 턱이 없다 to say firmly that, given what you know, something simply cannot be true or happen: "there's no way that ~".
- -(으)ㄹ 우려가 있다States formally that there is a real risk that something bad or undesirable could happen.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 경향이 있다Says that people or things generally lean toward a certain behavior or state; it describes a tendency, not a fixed rule.
- -(으)ㄹ까 싶다-(으)ㄹ까 싶다 voices a half-formed thought in the speaker's mind: either "I'm thinking I might do ~" or "I suspect, worry or hope that ~ might happen."
- -(으)려나 보다Guesses from a visible sign that something is about to happen or that someone means to do something: 'it looks like … is going to …'. -(으)려나 is short for -(으)려고 하나; conversational.
- -(으)려고(요)? (의심)A rhetorical question voicing doubt that something could be true: 'Surely … wouldn't …?' The speaker expects the answer no. Spoken and a little old-fashioned; the polite form is -(으)려고요?
- -나 싶다 / -(으)ㄴ가 싶다It expresses a tentative thought or doubt in your own mind, like 'I wonder if…' or 'maybe…', often with a touch of worry.
- -는 수가 있다-는 수가 있다 says that something, usually unwanted, can occasionally happen under certain conditions, and it is often used as a warning.