TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-느니 (차라리)
-느니 (차라리) means that both options are bad, but the speaker would sooner do the second one than the first.
조건·가정Conditions & what-ifsHan: -느니 does not take the past marker -았/었-; the tense is shown only at the end of the sentence (걸어갔어요).
Examples
그 사람한테 부탁하느니 차라리 혼자 밤을 새우는 게 낫겠다.I'd rather stay up all night on my own than ask that person for help.
비싼 돈 내고 맛없는 걸 사 먹느니 집에서 해 먹는 게 나아요.Rather than pay a lot for food that doesn't taste good, it's better to cook at home.
싫은 일을 억지로 계속하느니 월급이 적어도 좋아하는 일을 하고 싶어요.Rather than keep forcing myself to do a job I hate, I want to do work I love, even if the pay is lower.
사람이 이렇게 많은데 한 시간이나 기다리느니 차라리 다른 식당에 가겠어요.There are so many people here — rather than wait a whole hour, I'd sooner go to another restaurant.
Don’t mix up
-느니 (차라리)vs-(으)ㄹ 바에야Very close in meaning and more emphatic, but -(으)ㄹ 바에야 can also mean 'since I have to do it anyway', which -느니 cannot: 어차피 할 바에야 제대로 하자 (어차피 하느니 ✗).
-느니 (차라리)vs-는 것보다-는 것보다 is a neutral comparison with no dislike of the first option: 버스를 타는 것보다 지하철을 타는 게 빨라요 (with -느니 it would sound like you can't stand buses).
How to build it
V+느니 (차라리)+V-는 게 낫다 / V-겠다 / V-(으)ㄹ래요
기다리다 → 기다리느니 차라리 다른 데 가겠어요; 만들다 → 만드느니 (ㄹ drops)
- Attach -느니 to the plain verb stem; it takes no past or future marker (탔느니 ✗, 타느니 ✓), even if the whole sentence is about the past.
- The first action must be something the speaker dislikes; for a neutral comparison between two fine options, use -는 것보다 instead.
- The second clause usually expresses a choice or judgment: -는 게 낫다, -겠다, -(으)ㄹ래요, -고 싶다, often with 차라리.
- It is used with verbs; adjectives are normally not used with -느니 in this meaning.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 길이 너무 막혀서 택시를 탔느니 차라리 걸어갔어요.
Right: 길이 너무 막혀서 택시를 타느니 차라리 걸어갔어요.
-느니 does not take the past marker -았/었-; the tense is shown only at the end of the sentence (걸어갔어요).
Practise -느니 (차라리) on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㄹ 테면From -(으)ㄹ 터이면 'if you intend to': makes someone's intention the condition. Mostly met in the blunt set phrase -(으)ㄹ 테면 -아/어 봐(라) 'go ahead, if you dare' or the indifferent -(으)ㄹ 테면 -아/어라 'do it if you want, I don't care'; plain-style speech.
- -(으)면 몰라도'If it were …, maybe, but (not otherwise)': names the one case in which something might be possible or acceptable, then denies it for the real situation. The second clause is usually negative.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 이상Treats a fact as already settled, so the second clause states what must, will, or inevitably has to follow: 'since (it's a given that) ~'.
- -(이)라야N(이)라야 says that being N is the required condition for what follows ("only if it is N / it has to be N"); it can also downplay something as "merely N".
- -(느)ㄴ다고 치다-(느)ㄴ다고 치다 means 'let's suppose/grant that ~' and treats something as true for the sake of argument, a calculation, or a concession, even if it may not really be so.
- -지 않고서는'Unless you (first) do X, Y is impossible': it stresses that X is an indispensable condition.
- -았/었더라면-았/었더라면 means 'if (something) had happened', imagining a past that did not happen, usually with regret or relief.
- -기에 따라(서)'Depending on how one …': the result or judgment changes with the way something is done, seen or thought about. Common in set phrases such as 보기에 따라, 생각하기에 따라, 하기에 따라.
- -(이)란N(이)란 picks out a concept that you are about to define or explain the essence of: "N is (by its nature)…", "what we call N is…".