TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-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.
추측·판단Guessing & judgingHan: Here the speaker means ability. -는 수가 있다 does not express what a person is able to do, so -(으)ㄹ 수 있다 is needed.
Examples
경험이 많은 사람도 가끔 실수하는 수가 있다.Even experienced people sometimes make mistakes.
급하게 먹으면 체하는 수가 있으니까 천천히 드세요.If you eat too fast, you can get indigestion, so eat slowly.
서류를 꼼꼼히 확인하지 않으면 나중에 문제가 생기는 수가 있습니다.If you don't check the documents carefully, problems can come up later.
겨울에는 이 길이 얼어서 미끄러지는 수가 있으니 조심하세요.In winter this road freezes, and you can slip, so be careful.
Don’t mix up
-는 수가 있다vs-(으)ㄹ 수 있다-(으)ㄹ 수 있다 expresses ability or permission, while -는 수가 있다 means that something occasionally happens: 저는 수영할 수 있어요 vs 수영하다가 쥐가 나는 수가 있어요.
-는 수가 있다vs-(으)ㄹ 수도 있다-(으)ㄹ 수도 있다 guesses about a specific situation, while -는 수가 있다 states a general tendency under some condition: 지금 길이 막힐 수도 있어요 vs 퇴근 시간에는 길이 막히는 수가 있어요.
How to build it
V+는 수가 있다 (also 는 수도 있다 / 는 수 있다)
다치다 → 다치는 수가 있다
- It attaches to verbs and describes a general or occasional possibility, not a person's ability. For ability, use -(으)ㄹ 수 있다.
- It usually comes with a condition such as 잘못하면, -(으)면 or -다가는, and the result is typically negative. A follow-up advice clause (-(으)니까 조심하세요) is very common.
- It is not used to report a single definite event. For past tendencies, use 는 수가 있었다, which means 'it sometimes happened'.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 저는 한국어로 말하는 수가 있어요.
Right: 저는 한국어로 말할 수 있어요.
Here the speaker means ability. -는 수가 있다 does not express what a person is able to do, so -(으)ㄹ 수 있다 is needed.
Practise -는 수가 있다 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 법이다States that something naturally happens, or is supposed to be done, as a general rule of life or common sense.