TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-는 추세이다
-는 추세이다 'it is the trend that …, … is on the rise / on the decline' describes a steady direction of change over time, usually backed by numbers. It is a typical phrase of news, reports and TOPIK essays: 1인 가구가 늘어나는 추세이다.
정도·비교Degree & comparisonHan: A trend is still moving, so 추세 takes the present 는. The past form 늘어난 describes a finished change and does not go with 추세.
Examples
최근 혼자 사는 사람이 꾸준히 늘어나는 추세이다.The number of people living alone has been rising steadily in recent years.
종이 신문을 읽는 사람은 해마다 줄어드는 추세에 있다.Fewer and fewer people read paper newspapers each year.
요즘은 결혼을 늦게 하는 추세예요.These days people tend to marry later.
외국인 관광객 수는 2022년 이후 증가 추세를 보이고 있다.The number of foreign tourists has been on the rise since 2022.
Don’t mix up
-는 추세이다vs-고 있다-고 있다 says a change is going on now: 가격이 오르고 있다. 추세이다 adds that this is an established direction seen over time; reports often join them: 증가 추세를 보이고 있다.-는 추세이다vs-(으)ㄴ/는 편이다-는 편이다 (3-07) describes how someone or something tends to be ('rather, on the whole'); 추세 describes movement over time. 한국 사람들은 빨리 걷는 편이다 vs 걷는 사람이 늘어나는 추세이다.How to build it
V+는 추세이다 / 추세에 있다 · N(증가·감소·상승) 추세이다 / 추세를 보이다
혼자 사는 사람이 늘어나는 추세이다. 출생아 수는 감소 추세를 보이고 있다.
- Verb stem + 는 추세이다, always with 는, even when the report is about the past; the tense goes on 이다: 늘어나는 추세였다 'it was rising'. 추세에 있다 means the same and sounds a little more formal.
- Adjectives first become change verbs with -아/어지다 (3-01): 높아지는 추세, 많아지는 추세 — not 높은 추세. With a noun of change, 추세 follows it directly: 증가 추세이다, 감소 추세를 보이다, 상승 추세가 이어지다.
- 추세 is a trend across many people or years, not one person's habit or a single event: 최근 결혼을 늦게 하는 추세이다 ✓, but 제 동생이 늦게 자는 추세예요 ✗ (say 늦게 자는 편이에요). Words like 최근, 점점, 꾸준히, 해마다 fit it well.
- It belongs to writing and formal talk (-는 추세입니다 in a presentation). In casual speech people simply say 요즘 많이 늘고 있어요.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 최근 1인 가구가 늘어난 추세이다.
Right: 최근 1인 가구가 늘어나는 추세이다.
A trend is still moving, so 추세 takes the present 는. The past form 늘어난 describes a finished change and does not go with 추세.
Practise -는 추세이다 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㄴ/는 것이나 다름없다It says that something is not literally X, but in practice it is just the same as X.
- -에 그치다N + 에 그치다 says that a result or level stopped at N and went no further, usually less than hoped for.
- -기 나름이다The result is not fixed; it depends on how someone does the action or looks at things.
- -에 불과하다N에 불과하다 says that something is only N and no more, and stresses that it is small, unimportant or less than expected.
- -(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…".
- -(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)ㄴ 끝에Shows that a result was finally reached after a long or difficult process of doing something.
- -(으)ㄹ 망정-(으)ㄹ망정 means 'even if I have to accept this bad situation, I still won't give up something more important,' or 'although X is true, Y still holds.'
- -(으)ㄹ 즈음-(으)ㄹ 즈음 means "around the time when something happens": it marks an approximate time, not an exact moment.