TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-아/어 내다
-아/어 내다 shows that someone gets through something hard and carries it through to the end by their own effort or endurance.
시제·상Tense & aspectHan: Eating an ordinary lunch takes no special effort, so -아/어 내다 does not fit; it is not a general 'did/finished' ending but implies overcoming difficulty.
Examples
그 어려운 시기를 버텨 낸 덕분에 지금의 회사가 있는 거예요.The company exists today because we held out through those hard times.
그는 힘든 수술을 견뎌 내고 다시 무대에 섰다.He got through a difficult surgery and stood on the stage again.
경찰은 오랜 수사 끝에 범인을 찾아냈다.After a long investigation, the police finally tracked down the culprit.
아이가 주사를 맞으면서도 울지 않고 끝까지 참아 냈어요.The child didn't cry and endured the injection to the end.
Don’t mix up
-아/어 내다vs-고 말다-고 말다 usually reports an outcome you could not prevent, while -아/어 내다 reports a success you fought for: 결국 울고 말았다 (couldn't help crying) vs 끝까지 참아 냈다 (managed not to cry).-아/어 내다vs-아/어 버리다-아/어 버리다 stresses that something is completely finished, often with relief or regret, with no idea of effort; -아/어 내다 stresses the struggle: 일을 다 끝내 버렸다 vs 힘든 일을 끝까지 해냈다.-아/어 내다vs-(으)ㄹ 수 있었다-(으)ㄹ 수 있었다 only says it was possible, while -아/어 내다 adds that it was hard and you actually completed it: 문제를 풀 수 있었다 vs 어려운 문제를 끝까지 풀어 냈다.
How to build it
V+아/어 내다
견디다 → 견뎌 내다 → 견뎌 냈어요
- Use it only when the action is difficult or needs effort; with everyday, effortless actions (eating lunch, drinking coffee) it sounds strange.
- It attaches to action verbs, not adjectives, and the subject is usually a person or group that makes the effort, not something that happens by itself (비가 그쳐 냈다 is wrong).
- It is most often used in the past to report an achievement, but it also works with intentions and wishes: 꼭 이겨 낼 거예요.
- Some combinations have become single words and are written without a space: 해내다, 찾아내다, 밝혀내다.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 점심에 김밥을 먹어 냈어요.
Right: 점심에 김밥을 먹었어요.
Eating an ordinary lunch takes no special effort, so -아/어 내다 does not fit; it is not a general 'did/finished' ending but implies overcoming difficulty.
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)려던 참이다Says that you were just about to do something at the very moment someone suggested it or something happened.
- -아/어 대다Attached to an action verb, it shows someone doing that action over and over or very intensely, usually to a degree the speaker finds excessive or annoying.
- -았/었던Modifies a noun with a past event or state that is recalled as finished and no longer continuing: 'that I once …', 'that used to be'. It sounds more reminiscent and distant than -(으)ㄴ or -던.
- -고야 말다-고야 말다 says that something finally happened in the end despite resistance or effort (often with regret), or, with 겠다, that the speaker is determined to make it happen no matter what.
- -(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.