TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-에 걸쳐
-에 걸쳐 shows that an action or state stretches over a whole span of time, an area, or a series of occasions.
격식 표현Formal & written phrasesHan: 연구 is a noun, so it needs the modifier form 에 걸친; 에 걸쳐 can only modify a verb.
Examples
이번 축제는 사흘에 걸쳐 진행됩니다.This festival will be held over three days.
회사는 여러 차례에 걸쳐 고객들에게 사과했다.The company apologized to its customers on several occasions.
내일은 전국에 걸쳐 많은 비가 내리겠습니다.Tomorrow, heavy rain is expected across the whole country.
10년에 걸친 연구 끝에 새로운 치료법이 개발되었다.After research spanning ten years, a new treatment was developed.
Don’t mix up
-에 걸쳐vsN 동안동안 simply states how long something lasted and is everyday speech; 에 걸쳐 stresses a process covering the whole span and sounds formal: 3년 동안 서울에 살았어요 vs 다리가 3년에 걸쳐 완성되었다.
-에 걸쳐vsN 내내내내 means 'without a break, the entire time' and is common in speech; 에 걸쳐 just marks the extent covered, not continuity: 여름 내내 비가 왔다 vs 두 달에 걸쳐 조사했다.
How to build it
N+에 걸쳐(서)
N+에 걸친+N
사흘 → 사흘에 걸쳐 진행되다 / 10년 → 10년에 걸친 연구
- The noun must express a span or extent (사흘, 10년, 전국, 여러 분야, 수차례), not a single point in time such as 월요일 or 2010년.
- Before a noun, use the modifier form 에 걸친 (10년에 걸친 연구), not 에 걸쳐.
- It is mainly formal and written (news, reports, speeches); in casual talk about simple duration, Koreans usually say 동안.
- It fits processes that develop or repeat across the span (진행되다, 완성되다, 조사하다, 발표하다) better than static verbs like 살다 or 자다.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 10년에 걸쳐 연구 끝에 성공했다.
Right: 10년에 걸친 연구 끝에 성공했다.
연구 is a noun, so it needs the modifier form 에 걸친; 에 걸쳐 can only modify a verb.
Practise -에 걸쳐 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㅁ에 따라Use -(으)ㅁ에 따라 in formal writing to say that as one situation changes or progresses, another change follows from it.
- -(으)ㅁ으로써-(으)ㅁ으로써 presents the first action as the means or method that brings about the result in the second clause: 'by doing A, B happens'.
- -다 (표제·제목)In headlines, titles, captions and chapter headings, a verb in its bare dictionary form (stem + 다) states an event briefly and impersonally, usually one that has just happened: 'X wins', 'X opens'.
- -에 달려 있다N에 달려 있다 means that the outcome in the subject is decided by N: 'it all depends on N'.
- -에 이르기까지N에 이르기까지 marks the far end of a wide range, stressing that everything from one point all the way to N is included.
- -을/를 두고N을/를 두고 marks the issue that people argue about, debate, worry over or judge, like 'over / concerning N'.
- -을/를 계기로N을/를 계기로 means that an event or experience became the turning point that started a new action, decision or change.
- -을/를 비롯해N을/를 비롯해 puts the most important or representative member of a group first and then includes the others: 'including, above all, from N to the rest'.
- -을/를 바탕으로N을/를 바탕으로 means using N as the foundation or source material for creating, developing or judging something.