TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-에 이르기까지
N에 이르기까지 marks the far end of a wide range, stressing that everything from one point all the way to N is included.
격식 표현Formal & written phrasesHan: A simple deadline has no wide range to emphasize, so plain 까지 is natural; 에 이르기까지 is for broad scope.
Examples
그 회사는 화장품에서 가전제품에 이르기까지 다양한 제품을 생산한다.That company produces a wide range of products, from cosmetics all the way to home appliances.
이 축제는 어린아이부터 노인에 이르기까지 누구나 즐길 수 있다.Everyone, from small children all the way to the elderly, can enjoy this festival.
그는 기획 단계에서 마무리에 이르기까지 모든 과정을 혼자 책임졌다.He took sole responsibility for the entire process, from the planning stage right through to the finish.
한국 드라마의 인기는 아시아에서 남미에 이르기까지 전 세계로 퍼지고 있다.The popularity of Korean dramas is spreading worldwide, from Asia all the way to South America.
Don’t mix up
-에 이르기까지vsN까지까지 is a neutral endpoint for any time, place or limit (5시까지 기다릴게요); 에 이르기까지 is formal and stresses how wide the whole range is.
-에 이르기까지vsN에 걸쳐(서)에 걸쳐 presents a span of time or area as one continuous stretch (3일에 걸쳐 회의가 열렸다); 에 이르기까지 names the far end of a range of different items.
How to build it
N+에 이르기까지 (often: N1에서/부터 N2에 이르기까지)
어린이 → 어린이부터 노인에 이르기까지
- It attaches to nouns. To use an action, nominalize it first (e.g. 제품을 만드는 것에 이르기까지).
- It is mainly used to describe broad scope, so it usually appears with words like 다양한, 모든, 누구나, 전. For a simple deadline or limit, use 까지.
- It sounds formal and is typical of news, reports, essays and speeches; in casual conversation it can sound stiff.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 숙제는 내일에 이르기까지 내세요.
Right: 숙제는 내일까지 내세요.
A simple deadline has no wide range to emphasize, so plain 까지 is natural; 에 이르기까지 is for broad scope.
Practise -에 이르기까지 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 걸쳐-에 걸쳐 shows that an action or state stretches over a whole span of time, an area, or a series of occasions.
- -에 달려 있다N에 달려 있다 means that the outcome in the subject is decided by N: 'it all depends on N'.
- -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.