TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다
Use -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 when the situation makes it plain to you that something, usually something bad, will happen or has happened.
추측·판단Guessing & judgingHan: Meeting a friend is your own plan, not an obvious (usually unwanted) outcome forced by the situation, so -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 sounds strange; use -(으)ㄹ 거예요 for plans.
Examples
지금 출발하면 길이 막혀서 늦을 게 뻔해요.If we leave now, we'll obviously hit traffic and be late.
그렇게 공부를 안 하니까 시험에 떨어질 게 뻔하지.You hardly study, so of course you're going to fail the exam.
어젯밤에 그렇게 술을 마셨으니 아침에 못 일어났을 게 뻔해요.He drank that much last night, so he obviously couldn't get up this morning.
민수한테 말하면 다른 사람들한테 다 이야기할 게 뻔해요.If you tell Minsu, it's obvious he'll tell everyone else.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다vs-(으)ㄹ 뻔하다-(으)ㄹ 뻔했다 means something almost happened but didn't; -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 means it is sure to happen: 넘어질 뻔했어요 (I nearly fell) vs 넘어질 게 뻔해요 (you'll surely fall).-(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다vs-(으)ㄹ 거예요 / -겠어요These are neutral guesses; -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 adds strong certainty from obvious evidence, usually about a bad outcome: 내일 비가 올 거예요 vs 우산 없이 나가면 감기에 걸릴 게 뻔해요.
-(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다vs-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 is certainty that something will NOT be the case; -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 is certainty that it will: 그 사람이 거짓말할 리가 없어요 vs 그 사람이 또 거짓말할 게 뻔해요.How to build it
V/A+(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 (past guess: V/A + 았/었을 게 뻔하다)
늦다 → 늦을 게 뻔해요; 떨어지다 → 떨어질 게 뻔해요; 못 일어나다 → 못 일어났을 게 뻔해요
- It usually predicts a negative or unwanted result, often with a critical or resigned tone; for neutral guesses use -(으)ㄹ 거예요 or -겠어요.
- There must be a visible reason behind the certainty (habits, the current situation); it is not used for your own plans or intentions.
- 게 is short for 것이 and is written with a space: 늦을 게 뻔하다, not 늦을게 뻔하다 (-ㄹ게 is the promise ending). In formal writing 것이 뻔하다 is used.
- To say something obviously already happened, put the past marker before -을: 잤을 게 뻔해요.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 저는 주말에 친구를 만날 게 뻔해요.
Right: 저는 주말에 친구를 만날 거예요.
Meeting a friend is your own plan, not an obvious (usually unwanted) outcome forced by the situation, so -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 sounds strange; use -(으)ㄹ 거예요 for plans.
Practise -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(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 수가 있다-는 수가 있다 says that something, usually unwanted, can occasionally happen under certain conditions, and it is often used as a warning.
- -는 법이다States that something naturally happens, or is supposed to be done, as a general rule of life or common sense.