TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-(으)ㄹ 우려가 있다
States formally that there is a real risk that something bad or undesirable could happen.
추측·판단Guessing & judgingHan: 우려 means a fear of something bad, so it cannot describe a hoped-for result like success; use 가능성 for neutral or positive outcomes.
Examples
이 약을 오래 복용하면 부작용이 생길 우려가 있습니다.If you take this medicine for a long time, there is a risk of side effects.
개인 정보가 유출될 우려가 있어서 비밀번호를 바꿨어요.I changed my password because there was a risk that my personal data could be leaked.
폭우로 산사태가 발생할 우려가 있으니 등산을 자제해 주시기 바랍니다.Landslides may occur due to the heavy rain, so please refrain from hiking.
전문가들은 물가가 계속 오르면 소비가 위축될 우려가 크다고 지적했다.Experts pointed out that if prices keep rising, there is a strong risk that consumer spending will shrink.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ 우려가 있다vs-(으)ㄹ 가능성이 있다가능성 is a neutral possibility (good or bad); 우려 is only for a feared outcome: 합격할 가능성이 있다, but 불합격할 우려가 있다.
-(으)ㄹ 우려가 있다vs-(으)ㄹ까 봐 (걱정이다)-(으)ㄹ까 봐 expresses the speaker's personal, emotional worry in conversation; 우려가 있다 is an objective, formal risk assessment: 시험에 떨어질까 봐 걱정이에요.
-(으)ㄹ 우려가 있다vs-(으)ㄹ 수도 있다-(으)ㄹ 수도 있다 is an everyday, neutral 'might'; 우려가 있다 adds a formal warning tone about something bad: 내일 비가 올 수도 있어요.
How to build it
V/A+(으)ㄹ 우려가 있다
발생하다 → 발생할 우려가 있다; 늦다 → 늦을 우려가 있다
- Use it for undesirable outcomes. For a good or neutral outcome, use -(으)ㄹ 가능성이 있다 instead.
- It sounds formal and is typical of news, notices, reports and warnings. In casual talk about your own worries, -(으)ㄹ까 봐 or -(으)ㄹ 수도 있다 usually sounds more natural.
- Tense is usually marked on 있다 (우려가 있었다), while the verb before it stays in the -(으)ㄹ form. 있다 is often replaced by 크다, 높다 or 제기되다 to show degree.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 이번 프로젝트는 성공할 우려가 있습니다.
Right: 이번 프로젝트는 성공할 가능성이 있습니다.
우려 means a fear of something bad, so it cannot describe a hoped-for result like success; use 가능성 for neutral or positive outcomes.
Practise -(으)ㄹ 우려가 있다 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(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)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)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.