TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-(으)ㄹ 턱이 없다
Use -(으)ㄹ 턱이 없다 to say firmly that, given what you know, something simply cannot be true or happen: "there's no way that ~".
추측·판단Guessing & judgingHan: Not being able to walk is a matter of ability, so -(으)ㄹ 수 없다 is needed; 턱이 없다 only judges whether something is likely to be true.
Examples
처음 만난 사람이 제 이름을 알 턱이 있나요?How could someone I've just met know my name?
그렇게 착한 사람이 거짓말을 했을 턱이 없어요.There's no way such a kind person lied.
공부를 하나도 안 했는데 시험에 붙을 턱이 없지.I didn't study at all, so there's no way I'll pass the exam.
월급은 그대로인데 생활이 나아질 턱이 없다.My salary hasn't changed, so there's no way life will get any better.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ 턱이 없다vs-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다Same meaning, but 리가 없다 is the neutral, all-purpose form (fine in formal writing), while 턱이 없다 sounds more colloquial and emphatic: 그 사람이 그랬을 리가 없어요.-(으)ㄹ 턱이 없다vs-(으)ㄹ 수 없다수 없다 says someone is unable or not allowed; 턱이 없다 says something is unlikely to be true: 저는 매운 음식을 먹을 수 없어요 (I can't) vs. 그 사람이 매운 음식을 먹었을 턱이 없어요 (no way he did).
How to build it
V/A+(으)ㄹ 턱이 없다 · N+일 턱이 없다 · past: V/A+았/었을 턱이 없다
알다 → 알 턱이 없다, 하다 → 했을 턱이 없다
- It expresses the speaker's judgment about likelihood, not ability. To say someone is unable to do something, use -(으)ㄹ 수 없다 instead.
- For a past event, put the past tense before -을: 했을 턱이 없다 ("there's no way he did it"), not 할 턱이 없었다.
- It is often used as a rhetorical question with the same meaning: -(으)ㄹ 턱이 있나요? / 있겠어요?
- It sounds emphatic and fairly colloquial; in formal writing -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 is usually the safer choice.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 저는 다리를 다쳐서 걸을 턱이 없어요.
Right: 저는 다리를 다쳐서 걸을 수 없어요.
Not being able to walk is a matter of ability, so -(으)ㄹ 수 없다 is needed; 턱이 없다 only judges whether something is likely to be true.
Practise -(으)ㄹ 턱이 없다 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 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.