TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-(으)ㄹ 테면
From -(으)ㄹ 터이면 'if you intend to': makes someone's intention the condition. Mostly met in the blunt set phrase -(으)ㄹ 테면 -아/어 봐(라) 'go ahead, if you dare' or the indifferent -(으)ㄹ 테면 -아/어라 'do it if you want, I don't care'; plain-style speech.
조건·가정Conditions & what-ifsHan: -(으)ㄹ 테면 is about someone else's intention and sounds blunt; for your own possible plan in polite speech use -게 되면 or -(으)면.
Examples
잡을 테면 잡아 봐!Catch me if you can!
떠날 테면 떠나라. 더 이상 붙잡지 않겠다.If you're going to leave, then leave. I won't hold you back any more.
운동을 할 테면 제대로 해라. 하다 말 거면 시작도 하지 말고.If you're going to work out, do it properly. If you'll just quit halfway, don't even start.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ 테면vs-(으)려면-(으)려면 is a neutral 'if you want to', fine in polite speech: 가려면 지금 출발하세요. 갈 테면 가라 is a blunt challenge or a shrug.-(으)ㄹ 테면vs-(으)ㄹ 테니까-(으)ㄹ 테니까 gives the speaker's intention or guess as a reason: 내가 할 테니까 쉬어. -(으)ㄹ 테면 makes the other person's intention a condition: 할 테면 해 봐.How to build it
V+(으)ㄹ 테면 (+ usually the same V as a command: -아/어 봐(라), -아/어라, -(으)라지)
가다 → 갈 테면 가라; 잡다 → 잡을 테면 잡아 봐; 만들다 → 만들 테면; 듣다 → 들을 테면
- Action verbs only. The intention is the listener's or a third person's, not the speaker's: 할 테면 해 봐.
- Usually the same verb follows as a command: 덤빌 테면 덤벼 봐 (a challenge), 갈 테면 가라 (I won't stop you). About a third person: 떠날 테면 떠나라지 'let him leave if he wants'.
- It can also be a plain 'if you are going to do it', followed by advice on how: 운동을 할 테면 제대로 해라.
- Plain style and blunt: fine among friends or to juniors, rude to seniors; in a challenge it sounds provocative.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 제가 갈 테면 미리 연락드릴게요.
Right: 제가 가게 되면 미리 연락드릴게요.
-(으)ㄹ 테면 is about someone else's intention and sounds blunt; for your own possible plan in polite speech use -게 되면 or -(으)면.
Practise -(으)ㄹ 테면 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)면 몰라도'If it were …, maybe, but (not otherwise)': names the one case in which something might be possible or acceptable, then denies it for the real situation. The second clause is usually negative.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 이상Treats a fact as already settled, so the second clause states what must, will, or inevitably has to follow: 'since (it's a given that) ~'.
- -(이)라야N(이)라야 says that being N is the required condition for what follows ("only if it is N / it has to be N"); it can also downplay something as "merely N".
- -(느)ㄴ다고 치다-(느)ㄴ다고 치다 means 'let's suppose/grant that ~' and treats something as true for the sake of argument, a calculation, or a concession, even if it may not really be so.
- -지 않고서는'Unless you (first) do X, Y is impossible': it stresses that X is an indispensable condition.
- -았/었더라면-았/었더라면 means 'if (something) had happened', imagining a past that did not happen, usually with regret or relief.
- -느니 (차라리)-느니 (차라리) means that both options are bad, but the speaker would sooner do the second one than the first.
- -기에 따라(서)'Depending on how one …': the result or judgment changes with the way something is done, seen or thought about. Common in set phrases such as 보기에 따라, 생각하기에 따라, 하기에 따라.
- -(이)란N(이)란 picks out a concept that you are about to define or explain the essence of: "N is (by its nature)…", "what we call N is…".