TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-기로 들면
If someone really sets about doing something, often stubbornly, there is no end to it, or nothing is impossible.
조건·가정Conditions & what-ifsHan: A concrete plan or agreement needs -기로 하면; -기로 들면 means setting about something with determination and is followed by a general judgement, not a request.
Examples
남의 단점을 찾기로 들면 끝이 없습니다.If you set out to find other people's faults, there's no end to it.
하기로 들면 못 할 게 뭐가 있겠어요?If you really set your mind to it, what is there that you couldn't do?
트집을 잡기로 들면 어떤 계획이든 문제가 있어 보이기 마련이다.If you're determined to nitpick, any plan is bound to look flawed.
따지기로 들면 이번 일은 우리 모두의 책임이에요.If we're going to get strict about it, this is all of our responsibility.
Don’t mix up
-기로 들면vs-(으)려고 들면Almost the same meaning, but -(으)려고 들면 is more colloquial; -기로 들면 sounds more formal and resolute: 따지려고 들면 끝이 없어.
-기로 들면vs-기로 하면-기로 하면 is a neutral condition about a decision or agreement, while -기로 들면 stresses a stubborn attitude leading to a sweeping conclusion: 내일 가기로 하면 연락해 주세요.
How to build it
V+기로 들면
따지다 → 따지기로 들면
- It attaches to action verbs, usually verbs of attitude or effort (따지다, 찾다, 트집을 잡다, 하다). It is not used with adjectives.
- The second clause is usually a sweeping judgement such as 끝이 없다, 한이 없다, 못 할 게 없다; it does not introduce a concrete plan, request or command.
- It is mostly used for general statements about people, so the subject is often generic or omitted, and -었- is usually not added to 들면.
- It sounds somewhat formal or written; in casual speech -(으)려고 들면 is more common.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 내일 같이 영화를 보기로 들면 저한테 연락 주세요.
Right: 내일 같이 영화를 보기로 하면 저한테 연락 주세요.
A concrete plan or agreement needs -기로 하면; -기로 들면 means setting about something with determination and is followed by a general judgement, not a request.
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㄹ진대-(으)ㄹ진대 sets up an accepted fact as a premise ("given that…, since it is so that…") from which a firm conclusion, command or rhetorical question follows, in formal, bookish style.
- -(느)ㄴ다면야-(느)ㄴ다면야 stresses a condition: if this is really the case, the result naturally follows; the speaker often accepts or concedes the condition.
- -(으)ㄹ라치면-(으)ㄹ라치면 means 'every time I am about to do something, (annoyingly) something else happens', describing a repeated pattern that blocks or spoils the attempt.
- -는 날에는V-는 날에는 pictures the day a feared event might happen and warns that a serious, usually bad consequence will follow: "if ever ~, then it's all over."
- -았/었다 하면-았/었다 하면 means that once someone does a certain action, a particular, often excessive result follows every single time.
- -았/었던들Imagines the opposite of what really happened in the past ('had X happened…'), usually with regret that things could have turned out differently.
- -자면A connective ending of hypothetical intention, 'if one sets out to do V, if V is to be done': it states what doing it would take (time, money, effort). This is an ending in its own right; the quoted contraction of -자고 하면 'if someone says let's' is a separate use (see the last rule). Slightly bookish; also in set phrases like 말하자면 'so to speak' and 솔직히 말하자면 'to be honest'.
- -노라면-노라면 means 'if you keep doing something for a while', and the next clause gives the result that naturally follows; it has a literary, reflective tone.
- -거들랑 (조건)A colloquial, old-fashioned or regional-sounding variant of conditional -거든: 'if / when …, (then do …)'. Heard from older speakers and in novels or period dramas; shortened to -걸랑.