TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-기에 이르다
-기에 이르다 says that, after a long process or a worsening situation, things finally went as far as a significant action.
정도·비교Degree & comparisonHan: Ordering first is a small everyday event told in casual speech; -기에 이르다 is for formal reports of a serious culmination, so the neutral -게 되다 fits here.
Examples
그 작은 가게는 입소문을 타고 전국에 지점을 내기에 이르렀다.Thanks to word of mouth, that small shop reached the point of opening branches nationwide.
그는 오랜 연구 끝에 새로운 이론을 발표하기에 이르렀다.After years of research, he finally reached the point of publishing a new theory.
갈등이 계속되자 결국 두 회사는 소송을 제기하기에 이르렀다.As the conflict dragged on, the two companies eventually went as far as filing a lawsuit.
시민들의 항의가 거세지자 정부는 정책을 철회하기에 이르렀다.As citizens' protests grew fiercer, the government ended up withdrawing the policy.
Don’t mix up
-기에 이르다vs-게 되다-게 되다 is a neutral, everyday 'came to/ended up'; -기에 이르다 adds a formal sense of culmination after a long process: 한국에서 일하게 됐어요 vs 결국 회사를 매각하기에 이르렀다.-기에 이르다vs-는/(으)ㄴ 지경에 이르다지경에 이르다 stresses reaching a bad, extreme state and works with adjectives; -기에 이르다 focuses on an action and can be positive: 굶어 죽을 지경에 이르렀다 vs 지점을 내기에 이르렀다.
-기에 이르다vs-기까지 하다-기까지 하다 means 'even did ~' and expresses surprise that something went beyond expectation, fine in speech; -기에 이르다 reports a final stage of a process: 사과하기까지 했어요 vs 사퇴하기에 이르렀다.
How to build it
V+기에 이르다 (usually past: V + 기에 이르렀다)
철회하다 → 철회하기에 이르렀다
- It is a formal, written style (news, reports, essays). In casual speech about everyday events it sounds odd; use -게 되다 there.
- It usually appears in the past (-기에 이르렀다) to report an outcome; future or predictive use (-기에 이를 것이다) is possible but much rarer.
- It attaches to action verbs. For a state (adjective), use -(으)ㄴ 지경에 이르다 or N에 이르다 instead.
- It is not used in commands or suggestions; it describes a result that came about, not a request.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 친구가 늦어서 제가 먼저 주문하기에 이르렀어요.
Right: 친구가 늦어서 제가 먼저 주문하게 됐어요.
Ordering first is a small everyday event told in casual speech; -기에 이르다 is for formal reports of a serious culmination, so the neutral -게 되다 fits here.
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㄹ 대로 -아/어서A state has gone as far as it can go, to its very limit, and this extreme state causes what follows.
- -(으)ㄹ 바를 모르다A formal way to say someone is so shocked, moved or embarrassed that they are at a complete loss about what to do.
- -(으)ㄹ 판이다-(으)ㄹ 판이다 says that things have reached a point where something bad or extreme is about to happen.
- -(으)ㄹ 나위가 없다 (더할 나위 없다)There is no room left to do more of something, so a thing is already perfect (더할 나위 없다) or too obvious to need saying (말할 나위도 없다).
- -디 (강조)Joins an adjective stem to a repeat of the same adjective to intensify it: 차디찬 'ice-cold', 희디흰 'pure white'. Literary and expressive: descriptions, poems, novels.
- -다 못해-다 못해 means that something has gone past its limit: with verbs, you can no longer bear or keep doing it and finally act; with adjectives, a state becomes so extreme that it turns into something stronger.
- -기 이를 데 없다Says that a quality or feeling is so extreme that words cannot fully describe it: 'indescribably ~, ~ beyond words'.
- -기 짝이 없다-기 짝이 없다 says a quality is so extreme that nothing can match it, usually in a strong negative judgment: 'utterly, beyond compare'.
- -기 그지없다Says in a formal, literary way that a feeling or quality is so strong it has no limit: 'extremely, beyond words'.