TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-기 그지없다
Says in a formal, literary way that a feeling or quality is so strong it has no limit: 'extremely, beyond words'.
정도·비교Degree & comparisonHan: The past tense belongs only on 그지없다; the adjective before -기 stays in its plain stem form.
Examples
큰 도움을 주셨는데 제대로 인사도 못 드려서 죄송하기 그지없습니다.You helped me so much, yet I couldn't even thank you properly; I am deeply sorry.
산 정상에서 내려다본 풍경은 아름답기 그지없었다.The view from the mountaintop was beautiful beyond measure.
오랜 친구를 갑작스러운 사고로 잃게 되어 슬프기 그지없었다.Losing an old friend in a sudden accident was sorrowful beyond words.
책임을 남에게 떠넘기는 그의 태도는 한심하기 그지없다.His attitude of shifting responsibility onto others is utterly pathetic.
Don’t mix up
-기 그지없다vs-기 짝이 없다Same 'extremely' meaning, but 짝이 없다 is used mostly with negative judgments, while 그지없다 is more literary and works just as well for positive feelings: 무례하기 짝이 없다 vs 기쁘기 그지없다.-기 그지없다vs-(으)ㄹ 따름이다따름이다 means 'I can only / nothing more than', a humble limiting phrase, whereas 그지없다 stresses limitless degree: 감사할 따름입니다 (I can only be grateful) vs 감사하기 그지없습니다 (I am grateful beyond measure).How to build it
A+기 그지없다
슬프다 → 슬프기 그지없다 / 슬프기 그지없었다
- Attach it to adjective stems, usually ones expressing emotion or evaluation (기쁘다, 죄송하다, 한심하다, 아름답다). It does not attach to action verbs.
- Tense and politeness go on 그지없다, not on the adjective: 기쁘기 그지없었다, not 기뻤기 그지없다.
- It is formal and literary (speeches, letters, essays, news); in casual conversation it sounds stiff, so 정말/너무 + adjective is more natural there.
- It already means 'to the maximum', so it is usually not combined with intensifiers like 너무 or 매우.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 합격 소식을 듣고 기뻤기 그지없었다.
Right: 합격 소식을 듣고 기쁘기 그지없었다.
The past tense belongs only on 그지없다; the adjective before -기 stays in its plain stem form.
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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'.
- -아/어 빠지다Added to a word with a negative sense, it says a person or thing is in that bad state to an extreme degree, and it carries the speaker's contempt or annoyance.