TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-(으)ㄴ즉
A formal, bookish ending: after a verb it means 'having done or checked X, I found that Y'; after a noun it means 'as for (the content of) N'.
이유·원인Reason & causeHan: With a noun, 즉 cannot attach directly; it needs the copula 이 + ㄴ, so a consonant-final noun like 사연 becomes 사연인즉.
Examples
그 친구 얘긴즉슨 다음 달에 유학을 간다는 거예요.What my friend says is that he is going abroad to study next month.
그 사람의 이야기를 들은즉 사정이 참 딱하더군요.Having heard his story, I found his situation truly pitiful.
말인즉 옳지만 현실에서 그대로 하기는 어렵다.What he says is right in itself, but it is hard to do exactly that in real life.
보고서를 꼼꼼히 검토한즉 몇 군데에서 계산 착오가 발견되었다.On carefully reviewing the report, calculation errors were found in several places.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄴ즉vs-(으)니까 (discovery)Same 'I did X and found Y' meaning, but -(으)니까 is the normal spoken choice while -(으)ㄴ즉 sounds formal and literary: 들어 보니까 맞더라 (talk) vs 들은즉 사실이었다 (writing).
-(으)ㄴ즉vsN은/는은/는 simply marks a topic or contrast; 인즉 singles out the content or substance of the noun, usually to explain or evaluate it: 그 사람은 바쁘다 vs 그 사람 말인즉 옳다.
-(으)ㄴ즉vs-(으)ㄴ즉슨Same meaning, but 슨 adds emphasis and is the form you will more often hear in speech, especially 말인즉슨 / 얘긴즉슨: 얘긴즉슨 이렇습니다.
How to build it
V+(으)ㄴ즉
N+(이)ㄴ즉 (emphatic: -(으)ㄴ즉슨)
듣다 → 들은즉, 살펴보다 → 살펴본즉, 말 → 말인즉, 얘기 → 얘긴즉
- It belongs to writing, speeches and formal narration; in everyday conversation Koreans usually say -(으)니까 or -아/어 보니 instead.
- With verbs, the first clause is usually an act of hearing, seeing or checking (듣다, 보다, 검토하다, 알아보다), and the second clause reports what was found or a judgment based on it, not a request or suggestion.
- After a noun you need the copula 이: consonant-final nouns take 인즉 (말인즉, 사연인즉), vowel-final nouns usually contract to ㄴ즉 (얘긴즉).
- The noun form is used mainly with content nouns (말, 이야기, 사연, 내용) and often sets up a contrast: 말인즉 옳지만… 'what he says is right, but…'.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 사연즉 이렇습니다.
Right: 사연인즉 이렇습니다.
With a noun, 즉 cannot attach directly; it needs the copula 이 + ㄴ, so a consonant-final noun like 사연 becomes 사연인즉.
Practise -(으)ㄴ즉 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)매-(으)매 is a bookish, literary way to say 'because' or 'as', linking a cause to its natural result in formal writing.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 터라-(으)ㄴ/는 터라 presents an already existing situation as the background reason for what follows, mostly in formal or written Korean.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 관계로-(으)ㄴ/는 관계로 gives an objective circumstance as the reason for something in a formal, official tone, like English “due to the fact that…”.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 까닭에-(으)ㄴ/는 까닭에 is a formal, written way to say "for the reason that ~": it presents the first clause as the cause of the second.
- -(으)니만큼-(으)니만큼 presents a fact as a solid reason, so that what follows is the natural or proper thing to do or expect: 'since it is so, it is only right that…'.
- -거들랑/걸랑(요) (종결)Sentence-final colloquial variant of -거든(요): gives a reason or background the listener may not know: '…, you see'. Casual; sounds folksy or regional, and some speakers use -걸랑(요) playfully.
- -(으)나 -(으)나Two paired or opposite verbs/adjectives, each with -(으)나, mean 'whichever of these is the case, the following stays the same', which often amounts to 'regardless' or 'all the time'.
- -(으)락 -(으)락Joins two opposite actions or states to show that they keep switching back and forth.
- -(으)랴 -(으)랴Lists two (or more) tasks a person is juggling at the same time to stress that they are extremely busy or worn out.