TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-(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.
조건·가정Conditions & what-ifsHan: 'Yesterday' marks a single past event, but -(으)ㄹ라치면 describes something that happens repeatedly; for one occasion use -(으)려는데.
Examples
잠 좀 잘라치면 꼭 윗집에서 쿵쿵거리는 소리가 나요.Every time I try to get some sleep, there's thumping from the flat upstairs.
공부 좀 할라치면 친구한테서 전화가 오곤 해요.Whenever I'm about to study a bit, a friend calls me.
큰마음 먹고 운동을 시작할라치면 회사에 급한 일이 생기곤 했다.Whenever I finally made up my mind to start exercising, something urgent would come up at work.
빨래를 널라치면 꼭 비가 오더라고요.Every time I go to hang out the laundry, it starts to rain.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ라치면vs-(으)려는데-(으)려는데 is for one specific occasion; -(으)ㄹ라치면 for a repeated pattern: 나가려는데 전화가 왔다 (once) vs 나갈라치면 전화가 온다 (every time).
-(으)ㄹ라치면vs-(으)려고 하면-(으)려고 하면 is a neutral 'if you intend to' and can take advice; -(으)ㄹ라치면 cannot: 부산에 가려고 하면 KTX를 타세요 (not *갈라치면).
-(으)ㄹ라치면vs-기만 하면-기만 하면 means the action is actually done; -(으)ㄹ라치면 means only the attempt: 술을 마시기만 하면 운다 (cries whenever he drinks) vs 술을 마실라치면 아내가 말린다 (is stopped when about to drink).How to build it
V+(으)ㄹ라치면 (vowel/ㄹ stem: ㄹ라치면, consonant stem: 을라치면; ㄷ-irregular verbs change ㄷ to ㄹ first, then 을라치면)
자다 → 잘라치면, 살다 → 살라치면, 먹다 → 먹을라치면, 듣다 → 들을라치면 (ㄷ-irregular)
- It describes a habitual or repeated situation; for a single past event use -(으)려는데 instead. The result clause is usually in the present, -더라고요, or -곤 하다/-곤 했다.
- The second clause cannot be a command or suggestion (-세요, -읍시다); it reports what tends to happen.
- It attaches to action verbs, not adjectives, and the result is usually something outside the speaker's control, often unwelcome.
- It is colloquial with a slightly old-fashioned, essay-like flavour; avoid it in formal reports.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 어제 집을 나갈라치면 전화가 왔어요.
Right: 어제 집을 나가려는데 전화가 왔어요.
'Yesterday' marks a single past event, but -(으)ㄹ라치면 describes something that happens repeatedly; for one occasion use -(으)려는데.
Practise -(으)ㄹ라치면 on real TOPIK questions
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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.
- -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'.
- -기로 들면If someone really sets about doing something, often stubbornly, there is no end to it, or nothing is impossible.
- -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.