TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-(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.
조건·가정Conditions & what-ifsHan: -(으)ㄹ진대 is a solemn written connective for principled reasoning; in a casual suggestion between friends it sounds absurdly archaic, so the everyday -(으)니까 is required.
Examples
법 앞에서는 모두가 평등할진대 권력자라고 해서 예외가 될 수는 없다.Since everyone is equal before the law, those in power cannot be an exception.
미물인 개미도 겨울을 대비할진대 하물며 사람이 앞날을 준비하지 않아서야 되겠는가?Even a tiny ant prepares for winter, so how much more should a human being prepare for the future?
국민이 나라의 주인일진대 정부는 마땅히 국민의 목소리에 귀를 기울여야 한다.Given that the people are the masters of the nation, the government must surely listen to their voice.
선배들이 이만큼 이루어 놓았을진대 우리가 여기서 멈출 수는 없지 않겠습니까?Given that those before us achieved this much, surely we cannot stop here?
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ진대vs-(으)니까-(으)니까 is the neutral everyday reason marker; -(으)ㄹ진대 is bookish and leads to a principled conclusion: 비가 오니까 우산을 가져가세요 (not 비가 올진대).-(으)ㄹ진대vs-거늘-거늘 is equally archaic but often marks a contrast with reproach ("even though… yet"), which -(으)ㄹ진대 cannot: 그토록 타일렀거늘 끝내 말을 듣지 않았다.
-(으)ㄹ진대vs-(으)ㄴ/는 만큼-(으)ㄴ/는 만큼 gives a reason in modern neutral style, fine in speech and news; -(으)ㄹ진대 is solemn and old-fashioned: 열심히 준비한 만큼 좋은 결과가 있을 거예요.How to build it
V/A+(으)ㄹ진대
N+일진대
past: V/A+았/었을진대
알다 → 알진대, 평등하다 → 평등할진대, 주인이다 → 주인일진대, 애쓰다 → 애썼을진대
- It belongs to formal writing, speeches, editorials and sayings; in everyday conversation it sounds archaic or comic, so use -(으)니까 there.
- The second clause is usually a rhetorical question (-겠는가, -(으)랴), an obligation (마땅히 -아/어야 한다) or a strong judgement; it often pairs with 하물며.
- The first clause should be a premise the listener is expected to accept (a truth, principle or known fact), not a new or uncertain piece of information.
- It is a connective ending and cannot close a sentence; past premises take -았/었을진대.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 배고플진대 밥 먹으러 가자.
Right: 배고프니까 밥 먹으러 가자.
-(으)ㄹ진대 is a solemn written connective for principled reasoning; in a casual suggestion between friends it sounds absurdly archaic, so the everyday -(으)니까 is required.
Practise -(으)ㄹ진대 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(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'.
- -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.