TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-(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).
정도·비교Degree & comparisonHan: 나위가 없다 is not a free 'no need to' pattern; it lives in fixed expressions like 더할 나위 없다 and 말할 나위도 없다. For an ordinary action, use -(으)ㄹ 필요가 없다.
Examples
그 정도 실력이면 합격은 말할 나위도 없지요.With skills like that, it goes without saying that he'll pass.
신입 사원으로서 그의 업무 태도는 더할 나위가 없었다.As a new employee, his attitude toward work was flawless.
이렇게 좋은 조건으로 일할 수 있다면 더 바랄 나위가 없습니다.If I can work under such good conditions, I couldn't ask for more.
날씨도 좋고 사람들도 친절해서 이번 여행은 더할 나위 없이 즐거웠어요.The weather was nice and people were kind, so this trip couldn't have been more enjoyable.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ 나위가 없다 (더할 나위 없다)vs-(으)ㄹ 필요가 없다필요가 없다 is a general 'no need to' that works with any verb; 나위가 없다 is limited to fixed expressions of evaluation: 갈 필요가 없어요 (not 갈 나위가 없어요).
-(으)ㄹ 나위가 없다 (더할 나위 없다)vs말할 것도 없다Same meaning as 말할 나위도 없다, but neutral and common in speech, while 나위 sounds formal/written: 맛은 말할 것도 없고 값도 싸요.
-(으)ㄹ 나위가 없다 (더할 나위 없다)vs-기 그지없다-기 그지없다 attaches to adjectives and means 'extremely ~'; 더할 나위 없다 means 'perfect, nothing to improve': 도와주셔서 고맙기 그지없습니다.How to build it
V (limited set: 더하다, 말하다, 이르다, 바라다)+(으)ㄹ 나위가/도 없다
더할 나위 없이+A/V
더할 나위 없는+N
더하다 → 더할 나위가 없다 / 더할 나위 없이 좋다; 말하다 → 말할 나위도 없다
- It is not productive: it is used almost exclusively with 더하다 and 말하다 (less often 이르다, 바라다). For an ordinary 'no need to go/buy', use -(으)ㄹ 필요가 없다.
- Tense goes on 없다, not on the verb: 더할 나위 없었다 (past), never 더했을 나위.
- It is an evaluation by the speaker, so it does not combine with imperatives or suggestions. Its tone is formal and bookish; in casual speech people tend to say 완벽하다 or 말할 것도 없다.
- Particles vary by expression: 더할 나위 없다 often drops 가, while 말할 나위 usually takes 도 (말할 나위도 없다).
Classic mistake
Wrong: 숙제를 다 했으니까 도서관에 갈 나위가 없어요.
Right: 숙제를 다 했으니까 도서관에 갈 필요가 없어요.
나위가 없다 is not a free 'no need to' pattern; it lives in fixed expressions like 더할 나위 없다 and 말할 나위도 없다. For an ordinary action, use -(으)ㄹ 필요가 없다.
Practise -(으)ㄹ 나위가 없다 (더할 나위 없다) on real TOPIK questions
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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.
- -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'.
- -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.