TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-(으)ㄹ 대로 -아/어서
A state has gone as far as it can go, to its very limit, and this extreme state causes what follows.
정도·비교Degree & comparisonHan: The past tense 았/었 cannot go before 대로; use -(으)ㄹ 대로 and show the past only at the end of the sentence.
Examples
두 사람의 관계는 이미 나빠질 대로 나빠져서 이제는 대화조차 하지 않는다.The relationship between the two has already gotten as bad as it can get, so now they don't even talk.
그는 화가 날 대로 나서 아무 말도 하지 않고 방을 나가 버렸다.He was furious beyond words, so he left the room without saying anything.
며칠째 밤을 새웠더니 몸이 지칠 대로 지쳐서 아무것도 할 수 없었다.After staying up all night for several days, I was utterly exhausted and couldn't do anything.
냉장고에 오래 둔 우유가 상할 대로 상해서 버릴 수밖에 없었다.The milk left in the fridge for a long time had gone completely bad, so I had no choice but to throw it away.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ 대로 -아/어서vsV-는/(으)ㄴ 대로Means 'in the way that / just as' (manner), with no repeated verb; -(으)ㄹ 대로 -아/어서 means 'to the extreme': 선생님이 말씀하신 대로 했어요.
-(으)ㄹ 대로 -아/어서vsV-(으)ㄹ 만큼 V-았/었다만큼 says you did 'enough, as much as was reasonable'; 대로 says a state went to its extreme limit: 기다릴 만큼 기다렸어요.
How to build it
V/A-(으)ㄹ 대로+same V/A-아/어서
지치다 → 지칠 대로 지쳐서
- The same verb or adjective is repeated on both sides of 대로; using a different word on the second side (지칠 대로 피곤해서) is wrong.
- Do not put past-tense 았/었 inside the pattern; tense is shown only at the end of the sentence (지칠 대로 지쳐서 쉬었다).
- Because it ends in -아/어서, the following clause cannot be a command or suggestion (no -(으)세요, -(으)ㅂ시다).
- It is usually used with words of change or worsening (지치다, 나빠지다, 상하다, 낡다, 오르다) and mostly describes negative situations.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 일주일 내내 야근해서 몸이 지쳤을 대로 지쳐서 주말에는 잠만 잤어요.
Right: 일주일 내내 야근해서 몸이 지칠 대로 지쳐서 주말에는 잠만 잤어요.
The past tense 았/었 cannot go before 대로; use -(으)ㄹ 대로 and show the past only at the end of the sentence.
Practise -(으)ㄹ 대로 -아/어서 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(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'.
- -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.