TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-(으)ㄹ 판이다
-(으)ㄹ 판이다 says that things have reached a point where something bad or extreme is about to happen.
정도·비교Degree & comparisonHan: Meeting a friend is a neutral plan, not a bad outcome forced by circumstances, so 판이다 sounds odd; use 참이다 for intentions.
Examples
월세가 또 올라서 이러다가는 길거리에 나앉을 판이에요.The rent went up again, so at this rate I'll end up out on the street.
손님이 계속 줄어서 가게 문을 닫을 판이다.Customers keep dropping off, so the shop is about to close down.
마감이 내일인데 일이 절반도 안 끝나서 밤을 새울 판이었다.The deadline was tomorrow and not even half the work was done, so I was looking at an all-nighter.
아침부터 아무것도 못 먹어서 배고파 죽을 판이에요.I haven't eaten anything since morning, so I'm starving to death here.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄹ 판이다vs-(으)ㄹ 뻔하다뻔하다 is for something that almost happened but didn't (넘어질 뻔했어요); 판이다 describes a situation still heading toward the outcome (이러다 넘어질 판이에요).-(으)ㄹ 판이다vs-(으)ㄹ 참이다참이다 expresses the speaker's own intention (지금 나갈 참이에요); 판이다 expresses an outcome forced by circumstances (집에서 쫓겨날 판이에요).
-(으)ㄹ 판이다vs-(으)ㄹ 지경이다지경이다 focuses on how far a state or feeling has gone (머리가 터질 지경이다); 판이다 focuses on the overall situation and what it is leading to (회사가 망할 판이다).How to build it
V+(으)ㄹ 판이다
망하다 → 망할 판이다, 쫓겨나다 → 쫓겨날 판이다
- Usually describes a difficult, urgent or extreme outcome forced by circumstances, often with exaggeration (죽을 판이다). It is not used for neutral plans or intentions.
- Mark past time on 이다, not on the verb: 망할 판이었다 (it was about to go under).
- It is a statement about a situation, so it does not end commands or suggestions; it is colloquial and rare in formal writing.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 주말에 친구를 만날 판이에요.
Right: 주말에 친구를 만날 참이에요.
Meeting a friend is a neutral plan, not a bad outcome forced by circumstances, so 판이다 sounds odd; use 참이다 for intentions.
Practise -(으)ㄹ 판이다 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 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.