TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-(으)려니
-(으)려니 either shows how hard or emotional it feels when you set about doing something, or, followed by 하다/생각하다, states what you assumed would happen.
시간·순서Time & sequenceHan: In the 'trying to' meaning, -려니 attaches to the plain stem; the past tense goes at the end of the sentence (힘들었어요), not before -려니.
Examples
이 많은 서류를 오늘 안에 혼자 다 처리하려니 눈앞이 캄캄하네요.Trying to get through all these documents alone by today, I feel completely at a loss.
막상 고향을 떠나려니 마음이 섭섭하네요.Now that I'm actually about to leave my hometown, I feel sad.
시간이 지나면 괜찮아지려니 했지만 마음의 상처는 쉽게 아물지 않았다.I thought it would get better with time, but the emotional wound did not heal easily.
바빠서 그러려니 하고 기다렸는데 끝내 연락이 없었다.I assumed he was just busy and waited, but he never got in touch.
Don’t mix up
-(으)려니vs-(으)려고 하니까Same 'trying to' meaning, but it is the everyday spoken full form, while -(으)려니 is compact and more literary and also has the 'assume' use: 혼자 하려고 하니까 힘들어요.
-(으)려니vs-(으)려다가-(으)려다가 means you were about to do it but stopped or changed course; -(으)려니 means you face the task and feel how hard it is: 전화하려다가 그만뒀어요.-(으)려니vs-겠거니 하다Both can express an assumption, but -겠거니 is only a guess from circumstances and can never mean 'when trying to': 바쁘겠거니 하고 기다렸어요.
How to build it
V+(으)려니+feeling/difficulty (= -(으)려고 하니)
V/A(+았/었)+(으)려니 하다/생각하다 (assumption)
떠나다 → 떠나려니, 먹다 → 먹으려니, 괜찮다 → 괜찮으려니 하다
- In the 'trying to' meaning, the second clause usually expresses the speaker's feeling or difficulty (힘들다, 아쉽다, 막막하다); it is not followed by commands or suggestions.
- In the 'trying to' meaning, do not put past tense before -려니; mark the past at the end of the sentence: 하려니 힘들었다.
- In the 'assuming' meaning, it is usually followed by 하다/생각하다/여기다 (often 하고, 했는데) and can attach to adjectives or past forms: 끝났으려니 했다. 그러려니 하다 is a set phrase meaning 'accept it as it is'.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 혼자 이사했으려니 힘들었어요.
Right: 혼자 이사하려니 힘들었어요.
In the 'trying to' meaning, -려니 attaches to the plain stem; the past tense goes at the end of the sentence (힘들었어요), not before -려니.
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All TOPIK grammar- -는 족족-는 족족 means that each time something happens, something else follows right away, often so that the thing is quickly used up or gone.
- -에 즈음하여N에 즈음하여 is a formal way to say that something is done to mark a significant occasion such as an anniversary, holiday or milestone.
- -기(가) 바쁘게-기(가) 바쁘게 shows that the next action follows the first one immediately, often in a hurry, as if there were no time to wait.
- -자니-자니 means 'if I go ahead and do X, a problem comes up' and is used when you are weighing a choice and hesitating.
- -기가 무섭게-기가 무섭게 means that the second event happens the very instant the first one occurs, almost too fast to believe.
- -노라니-노라니 means 'as I kept doing A, I came to feel or notice B', linking an ongoing action of the speaker to what it led them to realize; it is a literary, written-style ending.
- -(으)매-(으)매 is a bookish, literary way to say 'because' or 'as', linking a cause to its natural result in formal writing.
- -(으)나 -(으)나Two paired or opposite verbs/adjectives, each with -(으)나, mean 'whichever of these is the case, the following stays the same', which often amounts to 'regardless' or 'all the time'.
- -(으)락 -(으)락Joins two opposite actions or states to show that they keep switching back and forth.