TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-을랑/ㄹ랑
An old-fashioned particle that singles out a thing for emphasis, usually before a prohibition or command: 'as for N, (don't) …'. Heard from older speakers, in regional-flavoured dialogue and in literature; most often met as 일랑 (그런 걱정일랑…).
조사ParticlesHan: 일랑 is old-fashioned and folksy; it clashes with a formal notice. Use 은/는.
Examples
소설 속 노인은 "여기설랑 함부로 떠들지 말게" 하며 젊은이를 나무랐다.The old man in the novel scolded the young man: 'Don't you go making a racket here.'
나쁜 생각일랑 아예 하지도 마라.Don't even let such bad thoughts into your head.
할머니는 "내 걱정일랑 말고 너나 몸 건강히 지내라" 하고 말씀하셨다.Grandma said, 'Don't you worry about me, just look after your own health.'
Don’t mix up
-을랑/ㄹ랑vs-은/는그런 걱정은 하지 마 says the same in neutral modern Korean; 그런 걱정일랑 하지 마 sounds old-fashioned and more insistent.-을랑/ㄹ랑vs-을/를-을/를 just marks the object: 걱정을 하지 마. 일랑 adds 'that thing in particular'.How to build it
N (consonant)+을랑 or, far more often, 일랑
N (vowel)+ㄹ랑
after 에서/서+ㄹ랑 → 에설랑/설랑
걱정 → 걱정일랑; 생각 → 생각일랑; 그런 말 → 그런 말일랑; 여기서 → 여기설랑
- It marks the singled-out object or topic in place of 을/를 or 은/는, and is normally followed by a command or prohibition: 그런 걱정일랑 하지 마라.
- Typical partners: 걱정, 생각, 말, 욕심 + 일랑 + -지 마(라), 버려라, 접어 두다; 걱정일랑 붙들어 매다 'stop worrying' is a set phrase.
- Old-fashioned and colloquial-regional: grandparents, novels, historical dramas. Not for formal writing or polite modern speech; the neutral modern choice is 은/는.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 보고서일랑 내일까지 제출해 주시기 바랍니다.
Right: 보고서는 내일까지 제출해 주시기 바랍니다.
일랑 is old-fashioned and folksy; it clashes with a formal notice. Use 은/는.
Practise -을랑/ㄹ랑 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(이)라면 (강조)Picks out a noun as the topic with emphasis: 'when it comes to N, as for N'. The predicate usually expresses a strong feeling, liking, dislike or confidence (자신 있다, 질색이다, 사족을 못 쓰다).
- -(이)라고 (하찮음)In 그것도/이것도 N(이)라고, it belittles something as hardly worth the name N: 'you call that an N?'. Usually a scornful rhetorical question; turned on one's own gift, it sounds modest.
- -(이)라고는A particle that singles out a noun as 'the only thing of that kind' to stress that there is none or almost none: '(not) a single …, nothing in the way of … except …'. Emphatic, often with a note of complaint or sadness; spoken form -(이)라곤.
- -(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.
- -(으)랴 -(으)랴Lists two (or more) tasks a person is juggling at the same time to stress that they are extremely busy or worn out.
- -(이)건 -(이)건N(이)건 N(이)건 lists two or more options and says that whichever one it is, the outcome stays the same.
- -(이)라 (예스러운 서술)An archaic plain (해라체) statement ending attached to 이다 and 아니다: 'X is Y.' It sounds solemn and old, as in classical texts, proverbs, historical-drama narration and poetry; modern Korean uses -(이)다.