TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-(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).
조사ParticlesHan: Emphatic (이)라면 needs a predicate of strong feeling or ability about the topic; for a plain description use 은/는.
Examples
남편은 등산이라면 질색을 하는 사람이다.My husband can't stand hiking.
아버지는 옛날 영화라면 사족을 못 쓰셔서 주말마다 고전 영화를 보신다.My father is crazy about old films, so he watches classics every weekend.
요리라면 누구에게도 뒤지지 않을 자신이 있어요.When it comes to cooking, I'm confident I'm second to none.
Don’t mix up
-(이)라면 (강조)vs-은/는-은/는 is a plain topic: 운동은 좋아해요. 운동이라면 사족을 못 써요 stresses that this field is special for the person.-(이)라면 (강조)vs-(이)라면 (가정)The conditional form imagines: 내가 부자라면 세계 여행을 할 텐데 'if I were rich'.
-(이)라면 (강조)vs-(이)면 (조사)(이)면 is a real recurring condition: 주말이면 늦잠을 자요 'on weekends I sleep in'.How to build it
N (consonant)+이라면
N (vowel)+라면
운동 → 운동이라면; 커피 → 커피라면; 요리 → 요리라면; 매운 음식 → 매운 음식이라면
- Nothing is hypothetical: it presents a real topic and says something strong about it: 수학이라면 자신 있어요 'math? that I'm confident about'.
- Typical predicates: 자신 있다, 누구보다 잘 알다, 일가견이 있다, 누구에게도 뒤지지 않다, 사족을 못 쓰다, 질색이다, 치를 떨다.
- Context separates it from conditional (이)라면 'if it were N' (내가 너라면…): with a predicate of feeling or ability about the topic, it is emphatic.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 그 사람이라면 키가 커요.
Right: 그 사람은 키가 커요.
Emphatic (이)라면 needs a predicate of strong feeling or ability about the topic; for a plain description use 은/는.
Practise -(이)라면 (강조) on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(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.
- -을랑/ㄹ랑An 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…).
- -(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.