TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-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.
시간·순서Time & sequenceHan: -자니 does not take a past marker before it, because it expresses an intention you were considering. The past tense goes at the end of the sentence (비쌌어요).
Examples
이 옷을 버리자니 아깝고, 입자니 너무 작아요.Throwing these clothes away feels like a waste, but they're too small to wear.
혼자 다 하자니 시간이 부족하고, 도와 달라고 하자니 미안해서 고민이에요.If I do it all alone, I won't have enough time, but asking for help makes me feel bad, so I'm torn.
지금 회사를 그만두자니 모아 둔 돈이 없고, 계속 다니자니 몸이 너무 힘들어요.If I quit my job now, I have no savings, but if I keep working there, it's too hard on my body.
사실대로 말하자니 친구가 상처받을 것 같고, 말을 안 하자니 마음이 불편해요.If I tell the truth, my friend might get hurt, but if I keep quiet, I feel uneasy.
Don’t mix up
-자니vs-(으)려니(까)-려니 describes the difficulty you feel while actually trying or about to do something. -자니 presents the action as one option being weighed, often against another. Compare 혼자 이사하려니 힘드네요 with 이사하자니 돈이 들고, 안 하자니 집이 좁아요.
-자니vs-자고 하니(까)This is a quoted suggestion: someone else proposed the action, so the speaker is not weighing a dilemma. Example: 친구가 같이 가자고 하니 거절하기 어려웠어요.
How to build it
V+자니 (same form after a vowel or a consonant)
버리다 → 버리자니, 먹다 → 먹자니
- It attaches to action verbs and shows the deliberating person's intention, usually the speaker's. It is not used with adjectives (덥자니 ✗).
- Do not put a past or future marker before -자니 (샀자니 ✗). Show the tense at the end of the sentence.
- The second clause states a difficulty or reluctance, such as 아깝다, 부담스럽다, 마음이 불편하다 or 시간이 없다. It is not a neutral result, and it is not a command or a suggestion.
- It is very often used in pairs (A-자니 …고, 안 A-자니 …) to lay out both sides of a dilemma.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 그 집을 샀자니 너무 비쌌어요.
Right: 그 집을 사자니 너무 비쌌어요.
-자니 does not take a past marker before it, because it expresses an intention you were considering. The past tense goes at the end of the sentence (비쌌어요).
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All TOPIK grammar- -(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.
- -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.
- -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.