Learn Korean: Korean Grammar 120: V-을 뻔하다 / ㄹ 뻔하다, 죽을 뻔하다
In this lesson, we're going to learn 'V-을 뻔하다 / ㄹ 뻔하다.'
영화가 너무 재미없어서 죽을 뻔했어요.
1. A short conversation
- 미소: 나나 씨, 어제 한국어 수업 잘 다녀왔어요?
(Nana, did you go to Korean class yesterday?)
- 나나: 네, 그런데 길이 막혀서 수업 시간 1분 전에 들어갔어요.
(Yes, but I went in 1 minute before class because of the traffic jam.)
하마터면 첫 수업부터 늦을 뻔했어요.
(I was almost late from the first class.)
- Was Nana late for Korean class? Today's grammar is '늦을 뻔했어요'.
2. Usage
- '-(으)ㄹ 뻔하다'' attaches after a verb stem.
It is an expression that combines the auxiliary adjective '뻔하다' and the ending 'ㄹ/을.'
This expression is used to indicate that something has reached the state just before it happened.
As we are talking about things in the past, it is usually used as the past form '뻔했다.'
- Example Sentences
✎ 하마터면 첫 수업부터 늦을 뻔했어요. (늦다 + 을 뻔하다)
( I was almost late from the first class.)
- Here, '늦을 뻔했어요' is a combination of the verb '늦다' and '을 뻔하다.'
- Class starts at 9 o'clock. Nana arrived at 8:59. Was Nana late for class? No. She is not late. But '늦을 뻔했어요.' (She was almost late.)
- When you say that we are not late for class, but you are almost late, you can use '을 뻔하다' after the verb '늦다' and say. ‘늦을 뻔했어요.’
✎ 영화가 너무 재미없어서 잘 뻔했어요. (자다 + ㄹ 뻔하다)
( I almost fell asleep because the movie was so boring.)
- Here, '잘 뻔했어요' is a combination of the verb '자다' and 'ㄹ 뻔하다.'
- Nana watched a movie. But it's not so much fun. So she was sleepy. Did Nana sleep? No. she did not sleep. But, ‘잘 뻔했어요.’ (She almost fell asleep.)
- When you say that we did not sleep, but you almost fell asleep, you can use 'ㄹ 뻔하다' after the verb '자다' and say ‘잘 뻔했어요.’
3. Related Expression: 죽을 뻔하다 (lit. almost die)
- Here, '죽을 뻔하다' is a combination of the verb '죽다' and '을 뻔하다.'
- It is used to exaggerate a state of affairs in the past.
- 아서/어서/해서 + 죽을 뻔하다: Usually '죽을 뻔하다' attaches after 아서/어서/해서'. And you can omit '서.'
- Example Sentence
✎ 영화가 너무 재미없었어요. → 영화가 너무 재미없어서 죽을 뻔했어요. (재미없다 + 어서, 죽다 + 을 뻔하다)
- 영화가 너무 재미없었어요. The movie wasn't very interesting.
- Let's exaggerate this story. In this case, you can use '죽을 뻔하다.'
- Then you can say ‘영화가 너무 재미없어서 죽을 뻔했어요.' (The movie was so boring so I almost died.)
- Here, '재미없어서' is a combination of the adjective '재미없다 and '어서.'
- '죽을 뻔했어요' is a combination of the verb '죽다' and '을 뻔하다'.
✎ 배가 너무 고팠어요. → 배가 너무 고파서 죽을 뻔했어요. (고프다 + 아서, 죽다 + 을 뻔하다)
- '배가 너무 고팠어요.' 'I was so hungry.'
- Let's exaggerate this story. In this case, you can use '죽을 뻔하다.'
- Then you can say ‘배가 너무 고파서 죽을 뻔했어요.' (I was so hungry so I almost died.)
- '고파서' is a combination of the adjective '고프다' and '아서.'
- 죽을 뻔했어요' is a combination of the verb '죽다' and '을 뻔하다'.
- Comparison: 죽을 뻔하다 vs 죽겠다
1) 죽을 뻔하다:
- '죽을 뻔하다' is talking about the past state.
- For example, ‘어제는 배가 고파서 죽을 뻔했어요. 어제 하루 종일 굶었거든요.' (Yesterday I almost died of hunger. Because I starved all day yesterday.)
- '죽을 뻔했어요' refers to the state of being hungry yesterday, in the past.
2) 죽겠다:
- '죽겠다' is talking about the current state.
- For example, ‘지금 배가 고파서 죽겠어요. 밥 주세요.(I'm going to die of hunger right now. Please give me some food.)
- Here, '죽겠어요' refers to the state of being very hungry right now.
4. Combination Information
(1) Final Consonant O: -을 뻔하다
- When a verb stem has the final consonant, '을 뻔하다' is used.
- 먹다 + 을 뻔하다 → 먹을 뻔하다
- 죽다 + 을 뻔하다 → 죽을 뻔하다
(2) Final Consonant X: -ㄹ 뻔하다
- When a verb stem does not have the final consonant, '-ㄹ 뻔하다' is used.
- 가다 + ㄹ 뻔하다 → 갈 뻔하다
- 보다 + ㄹ 뻔하다 → 볼 뻔하다
(3) Final Consonant ㄹ: ㄹ 탈락 + ㄹ 뻔하다
- when a verb stem ends with the final consonant ‘ㄹ’, delete ‘ㄹ’ and attach ‘-ㄹ 뻔하다’.
- 만들다 (ㄹ 탈락) + ㄹ 뻔하다 → 만들 뻔하다
- 울다 (ㄹ 탈락) + ㄹ 뻔하다 → 울 뻔하다
5. Practice
✎ 길이 미끄러워서 넘어질 뻔했어요. (넘어지다 +ㄹ 뻔하다)
(The road was slippery so I almost fell.)
✎ 슬픈 영화를 보다가 울 뻔했어요. (울다 (ㄹ탈락) + ㄹ 뻔하다)
(I almost cried while watching a sad movie.)
✎ 주말에 너무 심심해서 죽을 뻔했어요. (죽다 + 을 뻔하다)
(I was so bored over the weekend so I almost died.)
(A short conversation)
- 나나: 미소 씨, 무슨 일 있어요? 표정이 왜 그래요?
(Miso, what's going on? Why is your facial expression like that?)
- 미소: 회사에 오다가 큰일 날 뻔했어요. 제 앞에서 차가 미끄러져서 교통사고가 날 뻔했어요.
(When I came to work, I was almost in trouble. The car slipped in front of me and almost got into a car accident.)
- 나나: 정말 큰일 날 뻔했네요. 다친 곳은 없어요?
(It was going to be a really big deal. Are there any injuries?)
→ 날 뻔했어요. (나다 + ㄹ 뻔하다)
- The grammar we've learned is '날 뻔했어요, 날 뻔했어요, and 날 뻔했네요.'
- Those expressions are combined with the verb '나다' followed by 'ㄹ 뻔하다.'
- Did Miso have a car accident? No. There was no accident. But it almost happened.
- Did something bad happen to Miso? No. Nothing big happened. But some bad thing almost happened.
Thank you! #베이직코리안 #한국어문법 #Basickorean #Koreangrammar #을뻔하다 #ㄹ뻔하다 #뻔하다
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