Usage
i) Almost occurred, but didn’t
자전거에서 떨어질 뻔했다.
I almost fell off my bike.
Conjugation
| Type | Example | Past | Present |
|---|---|---|---|
| AV (vowel) | 하다 | 할 뻔했다 | 할 뻔하다 |
| AV (cons.) | 죽다 | 죽을 뻔했다 | 죽을 뻔하다 |
| DV (vowel) | 나쁘다 | 나쁠 뻔했다 | 나쁠 뻔하다 |
| DV (cons.) | 않다 | 않을 뻔했다 | 않을 뻔하다 |
Where:
AV = action verb / processive verb.
DV = descriptive verb / ‘adjective’.
Contents
Introduction
i) Almost occurred, but didn’t
Expanded forms
Additional details
Associated grammar
See also
Bibliography
User examples
Introduction
The grammatical form ㄹ 뻔했다 is used to express narrowly missing an occurrence. It’s a combination of the prospective modifier (으)ㄹ (which expresses a tentative reality) and the descriptive verb 뻔하다 (which in this case means ‘the verge of happening’). This form is mostly used in past tense.
i) Almost occurred, but didn’t
ㄹ 뻔했다 is typically used when an event almost happens, but is averted at the last moment. It is usually used with accidental events where the speaker feels relie
자전거에서 떨어질 뻔했다.
I almost fell off my bike.
버스를 놓칠 뻔했어.
We nearly missed the bus.
차에 치일 뻔했어요.
I almost got hit by a car.
철수는 깜짝 놀라서 기절할 뻔했어요.
철수 was so frightened he almost passed out.
While this form is mostly used for escaping negative events, it can also be used when missing out on fortunate ones.
일등에 당첨될 뻔했어!
I just missed out on first prize!
Speakers often use this form to exaggerate what didn’t happen.
배고파서 죽을 뻔했어.
I was so hungry I almost died.
듣기 역겨워서 미칠 뻔했어.
The sound was so disgusting that I almost went crazy.
The adverb 하마터면 meaning ‘almost/nearly’ is often used with this form.
하마터면 감기가 들 뻔했어요.
I almost caught a cold.
하마터면 잊을 뻔 했구나!
I almost forgot!
철수는 하마터면 회사에 지각할 뻔했다.
철수 was almost late for work.
Expanded forms
M 뻔하다 is sometimes expanded with the following forms:
ㄹ 뻔도 했다
This form can take particle 도 (meaning also/as well) when expressing the near-miss as occurring “in addition” to some other event.
P도 example:
나도 갈래.
I wanna go too.
ㄹ 뻔도 했다 examples:
지하철을 놓칠 뻔도 하고 지각을 할 뻔도 했다.
I almost missed the subway and was also nearly late for work.
폭설을 만나 얼어죽을 뻔도 했어.
I got caught in heavy snow and almost froze to death.
요리하다가 화상을 입을 뻔 했어. 기름이 튀어서 거의 죽을 뻔도 했지.
I was cooking and nearly burned myself. I almost died because the oil was splattering about.
어쩔 뻔했다
어쩔 뻔했다 is a phrase used to mean ‘Imagine if X occurred!’. The verb 어쩌다 here means ‘to be a certain way’ and when combined with the ‘narrowly missing dire consequence’ meaning of ㄹ 번했다, the resultant meaning is like: ‘Imagine if such a misfortune had occurred’.
나 일찍 와서 다행이다. 늦게왔으면 어쩔 번했다.
Good thing I got here early. Imagine what would happen if I was late.
Here the speaker is usually giving a warning over what circumstances would have arisen, but fortunately didn’t occur. This phrase is usually used as a question, where the speaker makes the addressee think of the possible consequences which could have occurred.
죽으면 어쩔 뻔했어?!
What if it had killed you?!
나 없었으면 어쩔 뻔했어?
What would you do without me?
오늘 비가 많이 오네. 우산 안 가져왔으면 어쩔 뻔했어?
It’s raining so heavily today. What if we didn’t bring our umbrellas?
Additional details
General
• There is another 뻔하다 grammatical form with the meaning ‘clear/obvious'(see below). The two are used very differently and should not be confused.
• Since the speaker describes an event which could have occurred, this form only takes the prospective modifier and is practically always in past tense. Even when the speaker uses -ㄹ 뻔하다 (namely when the speaker is predicating something about themselves as a matter-of-fact), past tense is implied. Use with descriptive verbs is rare.
Tone
• Speakers often emphasise the near-miss by putting a stress accent on ‘뻔’.
Associated grammar
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See also
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Bibliography
Affiliate links help support uK.
— Choo, M., & Kwak, H. (2008). Using Korean: A Guide to Contemporary Usage. New York: Cambridge University Press.
— King, R., Yeon, J., Kim, C., & Baker, D. (2015). Advanced Korean. Boston: Tuttle Publishing.
— Min, J., & Ahn, J. (2011). Korean Grammar in Use: Intermediate. Paju-si: Darakwon.
— Yeon, J., & Brown, L. (2008). Korean: A Comprehensive Grammar. New York: Routledge.