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Grammar / Level 4 / Lesson 105

기 일쑤이다, 기 십상이다, 기 나름이다: how things tend to go

By Daniel Buckley · 13 minute read · TOPIK 5

Vocabulary

  1. 실수 - a mistake
  2. 잃어버리다 - to lose
  3. 망치다 - to ruin
  4. 혼나다 - to get told off
  5. 쫓겨나다 - to be thrown out
  6. 마음먹다 - to make up your mind
  7. 거르다 - to skip (a meal)
  8. 찬성하다 - to agree, to be in favour
  9. 반대하다 - to be against
  10. 큰일 - serious trouble

You know 기 마련이다: everyone's bound to make mistakes. That's a remark about the world. But "I'm forever losing my umbrella" and "you'll end up in trouble doing that" are more personal, and Korean has a form for each.

Most of this lesson is built on the 기 form. Each pattern looks at how something tends to turn out, whether it keeps happening, is likely to, or depends on you.

기 일쑤이다: it's always happening

일쑤 means something that happens as a matter of course. It's usually about things that keep going wrong, and it's often said wearily. You'll see it in writing, and it's fine in conversation too.

Since 일쑤 ends in a vowel, the 해요 form is 일쑤예요 and the past is 일쑤였어요. It usually describes someone's habit or a pattern you've watched, so the past is common.

Pick a verb

잃어버리다잃어버리잃어버리기 일쑤예요

  1. 저는 우산을 잃어버리기 일쑤예요.

    I'm forever losing my umbrella.

  2. 늦잠을 자서 학교에 지각하기 일쑤였어요.

    I'd oversleep and was always late for school.

  3. 이 길은 비만 오면 막히기 일쑤예요.

    This road always jams when it rains.

  4. 바쁘면 밥을 거르기 일쑤예요.

    When I'm busy I keep skipping meals.

기 십상이다: it's likely to

십상 comes from 십상팔구, eight or nine times in ten. It looks ahead to what will probably go wrong, so it's a warning, and it's often tied to a condition: do that, and this is likely. It's used in both speech and writing, usually with an unwelcome result.

Think of it as a stronger 기 쉽다. The contrast with 일쑤 is that 일쑤 reports what keeps happening, and 십상 predicts what would.

  1. 그렇게 운전하면 사고 나기 십상이에요.

    Drive like that and you're liable to have an accident.

  2. 준비 없이 시작하면 실패하기 십상이에요.

    Start without preparing and you'll most likely fail.

  3. 급하게 먹으면 체하기 십상이에요.

    Eat in a hurry and you'll probably get indigestion.

  4. 혼자 가면 길을 잃기 십상이에요.

    If you go alone, you're likely to get lost.

기 나름이다: it's down to how you do it

나름 is a small noun for how something turns out according to what it is or how it's done. So 생각하기 나름이다 says it all comes down to how you think about it. Everyone uses this. It's one of those things people say to cheer each other up.

It works best with 하다, 생각하다 and 마음먹다, and it goes straight on a noun too: 사람 나름이에요, it depends on the person.

  1. 행복은 마음먹기 나름이에요.

    Happiness comes down to how you decide to feel.

  2. 모든 일은 생각하기 나름이에요.

    Everything depends on how you look at it.

  3. 아이는 부모가 하기 나름이에요.

    How a child turns out depends on what the parents do.

  4. 비싸다고 다 좋은 건 아니에요. 물건 나름이에요.

    Expensive doesn't always mean good. It depends on the item.

※ 나름대로 is the everyday relative: in your own way. 저 나름대로 열심히 했어요, I worked hard in my own way. People also use 나름 on its own, as in 나름 괜찮아요, it's not bad in its way, and that's casual.

기만 하다: that's all it does

You've seen 기도 하다 and 기는 하다. Put 만 in the same slot and it says "only": this and nothing else. Unlike most of this lesson, it's completely everyday.

Using 기만 하다

  • On a verb: does nothing but this.울다 → 울기만 해요
  • On an adjective: is just this, and not what you'd hoped.비싸다 → 비싸기만 해요
  • 기만 해도: just doing this is enough.보다 → 보기만 해도
  • 기만 하면: every single time this happens.만나다 → 만나기만 하면

Pick a verb

먹다먹먹기만 해요

  1. 아이가 하루 종일 울기만 해요.

    The baby does nothing but cry all day.

  2. 물어봐도 웃기만 했어요.

    I asked, but he just smiled.

  3. 그 식당은 비싸기만 하고 맛은 없어요.

    That restaurant is just expensive, and the food's not good.

  4. 보기만 해도 배가 불러요.

    Just looking at it fills me up.

  5. 두 사람은 만나기만 하면 싸워요.

    Every time those two meet, they fight.

게 생겼다: heading for trouble

생기다 describes looks, as in 착하게 생겼어요, he looks kind. Point it at a situation and it says how things look now. It's about a mess you can already see coming, and it stays in the past form 생겼다, because the look is already there.

It's spoken, and you'll hear it a lot in dramas, often after 이러다가. 게 되다 says how something ended up. 게 생겼다 says what's about to land on you.

Pick a verb

지각하다지각하지각하게 생겼어요

  1. 이러다가 지각하게 생겼어요.

    At this rate I'm going to be late.

  2. 시험을 망쳐서 엄마한테 혼나게 생겼어요.

    I messed up the exam, and I'm in for it from my mum.

  3. 월세를 못 내서 집에서 쫓겨나게 생겼어요.

    I can't pay the rent, and I'm about to get thrown out.

  4. 큰일 나게 생겼어요.

    We're heading for serious trouble.

는가 하면: and then again

는가 하면 sets one thing beside a different thing: some do this, and others do that. Or the same person does both by turns. You'll read this in articles and reports more than you'll hear it.

It's built like 는가 싶다: 는가 on a verb, ㄴ/은가 on an adjective, and 았/었는가 on the past. 그런가 하면 is the same form on 그렇다, and it opens a new sentence: then again, on the other hand.

  1. 어떤 사람은 찬성하는가 하면 어떤 사람은 반대한다.

    Some people are in favour, while others are against.

  2. 아이가 우는가 하면 금방 웃기도 해요.

    One minute the child's crying, the next she's laughing.

  3. 어떤 나라는 여름이 긴가 하면 어떤 나라는 겨울이 길다.

    Some countries have long summers, while others have long winters.

  4. 그런가 하면 전혀 다른 경우도 있다.

    Then again, there are completely different cases.

  1. 어렸을 때 저는 아침을 ___.

    As a kid I was forever skipping breakfast.

  2. 그렇게 서두르면 실수하기 ___.

    Rush like that and you're likely to slip up.

  3. 성공은 ___.

    Success depends on how much effort you put in.

  4. 이러다가 회사에 ___.

    At this rate I'm going to be late for work.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

In a conversation

A

왜 그렇게 뛰어요?

Why run like that?

B

이러다가 지각하게 생겼어요. 요즘 늦잠을 자기 일쑤예요.

Like this to be late looks. These days oversleeping is the usual thing.

A

밤에 휴대폰만 보고 있죠? 그러면 늦잠 자기 십상이에요.

At night only phone looking, right? Then oversleep likely.

B

네, 그런데 안 보면 잠이 안 와요.

Yes, but not looking, sleep doesn't come.

A

그것도 마음먹기 나름이에요.

That too making up mind depends.

Common mistakes

  1. 실패하기 쉽상이에요.

    실패하기 십상이에요.

    It looks like it comes from 쉽다, but the word is 十常, spelled 십상.

  2. 우산을 잃어버리기 일쑤이에요.

    우산을 잃어버리기 일쑤예요.

    일쑤 ends in a vowel, so it takes 예요.

  3. 이러다가 지각하게 생겨요.

    이러다가 지각하게 생겼어요.

    This pattern stays in the past form, even for what's about to happen.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

저는 우산을 ___. (잃어버리다, use 기 일쑤이다 in the 해요 form) I'm forever losing my umbrella.

일쑤 ends in a vowel.

Summary

기 일쑤이다 forms
DictionaryStem기 일쑤이다
늦다늦늦기 일쑤이다
잊어버리다잊어버리잊어버리기 일쑤이다
거르다거르거르기 일쑤이다
기 십상이다 forms
DictionaryStem기 십상이다
실패하다실패하실패하기 십상이다
늦다늦늦기 십상이다
속다속속기 십상이다
게 생겼다 forms
DictionaryStem게 생겼다
늦다늦늦게 생겼다
혼나다혼나혼나게 생겼다
굶다굶굶게 생겼다

What each one says

  • 기 일쑤이다: it keeps going wrong.
  • 기 십상이다: it will probably go wrong.
  • 기 나름이다: it all depends on how.
  • 기만 하다: this and nothing else.
  • 게 생겼다: I can see it coming.
  • 는가 하면: this, and on the other hand that. Mostly written.

Now you can say

  1. 저는 우산을 잃어버리기 일쑤예요.

    I'm forever losing my umbrella.

  2. 모든 일은 생각하기 나름이에요.

    Everything depends on how you look at it.

  3. 이러다가 지각하게 생겼어요.

    At this rate I'm going to be late.

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