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Grammar / Level 3 / Lesson 90

아/어야: only if

By Daniel Buckley · 11 minute read · TOPIK 3

Vocabulary

  1. 표 - ticket
  2. 실력 - ability, skill
  3. 늘다 - to improve, to increase
  4. 할인 - a discount
  5. 넘다 - to be over, to exceed
  6. 끝내다 - to finish (something)
  7. 합격하다 - to pass (an exam)
  8. 감기 - a cold
  9. 존댓말 - polite speech
  10. 어른 - an adult, your elders

You know 가야 해요, I have to go. Lesson 26 said the 야 means "only if", so the sentence is really "only if I go does it work". That 야 doesn't need 해요 after it.

Follow 아/어야 with any other clause and you have a Korean way of thinking about conditions: B happens, and there's one way to get there. 표가 있어야 들어갈 수 있어요. No ticket, no entry.

아/어야: only if

(으)면 says if A, then B, and leaves open other ways to reach B. 아/어야 closes them off: A is required. English needs "only if", "you have to" or "not until" to do the same job.

  1. 표가 있으면 들어갈 수 있어요.

    If you have a ticket, you can go in.

  2. 표가 있어야 들어갈 수 있어요.

    You can go in only if you have a ticket.

Making 아/어야

  • Verbs and adjectives: take the 해요 form, drop 요, add 야.가요 → 가야먹어요 → 먹어야좋아요 → 좋아야
  • Nouns: add 이어야, or 여야 after a vowel.학생 → 학생이어야친구 → 친구여야
  • The negative of a noun: 아니어야.학생이 아니어야

Pick a verb

가다가요가야

  1. 일찍 일어나야 버스를 탈 수 있어요.

    You'll catch the bus only if you get up early.

  2. 많이 연습해야 실력이 늘어요.

    You improve only if you practise a lot.

  3. 날씨가 좋아야 갈 수 있어요.

    We can go only if the weather's good.

  4. 학생이어야 할인을 받을 수 있어요.

    You can get a discount only if you're a student.

  5. 먹어 봐야 알아요.

    You won't know until you try it.

  6. 돈이 있어야 여행을 가죠.

    You need money to go travelling, don't you?

The second clause states what depends on A, so it can't be a command or a suggestion. 일찍 일어나야 버스를 타세요 doesn't work. That's a real difference from (으)면, which is happy to lead into either.

On a few words of size and price, 아/어야 gives you "at most": 많아야 열 명이에요, ten people at most. 비싸야 만 원이에요 is the same idea with a price, and it's the ceiling you met in 비싸 봤자.

※ You've seen this shape in 아/어 봐야, "no use trying". 먹어 봐야 알아요 means you must try it, and 먹어 봐야 소용없어요 means there's no point trying. What comes after it tells you which.

아/어야만: only, and I mean it

만 is the "only" from 의, 도, 만 and 들. 아/어야 already means "only if", so adding 만 is stress and not new meaning: this, and nothing else. It's the same with 아/어야만 하다, a heavier "must".

Pick a verb

가다가요가야만

  1. 직접 해 봐야만 알 수 있어요.

    The only way to find out is to do it yourself.

  2. 열여덟 살이 넘어야만 볼 수 있어요.

    You can watch it only if you're over eighteen.

  3. 시험에 합격해야만 들어갈 수 있어요.

    The only way in is to pass the exam.

  4. 꼭 오늘 가야만 해요?

    Does it really have to be today?

아/어야겠: I'd better

Add 겠 and "must" becomes a conclusion you're reaching as you speak. 아/어야 해요 states an obligation, and it doesn't say where it came from. 아/어야겠어요 says you've looked at the situation and decided you'd better.

  1. 내일까지 끝내야 해요.

    It has to be finished by tomorrow.

  2. 내일까지 끝내야겠어요.

    I'd better finish it by tomorrow.

Pick a verb

가다가요가야겠어요

  1. 벌써 열 시네요. 이제 가야겠어요.

    It's ten already. I'd better go now.

  2. 감기에 걸린 것 같아요. 약을 먹어야겠어요.

    I think I've caught a cold. I'd better take something.

  3. 요즘 너무 많이 먹었어요. 운동을 해야겠어요.

    I've been eating too much lately. I need to exercise.

  4. 머리가 많이 길었네요. 잘라야겠어요.

    My hair's got really long. I'd better cut it.

  5. 얼굴이 안 좋아요. 병원에 가 보셔야겠어요.

    You don't look well. You'd better see a doctor.

Most of the time the person deciding is you. Example 5 shows the other use: it's your assessment of what someone else needs, and the 시 tells you who.

아/어야지: to yourself and to others

아/어야지 does one job for you and another for other people. Said to yourself, it's a resolution. Said to someone else, it's what ought to be happening, and it can sound like a parent. With 요 it's 아/어야지요, or more often 아/어야죠.

  1. 내일부터 일찍 일어나야지.

    I'm going to get up early from tomorrow.

  2. 오늘은 꼭 책을 읽어야지.

    I really must read today.

  3. 이번에는 꼭 합격해야지.

    This time I'm definitely going to pass.

Those are all things you'd say under your breath. Turned on someone else, the same form tells them what they should be doing.

  1. 밥을 먹어야지.

    You need to eat.

  2. 아프면 병원에 가야죠.

    If you're ill, you ought to see a doctor.

  3. 어른한테는 존댓말을 써야지.

    You should use polite speech with your elders.

Add 았/었 and it's a telling-off for what's already gone wrong, like 았/었어야 했다 with an edge. There's one more use, and this one's a complaint: 시간이 있어야지 means "there'd have to be time", and there isn't.

  1. 미리 말했어야지.

    You should have told me.

  2. 더 일찍 왔어야죠.

    You should have come earlier.

  3. 가고 싶은데 시간이 있어야지.

    I'd love to go, but there's no time.

  4. 사고 싶어도 돈이 있어야죠.

    I'd like to buy it, but I haven't got the money.

  1. 오늘부터 담배를 끊어야지.

  2. 어른을 보면 인사를 해야지.

  3. 쉬고 싶은데 시간이 있어야지.

  4. 내일은 꼭 운동해야지.

  5. 너도 친구한테 사과해야지.

  6. 여행 가고 싶어도 돈이 있어야죠.

  1. 벌써 열두 시네요. 이제 ___.

    It's twelve already. I'd better go.

  2. 표가 ___ 들어갈 수 있어요.

    You can get in only if you have a ticket.

  3. 일찍 ___ 버스를 타세요.

    Get up early and catch the bus.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

In a conversation

A

벌써 열한 시네요. 저는 이제 가야겠어요.

Already eleven. I now had better go.

B

왜요? 조금만 더 있다 가요.

Why? Just a bit more stay, then go.

A

내일 시험이 있어요. 일찍 자야 아침에 일어날 수 있어요.

Tomorrow exam exists. Early only if sleep in morning can get up.

B

시험이요? 그럼 가야죠. 공부는 많이 했어요?

Exam? Then should go. Study a lot did?

A

아니요. 공부하고 싶어도 시간이 있어야죠.

No. Even if want to study, time would have to exist.

B

그래도 푹 자야 시험을 잘 봐요.

Still well only if sleep exam do well.

Common mistakes

  1. 돈이 있으야 여행을 가요.

    돈이 있어야 여행을 가요.

    아/어야 is built on the 해요 form, not on the 으 slot.

  2. 일찍 일어나야 버스를 타세요.

    일찍 일어나야 버스를 탈 수 있어요.

    아/어야 can't lead into a command. The second clause says what depends on the first.

  3. 학생여야 할인을 받을 수 있어요.

    학생이어야 할인을 받을 수 있어요.

    After a consonant, nouns take 이어야. 여야 is for vowels.

One sentence in each group is wrong. Tap it.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

표가 ___ 들어갈 수 있어요. (있다, only if) You can go in only if you have a ticket.

있어요, minus 요, plus 야.

Summary

아/어야 forms
Dictionary해요아/어야
먹다먹어요먹어야
가다가요가야
하다해요해야
듣다들어요들어야
춥다추워요추워야
모르다몰라요몰라야
아/어야겠어요 forms
Dictionary해요아/어야겠어요
먹다먹어요먹어야겠어요
가다가요가야겠어요
하다해요해야겠어요
듣다들어요들어야겠어요

The family

  • 아/어야: only if. The second clause can't be a command or suggestion.
  • 아/어야만: the same, with stress.
  • 아/어야겠어요: I've decided I'd better, or I think you'd better.
  • 아/어야지: a promise to yourself, what someone ought to do, or a complaint about what's missing.

Now you can say

  1. 먹어 봐야 알아요.

    You won't know until you try it.

  2. 이제 가야겠어요.

    I'd better go now.

  3. 내일부터 일찍 일어나야지.

    I'm going to get up early from tomorrow.

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