한글
GuidesSign inGet started

Grammar / Level 3 / Lesson 60

ㄹ/을까 봐 and ㄹ/을 뻔했다: worry and near misses

By Daniel Buckley · 11 minute read · TOPIK 3

Vocabulary

  1. 걱정되다 - to be worried
  2. 넘어지다 - to fall over
  3. 놓치다 - to miss (a bus, a chance)
  4. 떨어지다 - to fall, to fail (an exam)
  5. 잊어버리다 - to forget
  6. 잠그다 - to lock
  7. 깨다 - to wake up
  8. 큰일 - serious trouble
  9. 하마터면 - very nearly (of something bad)
  10. 거의 - almost, hardly

Two ordinary sentences: I brought an umbrella in case it rained, and I nearly missed the bus. In both, the bad thing is a thing that hasn't happened. In the first you were afraid of it, and in the second it came close and passed.

English covers these with "in case" and "nearly". Korean uses two small constructions that sit on the same ㄹ/을 form, the one for what isn't real yet. Then there's 거의, which also means "almost", and works differently.

ㄹ/을까 봐: in case, afraid that

You met ㄹ/을까 봐요 in plans and decisions as "I'm thinking of". In the middle of a sentence, it nearly always means worry instead. ㄹ/을까 is the "might it?" you know from ㄹ/을까요, and the second half says what you did about that.

Making ㄹ/을까 봐

  • Verbs and adjectives: ㄹ까 봐, or 을까 봐 after a consonant.오다 → 올까 봐늦다 → 늦을까 봐춥다 → 추울까 봐
  • Past, for something that may already have happened: 았/었을까 봐.안 잠갔을까 봐
  • Nouns: 일까 봐.감기 → 감기일까 봐

Pick a verb

오다오올까 봐

The second half is what you did about it, or how you feel. Since a worry is usually behind something you've already done or are feeling now, that half tends to be past or present. A command or suggestion doesn't follow it.

  1. 비가 올까 봐 우산을 가져왔어요.

    I brought an umbrella in case it rained.

  2. 늦을까 봐 택시를 탔어요.

    I took a taxi because I was afraid I'd be late.

  3. 잊어버릴까 봐 메모했어요.

    I wrote it down in case I forgot.

  4. 아이가 깰까 봐 조용히 들어갔어요.

    I went in quietly so as not to wake the child.

  5. 시험에 떨어질까 봐 걱정이에요.

    I'm worried I'll fail the exam.

  6. 추울까 봐 옷을 많이 입었어요.

    I wrapped up well in case it was cold.

  7. 문을 안 잠갔을까 봐 걱정돼요.

    I'm worried I didn't lock the door.

Example 4 shows why "in case" doesn't always fit. The trouble is that English splits this idea between "in case", "so as not to" and "for fear that". The Korean is the same every time, and what's behind it is simply the fear.

※ You'll also hear ㄹ/을까 봐서, with the 서 from 아/어서. It means the same, and 까 봐서요 is a natural answer to 왜: 왜 택시를 탔어요? 늦을까 봐서요.

ㄹ/을 뻔했다: nearly, but didn't

ㄹ/을 뻔했다 says something came very close and then didn't happen. It's built on the "not yet" ㄹ/을 form, so the sentence holds an event that never became real. It only makes sense looking back, so it's always in the past.

Making ㄹ/을 뻔했다

  • Verbs: ㄹ 뻔했다, or 을 뻔했다 after a consonant.넘어지다 → 넘어질 뻔했어요먹다 → 먹을 뻔했어요

Pick a verb

놓치다놓치놓칠 뻔했어요

  1. 버스를 놓칠 뻔했어요.

    I nearly missed the bus.

  2. 계단에서 넘어질 뻔했어요.

    I nearly fell on the stairs.

  3. 회의에 늦을 뻔했어요.

    I was nearly late for the meeting.

  4. 약속을 잊어버릴 뻔했어요.

    I almost forgot our plans.

  5. 하마터면 큰일 날 뻔했어요.

    That was nearly a disaster.

  6. 너무 웃겨서 죽을 뻔했어요.

    It was so funny I nearly died.

It's most often about something you're glad to have avoided, and 하마터면 is the adverb that goes with it in those cases. Example 6 is the usual exaggeration. It can also be a near win, if you say it with regret: 일등을 할 뻔했어요, I nearly came first.

※ 뻔하다 is also an unrelated adjective, "obvious": 결과가 뻔해요, the result's obvious. There's no ㄹ/을 in front of it, so the two are easy to tell apart.

거의: almost in amount

거의 measures how much of something is true. With a positive it means nearly all, and 다 often joins it. With a negative it flips round to hardly any, and that's the use English speakers find odd.

  1. 거의 다 왔어요.

    We're almost there.

  2. 거의 다 먹었어요.

    I've eaten almost all of it.

  3. 거의 매일 커피를 마셔요.

    I drink coffee almost every day.

  4. 요즘은 고기를 거의 안 먹어요.

    I hardly eat meat these days.

  5. 어제는 거의 못 잤어요.

    I hardly slept last night.

  6. 돈이 거의 없어요.

    I have hardly any money.

So "almost" comes in two kinds. 거의 다 먹었어요 means I ate most of it, and that happened. 먹을 뻔했어요 means I came close to eating it and didn't eat any.

  1. 오늘 아침에 지하철을 ___.

    I nearly missed the subway this morning.

  2. 지하철을 ___ 일찍 나왔어요.

    I left early in case I missed the subway.

  3. 숙제를 ___ 끝냈어요.

    I've almost finished my homework.

  4. 요즘 바빠서 친구를 ___ 못 만나요.

    I'm busy these days, so I hardly see my friends.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

In a conversation

A

왜 그렇게 뛰어왔어요?

Why like that ran here?

B

회의에 늦을까 봐서요. 오다가 계단에서 넘어질 뻔했어요.

To meeting afraid I'd be late. Coming, on stairs nearly fell.

A

괜찮아요? 회의는 거의 끝났어요.

Are you OK? Meeting almost finished.

B

네? 벌써요? 하마터면 큰일 날 뻔했어요.

What? Already? Very nearly big trouble almost happened.

Common mistakes

  1. 늦을까 봐 빨리 가세요.

    늦을지도 모르니까 빨리 가세요.

    ㄹ/을까 봐 leads into what you did or feel, not a command. To push someone, use (으)니까.

  2. 넘어졌을 뻔했어요.

    넘어질 뻔했어요.

    The event never happened, so it stays in the ㄹ/을 form. The past goes on 뻔했다.

  3. 버스를 놓칠 뻔해요.

    버스를 놓칠 뻔했어요.

    A near miss is over by the time you can say so. For a worry about now, use ㄹ/을 것 같아요.

One sentence in each group is wrong. Tap it.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

비가 ___ 우산을 가져왔어요. (오다, with ㄹ/을까 봐) I brought an umbrella in case it rained.

The stem ends in a vowel.

Summary

ㄹ/을까 봐 forms
DictionaryStemㄹ/을까 봐
오다오올까 봐
먹다먹먹을까 봐
듣다듣들을까 봐
춥다춥추울까 봐
살다살살까 봐
잊어버리다잊어버리잊어버릴까 봐
ㄹ/을 뻔했어요 forms
DictionaryStemㄹ/을 뻔했어요
놓치다놓치놓칠 뻔했어요
먹다먹먹을 뻔했어요
듣다듣들을 뻔했어요
살다살살 뻔했어요
넘어지다넘어지넘어질 뻔했어요
잊어버리다잊어버리잊어버릴 뻔했어요

Afraid, nearly, almost

  • ㄹ/을까 봐: I feared this, so I did that.
  • ㄹ/을 뻔했다: it came close and didn't happen. Always past.
  • 거의: nearly all, or with a negative, hardly any.

Now you can say

  1. 늦을까 봐 택시를 탔어요.

    I took a taxi because I was afraid I'd be late.

  2. 하마터면 큰일 날 뻔했어요.

    That was nearly a disaster.

  3. 거의 다 왔어요.

    We're almost there.

Sign in to keep track of the lessons you've finished.