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Grammar / Level 3 / Lesson 77

ㄹ/을 만하다, ㄹ/을 리가 없다: worth it, can't be, no choice

By Daniel Buckley · 12 minute read · TOPIK 3

Vocabulary

  1. 믿다 - to believe, to trust
  2. 거짓말 - a lie
  3. 잊다 - to forget
  4. 미워하다 - to hate (a person)
  5. 잠그다 - to lock
  6. 화내다 - to get angry
  7. 아쉽다 - to be a pity, to be a shame
  8. 초보자 - a beginner

The new place round the corner? 먹을 만해요. You haven't said it's delicious. You've said it passes.

All four patterns here hand down a verdict. The first says a thing deserves doing, the second rules something out, and the last two say you've run out of options. Most of them start from the ㄹ/을 modifier, the same slot you used for ㄹ/을 수 있다.

ㄹ/을 만하다: good enough to do

만하다 says the thing is good enough to justify the action. 볼 만하다 is enough to justify watching, and 믿을 만하다 is enough to justify trusting. That one idea covers "worth it", "it'll do" and "understandable", and English needs a different phrase for each.

Making ㄹ/을 만하다

  • Stem ends in a vowel or ㄹ: add ㄹ 만하다.보다 → 볼 만해요살다 → 살 만해요
  • Stem ends in a consonant: add 을 만하다.먹다 → 먹을 만해요믿다 → 믿을 만해요
  • Before a noun: 만한, from 만하다 like any ~하다 adjective.볼 만한 영화믿을 만한 사람

Pick a verb

보다보볼 만해요

Here it means worth doing. This is the reading you want when you recommend something.

  1. 이 영화는 정말 볼 만해요.

    This film is really worth seeing.

  2. 제주도에는 가 볼 만한 곳이 많아요.

    Jeju has a lot of places worth visiting.

  3. 그 사람은 믿을 만해요.

    He's someone you can trust.

Here the bar is lower: it's good enough to get by. The English is more like "it's fine" or "you can manage it".

  1. 좀 맵지만 먹을 만해요.

    It's a bit spicy, but it's fine to eat.

  2. 이 책은 초보자도 읽을 만해요.

    Even beginners can manage this book.

  3. 오래된 차지만 아직 탈 만해요.

    It's an old car, but it's still fine to drive.

And here the situation justifies someone's reaction. You're saying it makes sense, and that they aren't being unreasonable.

  1. 민수 씨가 화낼 만해요.

    Minsu has every right to be angry.

  2. 그 사람이 그럴 만해요.

    I can see why he'd do that.

※ On its own, 먹을 만해요 is usually a mild verdict, not a rave. If you loved the food, say 맛있어요. 정말 볼 만해요 is warmer, so adverbs and tone do a lot of the work here. The rules also let you write it solid, 볼만해요, so expect to see both.

ㄹ/을 리가 없다: there's no way

리 is a noun meaning a reason or a way for something to be, and it only turns up in patterns like this one. So 그럴 리가 없다 says there's no reason for that to be so. Where English says "can't be", Korean says the grounds don't exist.

Making ㄹ/을 리가 없다

  • Verbs and adjectives: ㄹ/을 리가 없다.가다 → 갈 리가 없어요좋다 → 좋을 리가 없어요
  • Past: 았/었을 리가 없다.갔을 리가 없어요먹었을 리가 없어요
  • Nouns: 일 리가 없다, from 이다.의사 → 의사일 리가 없어요

Pick a verb

가다가갈 리가 없어요

  1. 그럴 리가 없어요.

    That can't be right.

  2. 민수 씨가 거짓말을 할 리가 없어요.

    There's no way Minsu would lie.

  3. 이렇게 싼 가방이 좋을 리가 없어요.

    A bag this cheap can't be any good.

  4. 문을 잠갔는데 열려 있을 리가 없어요.

    I locked the door, so it can't be open.

  5. 어제 보낸 메일을 못 봤을 리가 없어요.

    There's no way she didn't see the email I sent yesterday.

  6. 그 사람이 의사일 리가 없어요.

    He can't be a doctor.

In speech 가 often drops, as in 그럴 리 없어요. Turned into a question, 그럴 리가 있어요? means "how could that be?". 그럴 리가요 on its own is a quick "no way".

Don't mix this up with ㄹ/을 수 없다. 수 is mostly about ability or opportunity, and 리 is about whether a thing can be true. 민수 씨가 올 수 없어요 says Minsu is unable to come. 민수 씨가 올 리가 없어요 says it isn't going to happen, and you'd be amazed if it did.

어쩔 수 없다: nothing to be done

어쩌다 is short for 어찌하다, to do something about a situation, and 어쩔 수 없다 says there's no way of doing that. It's a fixed phrase, and it covers both a shrug and an apology. Use 어쩔 수 없다 as the verb, 어쩔 수 없이 as an adverb, and 어쩔 수 없는 before a noun.

  1. 비가 오면 어쩔 수 없죠.

    If it rains, there's nothing we can do.

  2. 미안해요. 어쩔 수 없었어요.

    I'm sorry. I had no choice.

  3. 아쉽지만 어쩔 수 없네요.

    It's a shame, but it can't be helped.

  4. 표가 없어서 어쩔 수 없이 다음 기차를 탔어요.

    There were no tickets, so I had no choice but to get the next train.

  5. 그건 어쩔 수 없는 일이에요.

    That's something nobody can do anything about.

You've met ㄹ/을 수밖에 없다, which names the one option left. 어쩔 수 없다 names nothing and simply gives up. Example 4 could be 다음 기차를 탈 수밖에 없었어요 with little change in meaning.

ㄹ/을래야: however hard I try

This one is for when you've got the intention and it still can't happen. The same verb comes twice, first with ㄹ/을래야 and then with ㄹ/을 수(가) 없다. Korean sets up the attempt and knocks it straight down.

Making ㄹ/을래야

  • The same verb twice: ㄹ/을래야, then ㄹ/을 수가 없다.먹을래야 먹을 수가 없어요잘래야 잘 수가 없어요
  • The spelling the dictionaries give: (으)려야.먹으려야 먹을 수가 없어요자려야 잘 수가 없어요

Pick a verb

먹다먹먹을래야

  1. 그날은 잊을래야 잊을 수가 없어요.

    I couldn't forget that day if I tried.

  2. 옆집이 너무 시끄러워서 잘래야 잘 수가 없어요.

    Next door is so loud that I can't sleep however hard I try.

  3. 너무 매워서 먹을래야 먹을 수가 없었어요.

    It was so spicy that I couldn't eat it even if I'd wanted to.

  4. 요즘은 바빠서 친구를 만날래야 만날 수가 없어요.

    I'm so busy these days that I can't see friends even when I want to.

  5. 그 사람은 미워할래야 미워할 수가 없어요.

    You couldn't hate him if you tried.

※ Spelling: ㄹ/을래야 is what you'll hear, but the National Institute of Korean Language counts it as non-standard and writes (으)려야. Use 잊으려야 in an essay or on an exam. If that feels awkward, 잊으려고 해도 잊을 수가 없어요 says much the same and is safe anywhere.

The spelling also shows where it comes from. (으)려야 is (으)려고 해야 squeezed together, with the (으)려고 of intention inside it. One fixed phrase you'll meet is 떼려야 뗄 수 없는 사이, a bond you couldn't break if you tried.

Which verdict?

  1. 이 영화는 정말 ___.

    This film is really worth seeing.

  2. 민수 씨는 지금 서울에 있어요. 부산에 ___.

    Minsu's in Seoul right now. He can't be in Busan.

  3. 표가 다 팔렸어요. ___. 내일 갈게요.

    The tickets have sold out. Oh well, I'll go tomorrow.

  4. 커피가 너무 써서 ___ 마실 수가 없어요.

    This coffee is so bitter I couldn't drink it if I tried.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

In a conversation

A

어제 간 식당 어땠어요?

Yesterday went restaurant how was?

B

음식은 먹을 만했어요. 근데 너무 비쌌어요.

Food good enough to eat. But too expensive.

A

정말요? 민수 씨는 싸다고 했는데요.

Really? Minsu said cheap, so...

B

그럴 리가 없어요. 커피 한 잔에 만 원이었어요.

No reason for that to be so. Coffee one cup ten thousand won was.

A

근처에 다른 식당은 없었어요?

Nearby other restaurant didn't exist?

B

거기밖에 없어서 어쩔 수 없이 갔어요.

Only there existed, so with no way out went.

Common mistakes

  1. 제주도에는 가 볼 만 곳이 많아요.

    제주도에는 가 볼 만한 곳이 많아요.

    만하다 changes form like any ~하다 word, so it needs 만한 before a noun.

  2. 민수 씨가 어제 간 리가 없어요.

    민수 씨가 어제 갔을 리가 없어요.

    리 only follows the ㄹ/을 form, so the past is 았/었을.

  3. 어떻게 수 없어요.

    어쩔 수 없어요.

    수 needs a modifier in front of it. 어떻게 is an adverb, and the phrase is fixed as 어쩔 수 없다.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

이 영화는 정말 ___. (보다, use ㄹ/을 만하다 in 해요체) This film's really worth seeing.

보다 has a vowel stem.

Summary

ㄹ/을 만해요 forms
DictionaryStemㄹ/을 만해요
보다보볼 만해요
먹다먹먹을 만해요
듣다듣들을 만해요
살다살살 만해요
ㄹ/을 리가 없어요 forms
DictionaryStemㄹ/을 리가 없어요
가다가갈 리가 없어요
먹다먹먹을 리가 없어요
듣다듣들을 리가 없어요
좋다좋좋을 리가 없어요

The four verdicts

  • ㄹ/을 만하다: good enough to justify doing it.
  • ㄹ/을 리가 없다: there's no way it's true.
  • 어쩔 수 없다: there's nothing to be done.
  • ㄹ/을래야 ㄹ/을 수가 없다: it can't happen however hard you try. Write (으)려야 in formal Korean.

Now you can say

  1. 이 영화는 정말 볼 만해요.

    This film is really worth seeing.

  2. 그럴 리가 없어요.

    That can't be right.

  3. 아쉽지만 어쩔 수 없네요.

    It's a shame, but it can't be helped.

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