Conjunctions - If/Once [~면/으면]

~면/으면 is used after a verb and the clause containing ~면 must always come first and its meaning is "if/once I do such and such."

Rules

1. Take 다 off a plain verb and add 면 to it.

  • 하다 → 하면 = If/Once (I) do
  • 가다 → 가면 = If/Once (you) go
  • 던지다 → 던지면 = If/Once (you) throw
2. Take 다 off a verb with a final consonant and add 으면 to it.
  • 좋다 → 좋으면 = If/Once (I) like
  • 먹다 → 먹으면 = If/Once (you) eat
  • 잡다 → 잡으면 = If/Once (I) catch
Eg.
  • 학교에 가면 공부 할 수 있다 = If/Once I go to school, I can study.
  • 의대에 가면 의사가 될 수 있다 = If/Once you go to med school, you can become a doctor.
  • 책을 가져오면 읽어 줄게 = If/Once you bring (me) a book, I will read (it) to you.
학교 = school
할 수 있다 = can do
의대 = med school
의사 = doctor
될 수 있다 = can become
책 = book
가져오다 = bring
읽다 = read

13 comments:

  1. Then how would you say the other kind of "if" for example "It's not stalking if I love you"

    ReplyDelete
  2. What does "며" mean? For instance, what's the difference between "눈 왔다며,좋겠다" and "눈 왔다면,좋겠다"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "눈 와싸며, 좋겠다" means "(so I heard) snow came, lucky you."
      "눈 왔다면, 좋겠다" means "If it snowed, it would be great."

      Delete
    2. 눈 왔다며 means "i heard it had snowed
      눈 왔다면,좋겠다 is wrong.
      correct expression is
      눈이 오면 좋겠다
      눈이 왔으면 한다
      눈이 왔으면 좋았을텐데

      Delete
  3. Thanks, Luke; you've done a good job of concisely explaining conditional statements - very useful for my learning!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've been having a difficult time understanding ~면. Thanks to you, it's considerably clearer now! Much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
  5. So what is "even if/though" ?
    Thanks a lot!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Please refer to 'Conjunctions - But' and 'But [는데/은데]' for more information.

    ReplyDelete
  7. does 줄께 means 'to you'?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just so you know, I'm pretty sure the last example should be

    책을 가져오면 읽어 줄게.

    The last word would be pronounced [줄께] but written 줄게.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, you're quite right.

      it's written 줄게.

      Though it used to be written 줄께 as it's pronounced that way, but the grammar rule changed in 1988 apparently.

      lol

      Delete
  9. Hi, if 면 follows a noun like in this phrase (from a song) "60초면 충분한 story" what does it mean? In the translation it just says "60sec is enough for this story, but why is 면 there?
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...