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LEARN + KOREAN / 108 of 125 TOPIK II

Almost, Anyone -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다

a

You nearly leave your phone on a café table. A friend catches it, and you say anyone might make that mistake. -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다 describes the event that narrowly did not happen; 아무…(이)나 opens the choice to anyone or anything.

A Near Miss

Use -ㄹ 뻔하다 after a vowel or ㄹ and -을 뻔하다 after another consonant. A past near miss usually ends in 뻔했어요: 넘어질 뻔했어요. The event was close to happening but did not actually occur.

kapee hyudaeponeul dugo ol ppeonhaesseoyo.
I almost left my phone at the café.
gyedaneseo neomeojil ppeonhaesseoyo.
I nearly fell on the stairs.

Any Person or Any Option

Use 아무 + noun + 이나 after a consonant and 나 after a vowel: 아무 책이나, 아무 음식이나. 아무나 means anyone, 아무거나 anything, and 아무 데나 anywhere. The choice is unrestricted within the relevant context.

geureon silsuneun amuna hal su isseoyo.
Anyone can make that sort of mistake.
yeogi inneun chaegeun amu chaegina billyeodo dwaeyo.
You can borrow any of the books here.
Hint · 힌트
아무나 can appear with an affirmative expression. 아무도 normally needs a negative: 아무도 안 왔어요, “Nobody came.” “Anyone” and “nobody” use different partners.

Vocabulary

KoreanEnglish
휴대폰
hyudaepon
mobile phone
계단
gyedan
stairs
넘어지다
neomeojida
to fall
실수
silsu
mistake
빌리다
billida
to borrow
아무나
amuna
anyone
창피하다
changpihada
to be embarrassed
당황스럽다
danghwangseureopda
to feel flustered
떨리다
tteollida
to tremble
자랑스럽다
jarangseureopda
to feel proud
보람을 느끼다
borameul neukkida
to feel rewarded
깜짝 놀라다
kkamjjak nollada
to be startled
가슴이 두근거리다
gaseumi dugeungeorida
one’s heart to pound
미끄러지다
mikkeureojida
to slip
쏟다
ssotda
to spill
꺼내다
kkeonaeda
to take out
부딪치다
buditchida
to bump into
다행
dahaeng
good fortune or relief
위험하다
wiheomhada
to be dangerous
조심하다
josimhada
to be careful

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