-(으)면
if, when
Sets a condition. Korean does not separate “if” from “whenever” here — one ending covers both, and context decides which one an English speaker would say.
Build it
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When to use it
As a condition: 시간이 있으면 같이 가요. As a habitual trigger: 봄이 되면 꽃이 펴요 (when spring comes, flowers bloom). English would use “if” for the first and “when” for the second; Korean sees one pattern.
Attachment is the standard consonant rule, and ㄹ behaves the easy way for once — it stays and nothing is added: 만들다 gives 만들면.
It anchors several everyday patterns you will meet soon: -(으)면 되다 (it’s fine if, that will do), -(으)면 안 되다 (must not), and -(으)면 좋겠다 (I hope, I wish). Learning the ending well pays off across all of them.
How to attach it
| Stem type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ends in a vowel | -면 | 가다 → 가면 |
| Ends in a consonant | -으면 | 먹다 → 먹으면 |
| Ends in ㄹ | ㄹ stays, nothing added | 만들다 → 만들면 |
| 이다 | -(이)면 | 학생이면 |
| Permission, obligation | -(으)면 되다 / 안 되다 | 가면 돼요 / 가면 안 돼요 |
| Wish | -(으)면 좋겠다 | 비가 오면 좋겠어요 |
In use
시간이 있으면 연락 주세요.
If you have time, get in touch.
비가 오면 안 갈 거예요.
If it rains, I won’t go.
봄이 되면 꽃이 펴요.
When spring comes, the flowers bloom.
한국에 가면 뭘 하고 싶어요?
What do you want to do if you go to Korea?
돈이 많으면 좋겠어요.
I wish I had a lot of money.
이 버튼을 누르면 열려요.
It opens when you press this button.
Compared with
-(으)ㄹ 때
-(으)면 sets a condition that may or may not hold; -(으)ㄹ 때 names a time that does. For a one-off past event, only -(으)ㄹ 때 works.
한국에 가면 김치를 먹어요. (whenever I go) / 한국에 갔을 때 김치를 먹었어요. (when I went)
-아/어도
-(으)면 says the condition brings the result about; -아/어도 says the result holds regardless.
비가 오면 안 갈 거예요. (if it rains, I won’t go) / 비가 와도 갈 거예요. (even if it rains, I’ll go)
-(으)니까
-(으)니까 treats the first clause as an established fact; -(으)면 leaves it open. Swapping them changes a reason into a possibility.
시간이 없으니까 택시를 탑시다. (we have no time) / 시간이 없으면 택시를 타세요. (if you’re short of time)
Watch out
제가 만들으면 드실래요?
제가 만들면 드실래요?
Stems ending in ㄹ take nothing extra here. Note that this differs from -(으)니까, where the ㄹ drops instead.
작년에 한국에 가면 김치를 먹었어요.
작년에 한국에 갔을 때 김치를 먹었어요.
-(으)면 describes a repeatable condition. A single completed event needs -(으)ㄹ 때 with the past marker.
내일 비가 왔으면 안 갈 거예요.
내일 비가 오면 안 갈 거예요.
A future condition stays in the plain form. -았/었으면 exists but expresses a wish, as in 비가 왔으면 좋겠어요.
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