-았/었더라면
if only I had …
Imagines a past that did not happen. It is the counterfactual conditional, and it comes with a required partner at the other end of the sentence.
Build it
Pick a verb
When to use it
The vowel follows the -아요/어요 rule, then 더라면 is added: 갔더라면, 먹었더라면, 했더라면.
What it describes did not happen. That is the whole difference from a plain -(으)면, which leaves the possibility open.
The second clause is required and states the imagined result, normally with -았/었을 텐데 or -았/었을 것이다: 일찍 출발했더라면 늦지 않았을 텐데요.
Against -(으)ㄹ 걸 그랬다, this one is a full conditional that names the consequence, where 걸 그랬다 simply registers the regret.
How to attach it
| Stem type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Last vowel ㅏ or ㅗ | -았더라면 | 가다 → 갔더라면 |
| Any other vowel | -었더라면 | 먹다 → 먹었더라면 |
| 하다 verbs | 했더라면 | 출발했더라면 |
| Second clause | -았/었을 텐데 | 늦지 않았을 텐데요 |
| Did not happen | counterfactual | unlike plain -(으)면 |
| Regret alone | -(으)ㄹ 걸 그랬다 | 일찍 출발할 걸 그랬어요 |
In use
조금만 일찍 출발했더라면 늦지 않았을 텐데요.
If only we’d set off a little earlier, we wouldn’t have been late.
그때 그 말을 하지 않았더라면 좋았을 텐데.
If only I hadn’t said that at the time.
우산을 챙겼더라면 이렇게 젖지 않았을 거예요.
Had I brought an umbrella, I wouldn’t have got this wet.
미리 알았더라면 도와드렸을 텐데 아쉽네요.
Had I known in advance I’d have helped — a shame.
직접 만들었더라면 비용이 훨씬 적게 들었을 것이다.
Had we made it ourselves, it would have cost far less.
그가 없었더라면 이 일은 불가능했을 겁니다.
Without him, this would have been impossible.
Compared with
-(으)면
-(으)면 leaves the condition open; -았/었더라면 states plainly that it did not occur.
일찍 가면 안 늦어요. (if you go early) / 일찍 갔더라면 안 늦었을 텐데. (had we gone early)
-(으)ㄹ 걸 그랬다
걸 그랬다 voices the regret on its own; -았/었더라면 builds a full conditional and names what would have followed.
일찍 갈 걸 그랬어요. (I should have gone early) / 일찍 갔더라면 안 늦었을 텐데요. (and then we’d not be late)
-았/었으면 좋겠다
Both use a past marker for something unreal, but 좋겠다 wishes about the present or future, while 더라면 looks back at the past.
비가 그쳤으면 좋겠어요. (I wish it would stop) / 안 왔더라면 좋았을 텐데. (if only it hadn’t rained)
Watch out
일찍 출발했더라면 늦지 않아요.
일찍 출발했더라면 늦지 않았을 텐데요.
The second clause has to be counterfactual too, normally -았/었을 텐데 or -았/었을 것이다.
내일 일찍 출발했더라면 좋겠어요.
내일 일찍 출발하면 좋겠어요.
-았/었더라면 looks back at something that did not happen. For a future condition, plain -(으)면 is correct.
일찍 출발하더라면 늦지 않았을 텐데요.
일찍 출발했더라면 늦지 않았을 텐데요.
The past marker is part of the construction. Without it the counterfactual reading is lost.
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