-(으)ㄹ지어다
thou shalt; let it be so
A solemn command from an older Korean. It survives in scripture, proclamations, and anywhere a writer wants the weight of an ancient voice.
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When to use it
Attachment is the standard rule with the ㄹ short form: 만들다 gives 만들지어다. It is written joined, and takes no tense.
It is a command or exhortation, not a statement: 이 일을 길이 기억할지어다. The addressee is usually a whole people, a congregation, or posterity — not one person in the room.
The related -(으)ㄹ지니라 makes a solemn assertion rather than a command, and the two often appear together in the same text.
In modern Korean it is used almost entirely for effect — in historical fiction, in translations of classical texts, or ironically.
How to attach it
| Stem type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ends in a vowel | -ㄹ지어다 | 기억하다 → 기억할지어다 |
| Ends in a consonant | -을지어다 | 믿다 → 믿을지어다 |
| Ends in ㄹ | nothing added | 만들다 → 만들지어다 |
| Solemn assertion | -(으)ㄹ지니라 | 복이 있을지니라 |
| Addressee | a people, posterity | not one person present |
| Never takes tense | plain stem only | 기억했을지어다 is wrong |
In use
후손들은 이 일을 길이 기억할지어다.
Let posterity long remember this.
뜻을 세웠거든 흔들리지 말지어다.
Having set your purpose, waver not.
약한 자를 업신여기지 말지어다.
Despise not the weak.
이 땅에 평화가 있을지어다.
Let there be peace upon this land.
손수 만들지어다, 그리하면 그 값을 알리라.
Make it with your own hands, and you shall know its worth.
무릇 배우는 자는 겸손할지니라.
Whosoever learns shall be humble.
Compared with
-(으)세요
The everyday polite command. -(으)ㄹ지어다 is not a step up in politeness but a step out of modern Korean altogether.
기억하세요. (please remember) / 기억할지어다. (let it be remembered)
-도록 하다
도록 하다 instructs in an institutional register; -(으)ㄹ지어다 proclaims in an archaic one.
기억하도록 하십시오. (formal instruction) / 기억할지어다. (proclamation)
-(으)ㄹ지니라
The paired ending. 지어다 commands; 지니라 declares a truth solemnly. Classical texts alternate between them.
겸손할지어다. (be humble) / 겸손할지니라. (shall be humble)
Watch out
그때 기억했을지어다.
이 일을 길이 기억할지어다.
The ending never carries tense, and it commands rather than reports.
손수 만들을지어다.
손수 만들지어다.
A stem ending in ㄹ already supplies it, as with 만들 거예요 and 만들 뿐이다.
부장님, 이 서류를 확인할지어다.
부장님, 이 서류를 확인해 주시기 바랍니다.
The ending addresses a people or posterity, not a colleague. Used at work it reads as mockery.
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