-(으)ㄹ 지경이다
at the point of, almost to the extent of
Describes a state pushed to its limit. 지경 means a boundary — you have been driven right up against one, and it is never a pleasant one.
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When to use it
Attachment is the standard rule with the ㄹ short form: 만들다 gives 만들 지경이다. 지경 is a noun and takes a space.
The state described is extreme and unwelcome — exhaustion, hunger, frustration, collapse. A pleasant extreme does not fit: 기뻐서 웃을 지경이에요 sounds wrong.
It exaggerates deliberately. 배가 고파서 쓰러질 지경이에요 does not mean you are actually collapsing; it means you are complaining vividly.
The variant -(으)ㄹ 지경으로 turns it into a degree phrase: 쓰러질 지경으로 피곤했다.
How to attach it
| Stem type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ends in a vowel | -ㄹ 지경이다 | 쓰러지다 → 쓰러질 지경이에요 |
| Ends in a consonant | -을 지경이다 | 죽다 → 죽을 지경이에요 |
| Ends in ㄹ | nothing added | 만들다 → 만들 지경이에요 |
| As a degree phrase | -(으)ㄹ 지경으로 | 쓰러질 지경으로 피곤했다 |
| Spacing | 지경 is a noun | 쓰러질 지경이다 |
| Tone | extreme and unwelcome | pleasant extremes don’t fit |
In use
너무 배가 고파서 쓰러질 지경이에요.
I’m so hungry I could collapse.
일이 밀려서 정신을 못 차릴 지경입니다.
The work has piled up to the point where I can’t think straight.
하도 시끄러워서 미칠 지경이었어요.
It was so noisy I was going out of my mind.
빚이 늘어 집을 팔아야 할 지경에 이르렀다.
Debts mounted to the point where the house had to be sold.
주문이 밀려서 밤새 만들 지경이에요.
Orders are so backed up we’re practically making them all night.
숨을 쉬기 힘들 지경으로 매웠습니다.
It was spicy to the point of making breathing difficult.
Compared with
-(으)ㄹ 정도로
정도로 measures any degree, good or bad; 지경이다 is reserved for states you are suffering under.
배가 아플 정도로 웃었어요. (laughed till it hurt) / 쓰러질 지경이에요. (about to keel over)
-(으)ㄹ 뻔하다
뻔하다 reports a near miss that is over; 지경이다 describes a state you are in right now.
쓰러질 뻔했어요. (I nearly collapsed) / 쓰러질 지경이에요. (I’m on the point of collapse)
-(으)ㄴ 나머지
나머지 says an extreme state produced a consequence; 지경이다 states the extreme itself as the point.
놀란 나머지 말도 못 했다. (so startled that) / 미칠 지경이었다. (I was going mad)
Watch out
너무 기뻐서 웃을 지경이에요.
너무 기뻐서 웃음이 나올 정도예요.
지경이다 describes a state you are suffering. For a pleasant extreme, 정도 is the right word.
밤새 만들을 지경이에요.
밤새 만들 지경이에요.
A stem ending in ㄹ already supplies it, as with 만들 거예요 and 만들 뿐이에요.
배가 고파서 쓰러질지경이에요.
배가 고파서 쓰러질 지경이에요.
지경 is a noun and takes a space after the modifier.
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