-(으)ㄹ 뻔하다
almost happened — but didn’t
Reports a near miss. The thing did not occur, which is the whole point — and it appears almost exclusively in the past.
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When to use it
Attachment is the standard rule with the ㄹ short form: 만들다 gives 만들 뻔했다. 뻔 is a noun, so it takes a space.
It is almost always past: 뻔했어요, not 뻔해요. The near miss has already been survived, which is why you are talking about it.
The event is typically something unwanted — falling, being late, forgetting, an accident. Korean does occasionally use it for a missed good outcome, but the default reading is relief that something bad was avoided.
Because the event did not happen, negating the sentence reverses the meaning in a way learners find confusing: 안 넘어질 뻔했어요 would mean you almost didn’t fall, which is rarely what anyone means.
How to attach it
| Stem type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ends in a vowel | -ㄹ 뻔했다 | 넘어지다 → 넘어질 뻔했어요 |
| Ends in a consonant | -을 뻔했다 | 죽다 → 죽을 뻔했어요 |
| Ends in ㄹ | nothing added | 만들다 → 만들 뻔했어요 |
| Usual tense | past only | 뻔했어요 — not 뻔해요 |
| Spacing | 뻔 is a noun | 넘어질 뻔했어요 |
| The event | did not happen | you did not actually fall |
In use
계단에서 넘어질 뻔했어요.
I nearly fell on the stairs.
늦잠을 자서 지각할 뻔했어요.
I overslept and almost turned up late.
약속을 잊어버릴 뻔했어요.
I very nearly forgot the appointment.
하마터면 큰 사고가 날 뻔했습니다.
There was very nearly a serious accident.
소금을 두 번 넣을 뻔했어요.
I almost added the salt twice.
너무 매워서 눈물이 날 뻔했어요.
It was so spicy it nearly brought tears to my eyes.
Compared with
거의
거의 means “nearly” and can describe something that did happen, almost completely. -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다 says it did not happen at all.
거의 다 먹었어요. (I ate nearly all of it) / 먹을 뻔했어요. (I almost ate it, but didn’t)
-(으)ㄹ 것 같았다
것 같았다 reports what you expected at the time; 뻔했다 reports how close reality came. One is a guess, the other a near miss.
늦을 것 같았어요. (I thought I’d be late) / 늦을 뻔했어요. (I nearly was late)
하마터면
An adverb meaning “very nearly,” used almost exclusively with this ending. Learning them as a pair is efficient.
하마터면 넘어질 뻔했어요.
Watch out
지금 넘어질 뻔해요.
아까 넘어질 뻔했어요.
A near miss is something you have already survived, so the ending appears in the past.
소금을 두 번 넣을 뻔했는데 실제로 넣었어요.
소금을 두 번 넣을 뻔했지만 다행히 안 넣었어요.
뻔하다 states that the thing did not happen. Following it with a claim that it did contradicts the construction.
저녁을 만들을 뻔했어요.
저녁을 만들 뻔했어요.
A stem ending in ㄹ already supplies it, as with 만들 거예요 and 만들 테니까.
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