-건만

Build it

When to use it

Attach -건만 to any stem — no vowel rule, ㄹ stays, and tense may appear in front: 했건만. The fuller form is 건마는.

The first clause states something that ought to have produced a result; the second reports that it did not: 그토록 기다렸건만 아무 소식이 없다.

The emotional colour is regret or lament. That is what separates it from -지만, which simply contrasts, and from -는데도, which is neutral concession.

The register is literary — poetry, fiction, elevated speech. It is not something you say to a colleague.

How to attach it

In use

1. 그토록 기다렸건만 아무 소식이 없었다.

   We waited so long, and yet no word came.

2. 봄이 왔건만 마음은 아직 겨울이다.

   Spring has come, and yet my heart is still in winter.

3. 최선을 다했건만 결과는 달라지지 않았다.

   We did our utmost, and still nothing changed.

4. 여러 번 일렀건만 그는 듣지 않았다.

   He was told again and again, and yet he would not listen.

5. 정성껏 만들었건만 알아주는 이가 없다.

   It was made with such care, and yet nobody appreciates it.

6. 세월은 흐르건만 그리움은 여전하다.

   The years pass, and yet the longing remains.

Compared with

• -지만

  -지만 contrasts two facts without comment; -건만 adds the sense that the second ought not to have followed.

  기다렸지만 안 왔어요. (but he didn’t come)  /  기다렸건만 오지 않았다. (and yet he did not come)

• -는데도

  -는데도 concedes neutrally; -건만 laments. Same logic, quite different feeling.

  노력했는데도 안 됐어요. (even though)  /  노력했건만 되지 않았다. (and yet, alas)

• -고도

  -고도 points out a gap between action and behaviour, often critically; -건만 mourns an outcome that failed to arrive.

  알고도 말 안 했어요. (knew and still)  /  알렸건만 소용없었다. (told them, and yet)

Watch out

• 그토록 기다렸건만 드디어 소식이 왔다.

  그토록 기다렸건만 아무 소식이 없었다.

  The second clause has to disappoint the expectation. A happy outcome contradicts the ending’s tone.

• 야, 어제 기다렸건만 안 왔어.

  야, 어제 기다렸는데 안 왔어.

  -건만 is literary. In conversation it sounds like reciting a poem.

• 최선을 다하건만 결과는 달라지지 않았다.

  최선을 다했건만 결과는 달라지지 않았다.

  Unlike -기 and -도록, this ending does take tense, and a completed effort needs the past.

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