– 려면 / 으려면 Grammar Lesson – “if you intend / want to…”
(으)려면 Grammar Explanation
The – 으려면 grammar pattern combines intent and condition to express sentences like “if you plan / want / intend to…then you should…”. This pattern is a contraction of -(으)려고 하면 which combines:
(으)려고 하다
(intend to, plan to)
+
(으)면
(if)
=
(으)려고 하면
(if (you) intend to)
=
(으)려면
(if (you) intend to)
So if you encounter the uncontracted / original form of the structure, bear in mind that they mean the same thing. Another similar grammar is -자면.
Usage
| AVST +으려면 | If the verb stem ends in a consonant |
| AVST +려면 | If the verb stem ends in a vowel or ㄹ |
| 하다 | 하려면 |
| 먹다 | 먹으려면 |
| 살다 | 살려면 |
| 배우다 | 배우려면 |
| 쓰다 | 쓰려면 |
| 만나다 | 만나려면 |
Examples
한국말를 잘하려면 열심히 공부해야 돼요.
= If you want to speak Korean well, you need to study hard.
살을 빼려면 운동하는 게 좋아요.
= Exercising is good if you want to lose weight.
한국 회사에서 일하려면 한국말을 잘 해야 돼요.
= If you plan on working for a Korean company, you should speak Korean well.
부자랑 결혼하려면 어떻게 해야 해요?
= What should I do if I want to marry someone rich?
A Closer Look
It is common to follow up this grammar with imperative or suggestive expressions such as
- “-아/어야 돼요”
- “(으)면 돼요/안돼요”
- “-는 게 좋아요”
미국에 가려면 뭘 준비해야 되나요?
= What should I prepare if I plan on going to America?
You can sometimes see or hear this expression used colloquially with an extra ㄹ, like 을려면/ㄹ려면.
미국에 갈려면
= If I intend to go to America.
Overall, a relatively simple grammar structure that will make even more sense if you are already familiar with the individual components that it’s made up of.
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By: Kimchi Cloud
