– 려면 / 으려면 Grammar Lesson – “if you intend / want to…”

(으)려면 Grammar Lesson

(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
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.

Please like or share if you found this lesson useful. And if you have any questions or something else on your mind, make sure to let us know in the comments below and we will do our best to help you out!

By: Kimchi Cloud