밖에
밖에: Nothing But — Needs a Negative After It
Nothing but / only — limits the noun, and mainly pairs with a negative predicate after it.
How to form it
| When | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| After a noun | N + 밖에 + negative | 물밖에 없어요 |
| With 안 / -지 않다 | 밖에 + 안 V / -지 않다 | 커피밖에 안 마셔요 |
| Near-synonym (positive) | 만 + positive | 물만 있어요 |
밖에 is nothing but X — and the clause after it is almost always negative.
우리말샘 and the standard dictionary both gloss the particle as ‘그것 말고는 / 그것 이외에는’, and both note that a negative usually follows.
물밖에 없어요. There's nothing but water. / I only have water.
커피밖에 안 마셔요. I don't drink anything but coffee.만 vs 밖에
Same limit idea; opposite polarity:
| Limit | Shape | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 만 | 만 + positive | 물만 있어요 |
| 밖에 | 밖에 + negative | 물밖에 없어요 |
*물밖에 있어요 is the classic break. English only does not warn you.
Not place “outside”
밖 as a noun can mean outside (밖에 있어요 — someone is outside). Particle 밖에 after a content noun means nothing other than. Same spelling in many sentences; different job. Context decides.
Not -ㄹ밖에
A dictionary ending -ㄹ밖에 sits near ‘no choice but…’. Do not merge it with noun+밖에 here. The full classroom string is -을 수밖에 없다.
Practice rule
If you reach for English only, ask: positive verb → 만; ‘nothing other than’ + negative → 밖에.
Do not confuse it with
Taught alongside this
On the jabi learning path, this appears in 오늘 저녁에 뭐 할래요? (What do you want to do this evening?) — Beginner Korean 2, Unit 8, on the theme of movie. These come with it:
Words used above
Quick check
No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.
1. Which is grammatical for 'I only have water'?
2. How does 밖에 differ from 만?
3. What trap does English 'outside' create?
Common questions
Is 밖에 the same as 만?
Close in meaning, not in grammar. man pairs happily with positive verbs. 밖에, per the dictionary, mainly wants a negative after it — and often feels a bit like 'that's all there is'.
Which negatives work after 밖에?
Common classroom shapes are 없다, 안 V, and -지 않다. Treat 'negative after 밖에' as the rule; do not invent a positive twin like *수밖에 있다 for this particle.
Is this the ending -ㄹ밖에?
No. Dictionary -ㄹ밖에 is a separate ending sense. This page is the particle 밖에 after nouns (물밖에). The full pattern -을 수밖에 없다 is its own lesson.
Can 밖에 follow a nominalised verb?
Dictionaries allow it after nominalisers as well as nouns. Beginner practice stays on clear noun + 밖에 + negative pairs first.
Seen in the wild
Lessons where this pattern showed up in real Korean — news, slang, drama lines.
