-을 뻔하다
-을 뻔하다: Almost Happened — But Didn't
Almost V — the event nearly occurred but did not.
How to form it
| When | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Batchim verb | -을 뻔하다 | 먹을 뻔하다 / 늦을 뻔하다 |
| Open / ㄹ verb | -ㄹ 뻔하다 | 갈 뻔하다 / 날 뻔하다 |
-을 뻔하다 marks a near miss: it almost happened — and then it didn’t.
Gloss matches. Unit 9’s speaking task literally asks for 교통사고가 날 뻔한 상황. The pattern is classroom-standard: prospective adnominal (-을/-ㄹ) + 뻔 + 하다. Full single-lemma dictionary packaging is thinner in our slot notes — teach the collocation job, not a forged quote.
What it does — approach without arrival
사고가 날 뻔했어요.
버스를 놓칠 뻔했어요.
넘어질 뻔했어요.
암호를 말할 뻔했어요.The scary (or lucky) point is the gap between almost and actually.
Forms
| Stem | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Batchim | -을 뻔하다 | 늦을 뻔하다 |
| Open / ㄹ | -ㄹ 뻔하다 | 갈 뻔하다, 날 뻔하다 |
Past usually lands on 하다: 뻔했어요.
Near neighbours
| Form | Job |
|---|---|
| -을 뻔하다 | almost, but didn’t |
| -는 바람에 | incident caused a real result |
| “looks like” guesses | different toolkit |
사고 나는 바람에 늦었어요. result happened
사고가 날 뻔했어요. result did not happenWhen to use
Use it for close calls you are narrating — traffic, sports, social slips.
Do not use it for completed disasters; those need plain past (or -는 바람에 if an incident caused them).
Practice rule: if “almost — thank goodness / oh no it nearly…” is honest, -을 뻔하다 fits.
Do not confuse it with
Taught alongside this
On the jabi learning path, this appears in 자동차에 탈 때에는 먼저 안전띠를 매세요 (When getting into a car, fasten your seat belt first.) — Intermediate Korean 2, Unit 9, on the theme of traffic. These come with it:
Words used above
Quick check
No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.
1. 사고가 날 뻔했어요 means…
2. Did the event finish?
3. Open stem 가다?
Common questions
Dictionary headword?
Taught as a chunk: prospective modifier + 뻔 + 하다. Slot notes leave full lemma citation open — follow the collocation.
Spacing?
Commonly …을 뻔하다 as a phrase. Follow the forms you see in careful writing.
Traffic tip?
Speaking task: almost-accident stories — 부딪칠 뻔했다, 놓칠 뻔했다.
vs -는 바람에?
neun-barame causes a real result. -을 뻔하다 stops before the result completes.