Grammar Advanced TOPIK II · Level 5–6 Advanced Grammar Supplement · Curriculum gap

-은 바 있다

-은 바 있다: Have (Once)… — Formal Experience On Record

Bound noun 바 after adnominal + 있다: have that on record / have once done — formal experience.

Before this, make sure you know: -은 , -아요 / -어요

How to form it

When	Form	Example
Past experience on record	-(으)ㄴ 바 있다	말한 바 있다 / 방문한 바 있다
Negative twin	-(으)ㄴ 바 없다	들은 바 없다

-은 바 있다 puts experience on record — have (once)….

Formal twin of everyday -은 적 있다.

Why this is hard

English have … before covers -은 적 있다, -은 일이 있다, and this slot. Learners use café 적. -은 바 있다 is the statement / news / formal seat.

What it does

You cite prior doing or saying as recorded fact.

말씀드린 바 있습니다.
방문한 바 있어요.
논의한 바 있습니다.
들은 바 없습니다.

Forms

말하다 → 말한 바 있다
방문하다 → 방문한 바 있다
듣다 → 들은 바 있다 / 들은 바 없다

When not to use it

Do not force it in soft café chat.

Do not confuse 바 with method 바 in 어찌할 바를 모르다 — related noun, different package.

Do not use it for mistaken belief — that is -는 줄.

Neighbours — and why they differ

Form	Why it is not this slot
-은 적 있다	Everyday ‘have once’.
-은 지	Time since.
-는 줄	Belief / misbelief packages.

Ask: am I putting experience on formal record? If yes, -은 바 있다.

Do not confuse it with

-은 지

how long it has been since

-는 줄

thinking that — usually a belief that turned out wrong

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 교재·표준 교육과정 밖의 문법 (Grammar outside of textbooks and standard curriculum) — Advanced Grammar Supplement, Unit 1, on the theme of Curriculum gap. These come with it:

-는 셈이다 amounts to / counts as — treating the situation as that result (-는 셈이다) -을 지경이다 to the point of… — an extreme state or plight (-을 지경이다) -기 십상이다 almost certain to… — nine times out of ten (-기 십상이다) -는 둥 마는 둥 half-doing it — barely, half-heartedly (-는 둥 마는 둥) -던 차에 just when… — at the very moment that was underway (-던 차에) 으로 말미암아 owing to… — formal written cause (으로 말미암아) -는답시고 under the pretext of… — claiming to, often critically (-는답시고) -는가 하면 and then again… — stacking contrasting cases (-는가 하면) -을 겸 while also… — doing it for that purpose too (-을 겸) -게끔 so that… — purpose with a firm push (-게끔) -을 턱이 없다 no reason whatsoever… — denying grounds flatly (-을 턱이 없다) -을 리 만무하다 utterly no chance… — impossibility stressed (-을 리 만무하다) -을 성싶다 seems likely to… — a soft forecast (-을 성싶다) -을지언정 even if… — conceding then holding the other line (-을지언정) -기 그지없다 endlessly… — extreme degree with no bound (-기 그지없다) -기 이를 데 없다 beyond words… — so much there is no way to say it (-기 이를 데 없다) -다 못해 unable to go on… — past the limit, then the sequel (-다 못해) -는 셈치고 pretending / counting it as… — provisional assumption (-는 셈치고) -는다 뿐이지 only that… — limiting the claim to just that (-는다 뿐이지) -는다손 치더라도 even granting that… — strong concession then pushback (-는다손 치더라도) -어 주십사 please do… for me — earnest old-style request (-어 주십사) -겠거니 thinking it would… — assumption that guides the next act (-겠거니) -으랴 -으랴 what with A and B… — piling pressures or tasks (-으랴 -으랴) -으려던 참이다 was just about to… — intention interrupted at the brink (-으려던 참이다) -는다기보다는 rather than saying… — reframing the label (-는다기보다는) -은 끝에 after all that… — only at the end of the ordeal (-은 끝에) -건 간에 whether A or B… — it does not matter which (-건 간에)

Words used above

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바babound noun — matter / what was done

-은 바 있다-eun ba itdahave (once)… on record

적jeokoccasion — everyday experience twin

경험gyeongheomexperience

기록girokrecord

Quick check

No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.

1. You are putting on formal record that you have said this before. Not café 적, not time-since, not a belief.

2. The statement records that you have visited, in the formal on-record frame. Not the café twin.

3. You formally state that you have not heard any such thing. Not a café never, not a mistaken belief.

Common questions

Dictionary?

바 as bound noun for the matter/content — with 있다, have that experience or statement on record.

바 없다?

Yes — 들은 바 없다 = have not heard any such thing.

Vs -은 줄 알다?

-는 줄 is mistaken belief packages. Different job.

Café soft?

말한 적 있어요. Keep 바 있다 for speeches, news, careful statements.

Seen in the wild

Lessons where this pattern showed up in real Korean — news, slang, drama lines.

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