Learn Korean
Grammar Advanced TOPIK II · Level 5–6 Advanced Korean 2 · conjunctive ending

-은들

-은들: Even If It Is… — Concede, Still Refuse

Connective: even if it is… — conceding the point and still refusing.

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

How to form it

When Form Example
Verb / adjective past adnominal type -(으)ㄴ들 간들 / 먹은들 / 좋은들
Processive -는들 -는들 가는들 / 하는들

-은들 (and -는들) grants the front, then refuses the payoff — even if…, still no.

Curriculum sense: 양보. Concession here is not soft agreement; it is I’ll grant that, and it still fails.

Why this is hard

Learners treat every even if as -어도. -은들 often carries a colder sequel: waste, uselessness, unchanged refusal. It also looks like modifier -은 plus a particle — the package is one concessive tool.

What it does

가는들 소용없어요.
말한들 안 들어요.
좋은들 지금 못 사요.
먹은들 배가 안 차요.

Front = conceded case. Back = why it still does not matter.

Forms

Adnominal-looking shapes: -(으)ㄴ들, processive -는들.

가다 → 가는들 / 간들 (context)
먹다 → 먹은들
좋다 → 좋은들

Classroom favourites pair with 소용없다, 소용없다-family sequels, or flat refusal.

When not to use it

Do not use it when you mean cooperative even if agreement — -어도 often fits better.

Do not use it as a plain past modifier before a noun.

Do not paste it onto every contrast; rhetorical freeze is the flavour.

Neighbours — and why they differ

FormWhy it is not this slot
-어도Everyday even-if / still.
-을지라도Formal concessive.
-지만But — contrast, not this grant-then-dismiss hinge.

Ask: am I granting the case only to refuse its value? If yes, -은들. If softer even if, stay with -어도.

Do not confuse it with

-아도 / -어도

even if — granting the condition and going ahead anyway

-을지라도

even if — conceding a strong case and going ahead

-지만

but — the plain contrast, blunter than 는데

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 연결어미 (conjunctive ending) — Advanced Korean 2, Unit 2, on the theme of conjunctive ending. These come with it:

-거들랑1 if / when that is so — if the fact holds or comes true (connective) -노라면 if you keep doing… — as you go along doing that -건대 as I see / hear / think… — prefacing that what follows is from your observation -건만 and yet — the expected sequel fails to follow -기로서니 even if / no matter how — conceding the premise then rejecting the conclusion -느니만큼 inasmuch as — to the degree that, so… -되 but / with the caveat — granting then restricting -디1 really does… — emphasising by repeating the stem -이라야 only if it is… — specifying that noun as the required one -으련마는 would…, but — hoped result blocked because the condition is unmet -자니3 meaning to… — intention that then hits a snag -는다고1 intending to… / claiming one will… — intention as a linker -자면1 if you mean to… — taking that intention as the starting point -을망정 even if / granted — conceding one line and setting the other against it -을라치면 whenever it comes to… — taking that case as the condition

Words used above

Tap the speaker to hear it read aloud by your browser.

-은들-eundeuleven if… (still refuse)
-는들-neundeulprocessive form
양보yangboconcession
거절geojeolrefusal
소용soyeonguse / point (소용없다)

Quick check

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

1. A friend insists on going anyway; you grant the trip only to say it still helps nothing. Which line?

2. Which line uses the forms-table shape 먹은들 on 먹다?

3. Same stem 먹다 — which grants the eating only to dismiss its value, rather than granting it to hold a boundary (-을망정)?

Common questions

Dictionary feel?

Grant the front case, then deny that it changes the conclusion.

Vs -어도?

-어도 is the everyday even-if. -은들 often sounds sharper or more rhetorical.

Vs -을지라도?

-을지라도 is another concessive coat — formal ‘even if’. Different shape, related job.

Speech?

Argument, advice, rhetorical pushback — ‘even if you do that, still…’.