Grammar Advanced TOPIK II · Level 5–6 Advanced Korean 1 · expression

-게 마련이다

-게 마련이다: Bound To Be — Naturally So

Pattern with 마련 「003」: marks that something is naturally / inevitably so.

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

How to form it

When	Form	Example
Verb / adjective + -기 마련이다	-기 마련이다	실수하기 마련이다 / 어렵기 마련이다
Verb / adjective + -게 마련이다	-게 마련이다	잊히게 마련이다 / 늘게 마련이다

-게 마련이다 / -기 마련이다 means bound to be / naturally so.

It states that the outcome is the expected, almost natural result of how things go — not a one-off surprise.

Why this is hard

English bound to / it’s only natural is close, but learners overuse it as a fancy “always.” The pattern wants a general tendency, often with a mild shrug: of course that happens.

-게 vs -기 before 마련이다 both appear; courses may prefer one print form. Learn them as the same job family.

What it does

You mark a natural consequence or tendency.

사람은 실수하기 마련이에요.
오래되면 고장 나기 마련이에요.
힘들면 포기하고 싶어지기 마련이에요.
비가 오면 길이 막히기 마련이에요.

Forms

Stem + -기 마련이다 / -게 마련이다 (classroom variants).

When not to use it

Do not use it for a single freak accident you want to treat as unique — the grammar leans to general tendency.

Do not confuse it with -게 생겼다 (have ended up badly). One is natural law-ish; the other is a predicament you landed in.

Do not paste it onto every moral lecture; overuse sounds preachy.

Neighbours — and why they differ

Form	Why it is not this slot
-게 생겼다	Negative predicament ended up…; not “naturally so.”
-는 법이다	It’s the rule / way of things — near twin, different noun.
-기 때문에	Explicit because; cause, not “bound to.”

Ask: am I saying this naturally tends to happen? If yes, -기/게 마련이다. If you mean you landed in a mess, see -게 생겼다.

Do not confuse it with

-는 법이다

it is natural that… — a general rule of how things go

-은 결과

as a result of — the written summary phrase

-을 테다

will (for sure) — a strong expectation about what follows

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 표현 (expression) — Advanced Korean 1, Unit 4, on the theme of expression. These come with it:

-는다니1 what are they telling me to…? — asking what the order was -었던 that had been… — past modifier with a lingering sense 에 관하여 regarding, about — the written 에 관하여 / 관한 -자기에 because one decides to… — contracted -자고 하기에 (청유 인용 + 이유), pair of -는다기에 -게 생겼다 have ended up (badly)… — negative predicament with -게 생기다 -기 나름이다 depends on how you… — the outcome varies with the method -기가 바쁘게 as soon as — barely finishing one thing before the next -기가 쉽다 easy to… / prone to — a tendency that comes naturally -기만 하다 only does… — limiting the action to just that -기에 따라 depending on… — outcomes that change with the condition -기에 앞서(서) before doing… — prior to the step you name -은 나머지 as a result of… — the outcome that follows from that act -는 데다가 and on top of that — stacking one fact onto another -는 동시에 at the same time as — two things in the same moment -는 듯하다 seems to… — a soft guess from appearance -는 법이다 it is natural that… — a general rule of how things go -는 이상 now that / given that — already being in that state -은 채로 while still… — leaving it in the state it already has -는 척하다 pretend to… — acting as if -는 가운데 in the midst of — while that situation continues 는 말할 것도 없고 not to mention — A goes without saying, and B too (는/은 말할 것도 없고) -을 만하다 worth doing / decent enough — worth the effort or acceptable -을 법하다 likely to… — a reasonable prediction -을 테다 will (for sure) — a strong expectation about what follows -을 테면 if you are going to… — setting a condition for a plan -을 테지만 will, but… — expecting one thing and contrasting another -으려나 보다 I guess they mean to… — reading someone's likely intention 를 가지고 with, using — taking that as the means or topic -으면 몰라도 only if… — the following holds only under that (unreal / opposite) condition 에도 불구하고 despite — in spite of that noun situation -는데도 even though — contrast after a clause, softer than 지만 -어 내다 manage to… — pushing through until it is done -는다기에 because they say… — the reported claim is the reason -는다는 것이 meant to…, but — intention (-는다고 하는 것이) whose result diverged -는데도 불구하고 even so — despite the whole preceding clause

Words used above

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-기 마련이다-gi maryeonidabound to…

-게 마련이다-ge maryeonidabound to (become)…

실수silsumistake

걱정geokjeongworry

결과gyeolgwaresult

Quick check

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

1. You are shrugging at a general human tendency — of course people slip — not one messy predicament you just landed in. Which line?

2. You need the -게 마련이다 classroom shape from the forms table on 늘다 — which line?

3. Same stem 실수하다 — you want ‘bound to’ with 마련, not ‘that’s the way of things’ with 법. Which line?

Common questions

Dictionary?

우리말샘 마련 「003」: used in -기/게 마련이다 — marks that something is naturally / inevitably so. Not the ‘prepare’ senses 「001」「002」.

-기 vs -게?

Both sit under 「003」. -기 마련이다 is very common; -게 마련이다 also appears. Teach both from examples.

Vs -는 법이다?

Same truth-telling family. 법이다 feels ‘that’s how it goes’; 마련이다 feels ‘bound to be’.

Vs -(으)ㄴ 결과?

-(으)ㄴ 결과 names an outcome after a cause. 마련이다 names a general tendency, not one event chain.