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

-건대

-건대: As I See / Hear / Think — Prefacing Your Take

Connective: as I see / hear / think… — what follows is framed as coming from that observation.

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

How to form it

When Form Example
Perception / cognition verbs V-건대 보건대 / 듣건대 / 생각건대

-건대 opens with how you know — as I see it / as I hear it / as I think — then states the claim.

Curriculum gloss: prefacing that what follows is from your observation. The ending is not the soft condition -면; it labels the source of the judgment.

Why this is hard

It looks like a free stem tag, so learners invent 먹건대. Real use clusters on 보다 / 듣다 / 생각하다 and close kin. Without that collocation, the form sounds fake.

Register also matters: speeches, essays, careful talk. Café chat often chooses 내가 보기에는 instead.

What it does

You name the observational door, then walk through it.

내가 보건대 이번이 기회예요.
듣건대 내일 비가 온대요.
생각건대 지금이 늦어요.
살펴보건대 문제가 하나예요.

Front = source. Back = the take.

Forms

V-건대, especially with perception/cognition verbs.

When not to use it

Do not attach it to random action verbs as decoration.

Do not use it as a plain if — that is -(으)면.

Do not stack it into every soft spoken opinion; it can sound stiff.

Neighbours — and why they differ

FormWhy it is not this slot
-(으)면If/when — condition, not source label.
-거든Condition / reason neighbour.
-는데Soft background — less ‘as I see’.

Ask: am I prefacing ‘from what I see/hear/think’? If yes, -건대. If soft background, prefer -는데.

Do not confuse it with

-으면

if, when — the all-purpose conditional

-거든①

because, you see — explaining something the listener did not know

-는데①

setting up background before the main point

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 -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 -은들 even if it is… — conceding the point and still refusing -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

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-건대-geondaeas I… (preface)
보건대bogeondaeas I see it
듣건대deutgeondaeas I hear it
생각건대saenggakgeondaeas I think
관찰gwanchalobservation

Quick check

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

1. You preface a careful judgment with 'from what I can see.' Which sentence uses the conventional -건대 collocation?

2. Which sentence sounds fabricated because -건대 is attached to a random action instead of a perception or thought verb?

3. You mean 'if you look closely, you can see a crack,' not 'as I see it.' Which form should replace -건대?

Common questions

Dictionary?

Connective that presents the following content as based on seeing, hearing, thinking, and related observation.

Formal?

Often careful or written. Everyday talk may prefer 내가 보기에는 / 듣기로는.

Can any verb take it?

Classroom core sticks to perception/cognition: 보건대, 듣건대, 생각건대.

Vs -는데?

-는데 softens background. -건대 names the observational source more explicitly.