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

-기로서니

-기로서니: Even If / No Matter How — Concede Then Reject

Connective: even if / no matter how — concede the premise, then refuse the expected conclusion.

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

How to form it

When Form Example
Verb / adjective + -기로서니 -기로서니 바쁘기로서니 / 알기로서니 / 어렵기로서니

-기로서니 grants a strong premise, then rejects the conclusion that people might expect — even so / no matter how…, still no.

Curriculum gloss: conceding the premise then rejecting the conclusion. It is concessive muscle, not soft café -지만.

Why this is hard

It looks like -기 plus decoration. The package is one classroom chunk: nominal -기 + 로서니. Learners also under-feel the reject: the point is not sympathy for the premise; it is shutting the door afterward.

Neighbours -어도, -은들, -을망정 sit nearby. This slot stays on the -기로서니 shape.

What it does

바쁘기로서니 약속은 지켜야 해요.
알기로서니 가만히 있을 수는 없어요.
어렵기로서니 포기는 안 해요.
돈이 없기로서니 그건 못 해요.

Front = granted (often extreme). Back = refused conclusion.

Forms

-기로서니 after the verb/adjective’s -기 nominal.

When not to use it

Do not use it for mild spoken even-if — -어도.

Do not drop -기 and invent bare 바쁘로서니.

Do not use it when you only mean soft but — -지만.

Neighbours — and why they differ

FormWhy it is not this slot
-어도Lighter even if / though.
-지만But — plain contrast.
-은들 (nearby)Related concession — different shape.

Ask: am I granting a strong premise just to reject the conclusion? If yes, -기로서니. If soft even-if, stay with -어도.

Do not confuse it with

-아도 / -어도

even if — granting the condition and going ahead anyway

-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 -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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-기로서니-giroseonieven if / no matter how
양보yangboconcession
거부geoburejection
아무리amurino matter how

Quick check

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

1. You accept that the other person is genuinely busy, and you still refuse what they did. Which line concedes and then refuses?

2. Which shape does the forms table give for this ending?

3. You want the same concession in ordinary conversation, without the rhetorical edge. Which is the everyday choice?

Common questions

Dictionary?

Concessive connective: grant the prior degree/fact, then refuse what would seem to follow.

Vs -은들?

Related concession family (later/nearby slots). Keep this page on the -기로서니 chunk.

Register?

Argument, careful speech, writing — pointed. Soft café even-if usually stays with -어도.

Need 아무리?

Often pairs with 아무리 / 아무리 …기로서니 for scale, but the ending itself carries the concessive reject.