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

-자면1

-자면①: If You Mean To… — Intention as the If

Connective: if you mean to… — taking that intention as the starting point.

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

How to form it

When Form Example
Action verbs -자면 가자면 / 하자면 / 먹자면
Intention as condition -자면 … 가자면 지금 / 사자면 이걸

-자면① takes intention as the if — if you mean to…, then….

Curriculum sense: 의도. Number ① marks this condition-on-intention job, not every -자면 in later suggestion slots.

Why this is hard

Learners glue every if to -(으)면. -자면① is narrower: the front is already an act you mean to do. It also collides with another curriculum -자면 used for suggestion colour — keep ① here.

What it does

가자면 지금 가요.
사자면 이걸 사요.
하자면 오늘 해요.
먹자면 빨리 앉아요.

Front = intended act as condition. Back = what that plan requires now.

Forms

Action stems: -자면.

가다 → 가자면
하다 → 하자면
사다 → 사자면

When not to use it

Do not use it for broad weather/time if — -(으)면.

Do not use it as bare purpose without the if-hinge — -(으)려고.

Do not treat every -자면 as this page when the job is suggestion (later slot).

Neighbours — and why they differ

FormWhy it is not this slot
-(으)면Broad if/when.
-(으)려고Purpose, not if.
-자니③Intention then snag.

Ask: is the intended act the if? If yes, -자면①. If soft if, stay with -면.

Do not confuse it with

-으면

if, when — the all-purpose conditional

-으려고 / -려고

intending to, in order to

-자니3

meaning to… — intention that then hits a snag

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 -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

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

-자면-jamyeonif you mean to…
의도uidointention
지금jigeumnow

Quick check

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

1. The last bus leaves at midnight. If catching it is the plan, you need to leave the party right now. Which line uses the intended act as the if-hinge?

2. Which sentence correctly shows -자면① attached to 먹다?

3. If you mean to buy this, check the size first — which line presents that as a condition the plan demands, not as a wall that blocks it?

Common questions

Sense?

의도 — take the intended act as the condition for what follows.

Vs -으려고?

-(으)려고 states purpose. -자면① turns that intention into an if-hinge.

Vs -자니③?

-자니③ often meets a snag. -자면① asks ‘if that is the plan…’.

Speech?

Planning talk: if we’re doing this, then… timing, choice, next step.