The Conditional Posted by Ginny on Jun 23, 2010 in Grammar
To express the conditional, use ~(으)면 :
추우면 에어컨을 끄세요 = If it’s cold, please turn off the air conditioner.
(추우면 = if cold. 에어컨 = air conditioner. 을 = object particle. 끄세요 = please turn off)
The usage for ~(으)면 can be used to express hypothetical events as well as events that are likely to happen. In English, ~(으)면 can also be used to mean “When A happens, do B” or “When A happens, B will happen” :
여름이 오면 에어컨을 틀어야해 = When summer comes, you must turn on the air conditioner.
(여름 = summer. 이 = subject marker. 오면 = if it comes. 에어컨 = air conditioner. 을 = object marker. 틀어야해 = must turn on.)
Unless an environmental disaster occurs, it’s very probable that the summer season will come in the near future , so here, it’s a matter of when, not if.
The conditional can also be expressed in the negative :
싫으면 먹지 마세요 = If you don’t like it, please don’t eat it.
(싫으면 = if you don’t like it. 먹지 마세요 = please don’t eat it)
아니면 can be used to mean “if not” :
나 아니면 누구를 선택할 거예요? = If not me, who will you choose?
(나 = me. 아니면 = if not. 누구 = who. 를 = object marker. 선택할 거예요 = will choose)
And 하지 않으면 can mean “if you don’t do” or “if you do not” :
민수가 수술을 하지 않으면 죽을 거예요 = If Minsu doesn’t have the surgery, he will die.
(민수 = Minsu. 가 = subject marker. 수술 = surgery. 을 = object marker. 하지 않으면 = does not. 죽을 거예요 = will die.)
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