Korean grammar · Level 4 · 4급
-았/었더라면
If only I had…
Use -았/었더라면 for a past that did not happen: “if I had known…”. The second half usually ends in -았/었을 거예요 or -았/었을 텐데 (“would have”). Plain -았/었으면 can mean the same, but -더라면 makes it unmistakably about something that didn't happen, often with regret.
| When | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| last vowel ㅏ or ㅗ | -았더라면 | 알다 → 알았더라면 · 오다 → 왔더라면 |
| other vowels | -었더라면 | 먹다 → 먹었더라면 |
| 하다 | 했더라면 | 공부했더라면 · 출발했더라면 |
Examples
어제 알았더라면 갔을 거예요.
If I had known yesterday, I would have gone.
조금 일찍 출발했더라면 버스를 놓치지 않았을 거예요.
If I'd left a little earlier, I wouldn't have missed the bus.
그때 사진을 찍었더라면 좋았을 텐데요.
If only I'd taken a photo then.
Practise it in context · Level 4, Unit 1
If I won the lottery
A dialogue with audio, practice that checks itself, Hoya’s mistakes, a reading and a writing task.
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