Korean grammar patterns › Level 3
-기만 하다
only do, do nothing but; be just (so)
Level 3 · TOPIK II · intermediate
How to use it
Shows the subject does only one thing and nothing else (often with criticism), or that a state is purely so (좋기만 해요 = it's simply good).
Forming it
| 자다 | → 자기만 해요 |
| 먹다 | → 먹기만 해요 |
| 웃다 | → 웃기만 했어요 |
| 좋다 | → 좋기만 해요 |
Examples
동생은 주말에 하루 종일 자기만 해요.
My younger brother does nothing but sleep all day on weekends.
무슨 일이냐고 물어봐도 친구는 웃기만 했어요.
Even when I asked what was wrong, my friend just smiled.
Compared with similar patterns
-기는 하다 concedes partly before a 'but'; -기만 하면 means 'whenever / as long as'.