-(으)ㄹ라치면

whenever one is about to …, (something happens)

Level 6 · TOPIK II · advanced

How to use it

Describes a repeated situation: every time someone is about to do clause 1, clause 2 happens, usually something that gets in the way. Somewhat old-fashioned and colloquial.

Forming it

쉬다	→ 쉴라치면
먹다	→ 먹을라치면
나가다	→ 나갈라치면
하다	→ 할라치면

Verbs only. It describes repeated situations, so clause 2 is not a command or a one-time event: ✗ 쉴라치면 전화하지 마세요.

Examples

잠깐 쉴라치면 꼭 누가 전화를 해요.
Whenever I try to rest for a moment, someone always calls.
밥을 먹을라치면 아기가 울기 시작해요.
Whenever I'm about to eat, the baby starts crying.

Compared with similar patterns

-기만 하면 means 'whenever' without the 'about to' nuance; -는 족족 means each time something is done, all of it (e.g. money earned) goes; -(으)려다(가) is a single attempt that gets interrupted.