Korean grammar patterns › Level 6
-(으)련만
would …, but (it isn't/wasn't so) (literary)
Level 6 · TOPIK II · advanced
How to use it
States what would naturally happen (or would have happened) under some condition, while implying that in reality it does not or did not. Often after -(으)면/-았/었으면; expresses regret or a wish.
Forming it
| 좋다 | → 좋으련만 |
| 되다 | → 되련만 |
| 알다 | → 알련만 |
| 가다 | → 갔으련만 |
Examples
비가 좀 오면 좋으련만 하늘은 맑기만 하다.
It would be nice if it rained a little, but the sky stays clear.
조금만 더 일찍 출발했으면 늦지 않았으련만 아쉽네요.
If we'd left a bit earlier we wouldn't have been late; what a pity.
Compared with similar patterns
-건만 starts from an actual fact ('I did prepare, but …'); -(으)련만 is hypothetical. -(으)ㄹ 텐데 is the spoken equivalent; -(으)ㄹ걸 그랬다 is regret about one's own past action.