Korean grammar patterns › Level 6
-기에 망정이지
luckily …, otherwise (something bad would have happened)
Level 6 · TOPIK II · advanced
How to use it
Clause 1 is a fortunate fact (usually past); clause 2 is the bad result that would have happened without it, typically -(으)ㄹ 뻔했다 or -았/었을 거예요. Common in speech too; -(으)니까 망정이지 is a variant.
Forming it
| 매다 | → 맸기에 망정이지 |
| 있다 | → 있었기에 망정이지 |
| 빠르다 | → 빨랐기에 망정이지 |
| 주말 | → 주말이었기에 망정이지 |
Clause 1 must be a real fact, not a hypothesis; clause 2 is not a command.
Examples
안전벨트를 맸기에 망정이지 크게 다칠 뻔했어요.
It's a good thing I had my seatbelt on, or I would have been badly hurt.
옆에 친구가 있었기에 망정이지 길을 잃었을 거예요.
Luckily my friend was with me; otherwise I'd have gotten lost.
Compared with similar patterns
-았/었더라면 states the unreal condition directly ('if I hadn't …'); -(으)ㄴ 덕분에 simply credits a good cause without the 'close call' feeling; -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다 often completes this pattern.