Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 5 - Intermediate Korean #2 (Lessons 121 to 150) ᚛ Lesson 124 - Impossibility in Korean [-(으)ㄹ 리(가) 없다]

Impossibility in Korean [-(으)ㄹ 리(가) 없다]

In this course: ㄹ 리가 없다 / 을 리가 없다 / ㄹ 리가 없어 / 을 리가 없어 / ㄹ 리가 없어요 / 을 리가 없어요

In previous lessons, we saw different ways to express impossibility in Korean, in particular impossibility due to a lack of ability with -(으)ㄹ 수 없다 and 못, or impossibility due to a lack of permission with -(으)면 안 되다. In this lesson, we will see how to express the impossibility of a situation happening because it would make no sense: it would be illogical and therefore cannot take place.

Impossibility with -(으)ㄹ 리(가) 없다

In Korean, it is possible to express the improbability of a situation thanks to the following verbal structure:
[Modifier -(으)ㄹ] 리(가) 없다

This structure is generally used in reaction to a situation or to someone else’s words, in order to clearly state that it is impossible for the situation to happen, since it contradicts what we already know from the context. In English, we could translate this with expressions such as "there is no way that", "it is impossible that", "it makes no sense that", etc.

Note that the subject particle 가 is optional in this structure.

민주가 내 지갑을 훔쳤을 리가 없어.
→ There is no way Minju stole my wallet. (It would make no sense, it is not even imaginable)

그렇게 이기적인 사람에게는 친구가 많을 리 없어요.
→ There is no way such a selfish person has many friends.

민지가 너를 욕했을 리 없어. 아마 뭔가 오해가 있을 거야.
→ There is no way Minji insulted you (it makes no sense). There is probably some misunderstanding.

공부를 안 했는데 시험을 잘 봤을 리가 없지.
→ He didn’t study, so there is no way he did well on the exam.

수아가 지훈이랑 헤어진다고? 그럴 리가 없잖아. 지난 주말에 수아가 결혼까지 생각한다고 했어.
→ You’re saying Sua is breaking up with Jihun? You know that’s impossible. Last weekend, Sua said she was even thinking about marriage.

그 소문이 사실일 리가 없어.
→ There is no way that rumor is true.

Questioning with -(으)ㄹ 리(가) 있다

Expressions to express impossibility

Summary table of structure

Exercises

Particles are omnipresent in Korean. They indicate the role of words in a sentence, nuance meaning, and make it possible to understand who does what, where, how, and why.

Particles are also often the aspect that causes the most difficulty for Korean learners. In grammar books, they are usually presented in the middle of long sentences, with complex vocabulary, without being clearly highlighted.

With Korean Particles, we made the opposite choice:
taking the time to explain each particle, one by one, using very simple sentences, accessible even to beginners.

Learn more

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