Lesson 165: ~(으)니/~기에 말이지 – Emphasizing Fortune or Relief

Jump to:

~(으)니 말이지: Emphasizing Fortune or Relief
~기에 말이지

Vocabulary

Nouns:
강물 = river water

Examples:
강물이 많이 불었어요
= The river water has risen a lot

강물이 얕으니 말이지, 안 그랬으면 수영하다가 큰일 날 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing the river was shallow, I almost got in big trouble while swimming

강물이 맑으니 말이지 그렇지 않았으면 물고기가 다 죽었을 거야
= It’s a good thing the river water is clean; otherwise, all the fish would have died

큰일 = problem, trouble

Common Usages:
큰일이 나다 = for a big problem to arise
큰일을 벌이다 = for a big problem to arise

Examples:
큰일이 생겼어요 = A big problem has occurred

강물이 얕으니 말이지, 안 그랬으면 수영하다가 큰일 날 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing the river was shallow, I almost got in big trouble while swimming

강물이 깊기에 말이지 수영하다가 큰일 날 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing the river water is deep; otherwise, I would have been in trouble while swimming

논리 = logic

Common Usages:
논리가 맞지 않다 = for logic to not make sense

Examples:
그 사람의 논리에 따르면 세상에 나쁜 사람이 없어야 돼요
= According to that person’s logic, there shouldn’t be any bad people in the world

반박을 정확히 했으니 말이지 아니었으면 논리에서 밀릴 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing I refuted it accurately; otherwise, I might have lost in the argument

반박할 논리가 분명했기에 말이지 상대방이 더 이상 반론하지 못했어
= It’s a good thing my refutation was clear; otherwise, the opponent wouldn’t have backed down

발걸음 = pace of walking

Common Usages:
발걸음을 떼다 = to take the first step
발걸음을 옮기다 = to move (one’s) steps

Examples:
발걸음을 조심스럽게 걸었으니 말이지 하마터면 미끄러질 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing I stepped carefully; otherwise, I nearly slipped

발걸음이 가벼웠기에 말이지 오래 걸어도 힘들지 않았어
= It’s a good thing my steps were light; otherwise, I would have been exhausted from walking so long

제가 그 사람에게 더 가까워질 수록 그 사람의 발걸음이 더 빨라졌어요
= As I got closer to that person, his steps became faster

사냥꾼 = hunter

사냥꾼은 화살을 쏘아 동물을 사냥해요
= Hunters shoot arrows to hunt animals

Verbs:
밀리다 = to be late, to lose, to fall behind

Common Usages:
일이 밀리다 = to have a lot to catch up on

Examples:
일이 밀려서 야근했어요
= I had to work late because I fell behind

반박을 정확히 했으니 말이지 아니었으면 논리에서 밀릴 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing I refuted it accurately; otherwise, I might have lost in the argument

살아남다 = to survive

Examples:
어제 사고에서 살아남은 사람은 아무도 없어요
= There are no survivors from the accident yesterday

그가 희생했기에 말이지 우리가 살아남을 수 있었어
= It’s a good thing he sacrificed himself; otherwise, we wouldn’t have survived

반론하다 = to refute, to object

Common Usages:
반론기사 = rebuttal article

Examples:
학생은 용기 있게 반론했어요
= The student bravely objected

반박할 논리가 분명했기에 말이지 상대방이 더 이상 반론하지 못했어
= It’s a good thing my refutation was clear; otherwise, the opponent wouldn’t have backed down

사냥하다 = to hunt

Common Usages:
사냥꾼 = hunter

Examples:
사냥을 신중하게 했으니 말이지 한 마리도 못 잡을 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing we hunted carefully; otherwise, we might not have caught anything

우리가 사냥을 성공적으로 했기에 말이지 먹을 것이 충분했어
= It’s a good thing we hunted successfully; otherwise, we wouldn’t have had enough to eat

사슴사냥은 불법이니 적발 시 과태료가 부과됩니다
= Deer hunting is illegal, so if caught, a fine will be imposed

제가 호랑이를 사냥하고 박제한 다음에 거실에 걸었어요
= I hunted a tiger, stuffed it and then put it in my living room

희생하다 = to sacrifice

Examples:
그 남자는 그의 부모님을 위해 많은 것을 희생하는 효자예요
= That man is a devoted son who sacrifices a lot for his parents

그가 희생했기에 말이지 우리가 살아남을 수 있었어
= It’s a good thing he sacrificed himself; otherwise, we wouldn’t have survived

반박하다 = to refute

Common Usages:
반박의견 = counterargument

Examples:
반박을 정확히 했으니 말이지 아니었으면 논리에서 밀릴 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing I refuted it accurately; otherwise, I might have lost in the argument

반박할 논리가 분명했기에 말이지 상대방이 더 이상 반론하지 못했어
= It’s a good thing my refutation was clear; otherwise, the opponent wouldn’t have backed down

분비하다 = to secrete

Common Usages:
분비물 = secretion (stuff that has been secreted)

Examples:
운동을 할 때 몸이 땀을 분비해요
= Your body releases sweat when you exercise

유해한 물질을 분비하지 않기에 말이지 이 식물을 안전하게 키울 수 있었어
= It’s a good thing this plant doesn’t secrete harmful substances; otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to grow it safely

등하교하다 = to go to and from school

Examples:
아이들이 등하교를 혼자 해요
= The kids go to and from school on their own

등하교할 때 조심했으니 말이지 안 그랬으면 지금까지 안전하게 다니지 못했을 거야
= It’s a good thing I was careful when going to and from school, if I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have been able to travel safely until now

정리정돈하다 = to tidy up

Examples:
이번 새집은 곳곳에 수납장이 있어서 정리정돈할때 유용해요
= There are a lot of closets in this new house, which are very helpful when I clean/organize

네가 정리정돈을 해 주었기에 말이지 방이 깔끔해졌어
= It’s a good thing you tidied up; otherwise, the room wouldn’t have become so neat

정리정돈을 잘했으니 말이지 안 그랬으면 방이 엉망이 됐을 거야
= It’s a good thing I tidied up well; otherwise, my room would have been a mess

Adjectives:
무해하다 = to be harmless

Examples:
이 동물은 사람에게 무해해요
= This animal is harmless to humans

유해하다 = to be harmful/toxic

Common Usages:
유해성 = dangerousnous

Examples:
공장에서 유해 물질을 배출하지 않도록 주의해야 해요
= Factories should be careful not to discharge harmful substances

조심스럽다 = to be careful

Examples:
저는 조심스럽게 문을 열었어요
= I carefully opened the door

발걸음을 조심스럽게 걸었으니 말이지 하마터면 미끄러질 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing I stepped carefully; otherwise, I nearly slipped

혼란스럽다 = to be chaotic

Examples:
전쟁 후 나라가 혼란스러웠어요
= The country was chaotic after the war

갑자기 방향을 바꿨으니 말이지 안 그랬으면 더 혼란스러웠을 거야
= It’s a good thing we changed direction, if we hadn’t, it would have been even more chaotic

아슬아슬하다 = to just barely be able to do something

Examples:
아슬아슬하게 기차를 탔어요
= I barely caught the train

아슬아슬하게 도착했으니 말이지 하마터면 기차를 놓칠 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing we barely made it; otherwise, we would have missed the train

Adverbs and Other Words:
하마터면 = nearly, narrowly

Examples:
하마터면 막차를 놓칠 뻔 했어요
= I nearly missed the last bus

발걸음을 조심스럽게 걸었으니 말이지 하마터면 미끄러질 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing I stepped carefully; otherwise, I nearly slipped

For help memorizing these words, try using our mobile app.

Introduction

In this lesson, you will see another way that 말 can be used, this time, by having it follow ~(으)니 or ~기에. We’ll explore the meaning they create. Let’s get started!

~(으)니/~기에 말이지: Emphasizing Fortune or Relief

In the previous two lessons, you saw how versatile 말 can be. Here is another way it can be used. You can attach ~(으)니 to verbs and adjectives, followed by 말이지 to create a nuanced meaning. Let’s look at two simple sentence and break them down:

책을 챙겼으니 말이지 안 그랬으면 심심했을 거야
강물이 얕으니 말이지, 안 그랬으면 수영하다가 큰일 날 뻔했어

The clause before 말이지 is something that happened or was accomplished. The clause after 말이지 is something that was avoided or prevented as a direct result of the first clause. The second clause is typically some negative event. This event hypothetically would have occurred had the first clause not occurred. Because the second clause is hypothetical, you will often see endings that suggest this. Two of the most common ways to end these types of sentences are:

~았/었을 것이다 (Introduced in Lesson 43)
Used in sentences when an action would have happened.

~ㄹ/을 뻔하다 (Introduced in Lesson 66)
Used in sentences when an action almost happened.

Let’s translate our sentences:

책을 챙겼으니 말이지 안 그랬으면 심심했을 거야
= It’s a good thing I brought my book, if I hadn’t I would have been bored

강물이 얕으니 말이지, 안 그랬으면 수영하다가 큰일 날 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing the river was shallow, I almost got in big trouble while swimming

In both situations, the use of ~(으)니 말이지 is to emphasize the relief of the speaker. The speaker feels fortunate that the second clause did not occur.

Let’s look at another example:

발걸음을 조심스럽게 걸었으니 말이지 하마터면 미끄러질 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing I stepped carefully; otherwise, I nearly slipped

—-

Allow me to introduce you to another good word that you can use in these sentences: 하마터면. This adverb is used to emphasize something just barely occurs (or does not occur). For example, I could just say something simple without 하마터면:

사고가 날 뻔 했어요 = I almost got into an accident

However, by including 하마터면, the speaker can indicate that they just barely avoided an accident. There are a lot of ways that you can create this nuance in English, one of them being “by an inch!” For example:

하마터면 사고가 날 뻔 했어요 = I avoided getting into an accident just by an inch

—

강물이 맑으니 말이지 그렇지 않았으면 물고기가 다 죽었을 거야
= It’s a good thing the river water is clean; otherwise, all the fish would have died

갑자기 방향을 바꿨으니 말이지 안 그랬으면 더 혼란스러웠을 거야
= It’s a good thing we changed direction, if we hadn’t, it would have been even more chaotic

정리정돈을 잘했으니 말이지 안 그랬으면 방이 엉망이 됐을 거야
= It’s a good thing I tidied up well; otherwise, my room would have been a mess

사냥을 신중하게 했으니 말이지 한 마리도 못 잡을 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing we hunted carefully; otherwise, we might not have caught anything

반박을 정확히 했으니 말이지 아니었으면 논리에서 밀릴 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing I refuted it accurately; otherwise, I might have lost in the argument

아슬아슬하게 도착했으니 말이지 하마터면 기차를 놓칠 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing we barely made it; otherwise, we would have missed the train

~기에 말이지

Instead of attaching ~(으)니 to the word before 말이지, it is also possible to attach ~기에. It is more natural when speaking to use ~(으)니 instead of ~기에. This is similar to the first time you saw ~기에 (Lesson 136), where you learned that ~길래 is more common in speech. Nonetheless, you can use ~기에 to create the meaning described above if you wish. For example:

강물이 깊기에 말이지 수영하다가 큰일 날 뻔했어
= It’s a good thing the river water is deep; otherwise, I would have been in trouble while swimming

발걸음이 가벼웠기에 말이지 오래 걸어도 힘들지 않았어
= It’s a good thing my steps were light; otherwise, I would have been exhausted from walking so long

네가 정리정돈을 해 주었기에 말이지 방이 깔끔해졌어
= It’s a good thing you tidied up; otherwise, the room wouldn’t have become so neat

우리가 사냥을 성공적으로 했기에 말이지 먹을 것이 충분했어
= It’s a good thing we hunted successfully; otherwise, we wouldn’t have had enough to eat

그가 희생했기에 말이지 우리가 살아남을 수 있었어
= It’s a good thing he sacrificed himself; otherwise, we wouldn’t have survived

반박할 논리가 분명했기에 말이지 상대방이 더 이상 반론하지 못했어
= It’s a good thing my refutation was clear; otherwise, the opponent wouldn’t have backed down

That’s it for this lesson!