A2
(으)면 — if, and when
How the Korean conditional (으)면 works, how it covers both “if” and “whenever”, and the separate form used for a wish.
면 after a vowel, 으면 after a consonant. It attaches to verbs, adjectives and the copula alike.
비가 오면 안 갈 거예요.
Biga omyeon an gal geoyeyo.
If it rains, I won’t go.
시간이 있으면 같이 가요.
Sigani isseumyeon gachi gayo.
If you’ve got time, let’s go together.
If and whenever are the same word
봄이 되면 꽃이 펴요.
Bomi doemyeon kkochi pyeoyo.
When spring comes, the flowers bloom.
That is not a condition — spring will come. (으)면 covers both, and which is meant depends on whether the event is in doubt.
It takes a tense, unlike 아서
The condition can be marked past when it genuinely precedes the result.
다 먹었으면 나가요.
Da meogeosseumyeon nagayo.
If you’ve finished eating, let’s go out.
만약 is optional reinforcement
만약 or 만일 at the front signals a condition early, before the listener reaches the ending. It is never required and always paired with 면.
만약 비가 와서 안 갈 거예요.
만약 비가 오면 안 갈 거예요.
만약 needs 면 to complete it. 아서 states a reason that actually happened, not a hypothetical — see because.
Wishing
으면 좋겠다 — it would be good if — is how Korean expresses a wish, and it is far more common than any verb meaning hope.
비가 안 왔으면 좋겠어요.
Biga an wasseumyeon jokesseoyo.
I hope it doesn’t rain.
Between sentences
그러면, shortened to 그럼, begins the next sentence: in that case, then.