haru Korean › Grammar › Level 3A › N만 아니면

N만 아니면 — as long as it isn't … · any … but … — saying yes with one condition

As long as it isn't … · any … but … — saying yes with one condition. Korean grammar for intermediate learners — Level 3A, lesson 6: 일요일에는 아무 약속도 없어요 (No plans at all on Sunday — places, plans and things that just happen).

What it means

N만 아니면 means 'as long as it isn't N' or 'if it weren't for N'. It is 만 (only, Level 1B) + 아니다 + -(으)면 (if): N is the one thing in the way, and everything else is fine. 일요일만 아니면 다 괜찮아요 — any day is fine except Sunday. 비만 아니면 자전거를 타요 — we'll ride bikes unless it rains. The form never changes, with or without a 받침: 비만 아니면, 시험만 아니면. It is a friendly way to say yes with one condition when you make plans, and when the condition is there and you can't, it often goes with -(으)ㄹ 텐데 (Lesson 3A-3): 아르바이트만 아니면 같이 갈 텐데 아쉬워요 (if it weren't for my part-time job, I'd go with you — what a pity). With -았/었- it looks back at a past that didn't happen: 비만 아니었으면 갔을 텐데요 (if it hadn't rained, I would have gone). Compare 일요일이 아니면 (if it isn't Sunday): without 만 it is just a condition, with no 'only'.

Forms

Key points

• N만 아니면 = as long as it isn't N · if it weren't for N: 일요일만 아니면 다 괜찮아요 (any day but Sunday). 만 says N is the only problem.
• With or without a 받침, always N만 아니면: 비만 아니면 · 시험만 아니면. Often with -(으)ㄹ 텐데 (Lesson 3A-3): 아르바이트만 아니면 같이 갈 텐데.

Examples

• 「N만 아니면」은 「N 하나만 문제예요. 다른 것은 다 괜찮아요」의 뜻이에요.
• 일요일만 아니면 다 괜찮아요. (월요일 ~ 토요일 ○)
• 비만 아니면 자전거를 타요. (비가 오면 ✗)
• 받침과 상관없이 「만 아니면」: 시험만 아니면 · 막차 시간만 아니면.
• 과거는 「만 아니었으면」: 비만 아니었으면 갔을 텐데요.

Where university textbooks teach it

This point also appears in: Yonsei University Korean 4-1, lesson 10.

Also in this lesson

• 아무 N도 — no … at all · nobody, nothing, nowhere — 아무 with a negative (and 아무 N(이)나: any … at all)
• A/V-거든(요) — …, you see · because … — adding a reason the listener didn't know
• 피동 -이/히/리/기 — passive verbs — things that happen by themselves (a first look: ten common ones)

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