I finally understand the meaning of -ㄹ/을 텐데
Basically this grammatical point is expressing what would happen or would have happened. When -ㄹ/을 텐데 is at the end of the second clause, the first clause usually ends with some kind of -면 or -도, stating that IF (or EVEN IF) so and so were true THEN so and so WOULD happen or WOULD HAVE happened.
But according to this post on -ㄹ/을 텐데 (which I have read a million times over the 2 years since I’ve started learning Korean), there’s another grammar point that can express the meaning of “so and so would happen or would have happened,” which is -(았/었)을 것이다 (which is just the future tense but when used in a supposition with -면 or -도, it more so means “would” than “will”).
The difference between the two is that -ㄹ/을 텐데 expresses feelings of regret/annoyance/“oh that’s too bad” whereas -(았/었)을 것이다 doesn’t have an emotional nuance.
That’s all fine and dandy. I’ve known the above for quite some time but for some reason it’s never really clicked until now.
The sentence that finally made me understand
“반대였다면 아마도 지금 우리 사귈 텐데.”
“If it were the other way around, maybe we’d be dating right now.”
Just bear with me for a moment while I explain the circumstances behind this sentence. So basically when I’m bored, I like to daydream and play out random little stories in my head. For the past couple of months or so, I’ve been saying all the dialogue in Korean in my head (so at least I’m practicing my Korean right? lol). Basically it’s like watching an imaginary Korean movie.
Anyway, today I was playing out a very kdrama-esque story where these two guys like this one girl (yep the ole love triangle) and the girl ends up dating one of them because after she was stuck in a bad situation that guy offered to take her home first and they ended up hanging out more blah blah. But one day while the 3 of them are hanging out, those 2 get in an argument so the non-boyfriend guy drives her home and finally confesses to her that he’s liked her all this time.
So I imagined that after his confession he said to her:
“반대였다면 아마도 지금 우리 사귈 거야.”
“If it were the other way around, maybe we’d be dating right now.
He’s referring to that day where she was stuck in the bad situation. He meant if he were the one to take her home maybe they would have ended up dating instead.
But after I thought up that sentence, I then realized… wait, wouldn’t -ㄹ/을 텐데 work better in that situation because he was regretful, right? He regretted not taking her home that day, and he wants to express those emotions to her.
So I went back and read that post I mentioned earlier yet again, and now it’s finally clicked because I understand what that emotional nuance behind -ㄹ/을 텐데 is now.
The difference between “사귈 거야” and “사귈 텐데” in that sentence is that the first one doesn’t have an emotional nuance. He could just be making a supposition about what may have happened offhandedly like “oh hmm you never know, maybe this would’ve happened instead. Maybe we would be dating now.”
But with -ㄹ/을 텐데, it’s not just “oh maybe this would’ve happened.” It’s more like “maybe this would’ve happened and I regret that it didn’t or that it’s no longer possible.”
Perhaps a better example: 그럴 텐데 by DAY6
If my blathering above doesn’t make any sense then maybe this example is more helpful. 그럴 텐데 by DAY6 is a song I really like and have been listening to for months but I also never really understood it (but then again I’ve never analyzed the lyrics as closely as I have now haha).
I recommend giving it a listen and taking a look at the lyrics.
The song is basically about regret over breaking up with somebody, so it gives you a good idea of the emotions behind this grammar point.
So let’s look at some of the chorus. These two lines are actually split apart but the lines in the middle aren’t as important for understanding this grammar point:
“돌아간다면, 갈 수 있다면”
“If I went back, if I could go back”
“너에게 내 전부를 다 줄 텐데. 그럴 텐데.”
“I’d give you my everything. I would.”
The first line is that first clause I was telling you about earlier. It just gives some background info, stating “if so and so were true.” And note that the grammar point -다면 goes really well with -ㄹ/을 텐데 because -다면 means “if” but it has more of a hypothetical nuance than plain -면. Because -ㄹ/을 텐데 is all about what you think would happen but it didn’t or maybe even can’t happen anymore (eliciting regret), the hypotheticalness of -다면 is suitable.
So it’s like saying “If I could go back (hypothetically), I’d give you my everything (and I’m regretful that I can’t do that anymore–that I missed my chance to give you my everything).”
Anyway, I hope that helps someone else who’s been struggling with the elusive -ㄹ/을 텐데. If not, maybe try imagining situations where you could use this grammar point like I did and that might make it click!
그 걸 더 일찍 했다면 더 빨리 이해했을 텐데! (If I had done that earlier, I would have understood it sooner!)
Good luck with your studies :)
