Korean Accident Stories: -는 바람에, -을 뻔하다
Korean accident stories lean on -는 바람에 for an unexpected cause (넘어지는 바람에 폰이 깨졌어요 — I tripped, and as a result my phone broke), -을 뻔하다 for a near-miss (부딪힐 뻔했어요 — I almost crashed into it), and passive verbs like 깨지다·찢어지다 to say what got damaged.
Published:
Written by Alvin Lim Certified Korean Language Teacher (Level 2)
Telling an accident story in Korean rests on two patterns plus a set of passive verbs. -는 바람에 pins the unexpected cause that threw you off (넘어지는 바람에 폰이 깨졌어요 — I tripped, and my phone broke as a result). -을 뻔하다 reports the near miss that didn’t quite happen (부딪힐 뻔했어요 — I almost crashed into it). And passive verbs like 깨지다 and 찢어지다 say what got damaged. Together they turn “something bad happened” into a story you can actually tell.
Chapter 4 turns to incidents and accidents — the small disasters of daily life. You’ve already met passive verbs in Grade 3; here they go to work describing the aftermath, while two new connectors handle cause and near-miss. Start with the words an accident story is built from.
Ten words for accidents and mishaps
These anchor any “what happened?” retelling.
Because of (unexpectedly) — -는 바람에
To pin the unexpected cause that knocked your plans sideways, attach -는 바람에 to a present action-verb stem. The result is usually past and usually a problem.
넘어지는 바람에 폰이 깨졌어요 = I tripped, and my phone broke 버스를 놓치는 바람에 지각했어요 = I missed the bus, so I was late 갑자기 비가 오는 바람에 다 젖었어요 = it suddenly rained, and I got soaked 길이 막히는 바람에 약속에 늦었어요 = traffic jammed up, so I was late
Keep the 바람에 part in the present -는 form even when the result is past — 놓치는 바람에 (not 놓친 바람에). The tense rides on the main clause. The nuance is always “this came out of nowhere and caused trouble.”
Almost happened — -을 뻔하다
To report a near miss — it almost happened, but didn’t — use -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다, almost always in the past: 뻔했어요.
계단에서 넘어질 뻔했어요 = I almost fell on the stairs 차에 부딪힐 뻔했어요 = I almost got hit by a car 컵을 떨어뜨릴 뻔했어요 = I almost dropped the cup 하마터면 큰일 날 뻔했어요 = that was almost a real disaster
The thing didn’t actually happen — that’s the whole point — so 하마터면 (“nearly”) often sets it up and 다행이다 (“what a relief”) often follows. Attach it to the -(으)ㄹ form: 부딪히다 → 부딪힐 뻔했다, 늦다 → 늦을 뻔했다.
What got damaged? — passive verbs for the aftermath
When you describe an accident, the object usually gets broken rather than someone breaking it. Korean swaps the active verb for its passive partner — no “I” needed.
깨다 → 깨지다: 접시가 깨졌어요 = the plate broke 찢다 → 찢어지다: 종이가 찢어졌어요 = the paper tore 부러뜨리다 → 부러지다: 다리가 부러졌어요 = (my) leg broke 망가뜨리다 → 망가지다: 우산이 망가졌어요 = the umbrella got wrecked
These describe the result, so they take 이/가 (접시가 깨졌어요), not 을/를. That’s the difference between 제가 컵을 깼어요 (I broke the cup — I’m to blame) and 컵이 깨졌어요 (the cup broke — it just happened). For an accident, the passive keeps the focus on the damage, not the culprit.
Retelling a small accident
A friend notices you’re hurt — all three tools, live:
Watch them work together: 미끄러지는 바람에 names the cause, 깨질 뻔했어 / 큰일 날 뻔했네 mark the near misses, 긁혔어 and 안 깨졌어 (passives) report the damage, and 케이스 덕분에 flips to the good cause. That’s a complete accident story in seven lines.
FAQ
Why is -는 바람에 always in the present -는 form, even for a past result? -는 바람에 fixes the cause in the present participle form (-는) no matter when it happened: 놓치는 바람에 늦었어요 = I missed it and so was late — past result, but still 놓치는, not 놓친. The tense lives in the main clause, not on 바람에. It almost always reports an unexpected, unwanted cause with a past consequence: 비가 오는 바람에 경기가 취소됐어요 = it rained, so the match got cancelled. So keep the 바람에 part present-form and let the result clause carry the past tense.
What’s the difference between -는 바람에, -아서/어서, and -는 덕분에? -아서/어서 is a neutral ‘because’; -는 바람에 adds ‘unexpectedly, and it caused a problem.’ Compare 길이 막혀서 늦었어요 (plainly: traffic was bad, so I was late) with 길이 막히는 바람에 늦었어요 (traffic jammed up on me, and that’s what threw me off). -는 덕분에 is the positive mirror — ‘thanks to’ a good cause: 도와주신 덕분에 끝냈어요 = thanks to your help, I finished. So 바람에 = bad surprise cause, 덕분에 = good cause, -아서 = neutral.
How do I attach -을 뻔하다, and is it really always past? Attach -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다 to the future-stem form: 부딪히다 → 부딪힐 뻔했다, 늦다 → 늦을 뻔했다, 넘어지다 → 넘어질 뻔했다. And yes — because it reports something that nearly happened but didn’t, it’s almost always past: 뻔했다 / 뻔했어요. 큰일 날 뻔했어요 = that was almost a disaster; 잊어버릴 뻔했어요 = I almost forgot. Since it’s a near miss, it pairs well with relief words like 다행이다.
Next: excuses & causes — -는 사이에, -는 탓에. Previous: event reviews — -고 보니, -는 듯. Full path: curriculum hub.