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Easy Korean - Level 9, Unit 13: There's absolutely no way... (-(으)ㄹ 리 만무하다)

In Level 6, we learned -(으)ㄹ 리가 없어요 (There is no way that...). In Level 9, we are learning a much stronger, more formal, and literary version of this expression: -(으)ㄹ 리 만무하다.

Structure Breakdown

  • -(으)ㄹ 리 = reason / possibility
  • 만무 (萬無) 하다 = ten thousand (만) + not exist (무). It means "absolutely none" or "completely impossible."

Literally: "The possibility is absolutely zero." Naturally: "There is absolutely no way that..."

How to Conjugate

The conjugation rules are exactly the same as -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다.

1. Vowel stem: Add -ㄹ 리 만무하다 * 가다 -> 갈 리 만무하다 (There's absolutely no way he is going) * 성공하다 -> 성공할 리 만무하다 (There's absolutely no way it will succeed)

2. Consonant stem: Add -을 리 만무하다 * 먹다 -> 먹을 리 만무하다 (There's absolutely no way they will eat it) * 좋다 -> 좋을 리 만무하다 (There's absolutely no way it is good)

3. ㄹ stem: Add -리 만무하다 * 알다 -> 알 리 만무하다 (There's absolutely no way they know)

4. Past Tense: Add to the past tense stem (-았/었/였) * 하다 -> 했 -> 했을 리 만무하다 (There's absolutely no way she did it)

When to use it?

Because 만무하다 uses Hanja (Chinese characters) to emphasize the meaning, it sounds quite formal. You will often see it in books, news articles, or hear it in very serious declarations. For everyday conversation, -(으)ㄹ 리가 없어요 is still much more common!

Example Sentences

  1. 그 사람이 이런 어려운 문제를 풀 수 있을 리 만무합니다. (There is absolutely no way that person can solve such a difficult problem.)

  2. 아무리 바빠도 부모님 생신을 잊었을 리 만무하다. (No matter how busy he is, there is absolutely no way he forgot his parents' birthday.)

  3. 그런 거짓말을 사람들이 믿을 리 만무해요. (There is absolutely no way people will believe such a lie.)