Easy Korean - Level 6, Unit 28: There is no way that... (-(으)ㄹ 리가 없어요)

When you strongly doubt something or believe it is completely impossible, you use the expression -(으)ㄹ 리가 없어요.

It translates to "There is no way that..." or "It is impossible that..."

Structure Breakdown

• 리 (理) = reason / logic / possibility
• 가 = subject marker
• 없다 = to not exist

Literally: "The reason/possibility for [X] to happen does not exist."

How to Conjugate

1. Vowel stem: Add -ㄹ 리가 없어요 * 가다 -> 갈 리가 없어요 (There's no way he is going) * 비싸다 -> 비쌀 리가 없어요 (There's no way it's expensive)

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

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

4. Past Tense: Add to the past tense stem (-았/었/였) * 가다 -> 갔 -> 갔을 리가 없어요 (There's no way he went) * 하다 -> 했 -> 했을 리가 없어요 (There's no way she did it)

Using -(으)ㄹ 리가 있어요? (Is it possible that...?)

You can turn it into a rhetorical question by changing 없다 to 있다: "Is there any reason that X would be true?" (Meaning: Of course not!). * 그럴 리가 있어요? (Is there any way that is true? -> No way!)

Example Sentences

1. 민수 씨가 그 사실을 모를 리가 없어요. (There is no way Minsoo doesn't know that fact. = He definitely knows.)
2. 오늘 일요일인데 은행이 문을 열었을 리가 없어요. (It's Sunday today, so there's no way the bank is open.)
3. 그 사람이 저한테 거짓말을 할 리가 없어요. (It's impossible that he would lie to me.)
4. A: 이거 다 먹었어요? (Did you eat all of this?) B: 제가 다 먹었을 리가 없잖아요! (Come on, there's no way I ate it all!)