Unit 6: Prone To Doing (-기 일쑤이다)

In Easy Korean, when you want to express that a negative or undesirable habit occurs very frequently, you use -기 일쑤이다. It translates to "often do..." or "prone to doing...".

Structure

Verb Stem + -기 일쑤이다

• 잊어버리다 -> 잊어버리기 일쑤이다 (prone to forgetting)
• 지각하다 -> 지각하기 일쑤이다 (often late)
• 넘어지다 -> 넘어지기 일쑤이다 (prone to falling down)

Difference from -자주

While '자주' just means 'often' for any action, -기 일쑤이다 strongly implies that it's a habitual mistake or a negative pattern.

Examples

• 어렸을 때는 친구들과 싸우기 일쑤였어요. (When I was young, I was prone to fighting with my friends.)
• 아침을 안 먹으면 점심에 과식하기 일쑤예요. (If I don't eat breakfast, I'm prone to overeating at lunch.)
• 바빠서 끼니를 거르기 일쑤입니다. (I'm so busy that I often skip meals.)