4 · Prepositions and fixed patterns
Cannot possibly: -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다
firm disbelief
-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 says that something cannot possibly be so.
리 is a small noun meaning “reason, grounds”, and it survives almost only in this pattern: 그럴 리가 없어요, literally “there is no reason for it to be so” — “that can't be”. The verb before it takes the future modifier -(eu)l: 할 리가 after a vowel, 먹을 리가 after a consonant, and a stem in l stays as it is (알 리가).
For something that supposedly already happened, the past goes inside: -았/었을 리가 없다. 가게가 벌써 문을 닫았을 리가 없어요, “there is no way the shop has closed already”. After a noun the form is 일 리가 없다: 거짓말일 리가 없어요, “it can't be a lie”.
The pattern expresses the speaker's own conviction, based on what they know: the shop is always open at six, the friend never lies. It is often introduced by 설마, “surely not”, and the short reply 그럴 리가요! is the everyday “no way!”. As a rhetorical question, 리가 있어요? or 리가 있겠어요? means the same as 리가 없어요.
Two things trip English speakers up. First, 리 only ever follows the -(eu)l modifier, never -는 or a past modifier: 하는 리가 does not exist. Second, the pattern is about likelihood, not about permission or ability: “he can't come (he is ill)” is 못 와요, while “he can't have come (I would have seen him)” is 왔을 리가 없어요.
The form
| after a vowel | 하다 → 할 리가 없어요 |
| after a consonant | 먹다 → 먹을 리가 없어요 |
| in the past | 했을 리가 없어요 |
| after a noun | 거짓말일 리가 없어요 |
| rhetorical question | 그럴 리가 있어요? |
| short reply | 그럴 리가요! |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The verb takes the future modifier -(eu)l before 리가.
민수 씨가 거짓말을 할 리가 없어요.There's no way Minsu would lie.
For a supposed past event, put the past inside: -았/었을 리가 없다.
그 가게가 벌써 문을 닫았을 리가 없어요. 지금 여섯 시예요.That shop can't have closed already. It's six o'clock.
After a noun use 일 리가 없다.
그게 제 가방일 리가 없어요. 제 가방은 검은색이에요.That can't be my bag. Mine is black.
A rhetorical question with 리가 있어요? means the same as 리가 없어요.
그 사람이 그런 말을 했을 리가 있어요?How could he possibly have said that?
A closer look
A noun that lives in one pattern
리 once meant “principle, reason” in general, and in modern Korean it has shrunk into this construction and a few close relatives. That is why it feels like an idiom: you cannot say 리가 많다 or put an adjective in front of it. What it keeps is its old sense — “there is no reason in the world for this”.
Compare the weaker ways of doubting that someone will come. 안 올지도 몰라요 leaves the door open, 안 올 거예요 is a prediction, and 올 리가 없어요 shuts the door. When the facts later prove the speaker wrong, the natural reaction is 그럴 리가 없는데…, “but that can't be…”.
How to spot it
- -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다
- 리가 있어요?
- 설마
- 그럴 리가요
- 분명히
Example sentences
이렇게 쉬운 문제를 틀릴 리가 없어요.There's no way I'd get such an easy question wrong.
열쇠가 없어질 리가 없어요. 분명히 여기 뒀어요.The key can't have just vanished. I definitely left it here.
설마 그럴 리가요.Surely not.
아이가 혼자 거기까지 갔을 리가 없어요.There's no way the child got all the way there alone.
하늘이 이렇게 맑은데 비가 올 리가 없어요.With the sky this clear, it can't possibly rain.
이 시간에 길이 막힐 리가 없는데 이상하네요.The roads shouldn't be jammed at this time — that's strange.
8 more example sentences
선생님이 그 약속을 잊어버리셨을 리가 없어요.There's no way the teacher forgot that appointment.
돈이 이렇게 많이 나왔을 리가 없어요. 다시 계산해 주세요.The bill can't possibly be this much. Please add it up again.
동생이 벌써 일어났을 리가 없어요. 아직 일곱 시예요.My younger brother can't be up yet. It's only seven.
그 식당이 문을 닫을 리가 없어요. 늘 손님이 많잖아요.That restaurant would never close. It always has lots of customers.
그 사람이 이 일을 모를 리가 없어요.There's no way he doesn't know about this.
제가 그 말을 했을 리가 있어요? 기억이 안 나요.Would I really have said that? I don't remember it.
그게 사실일 리가 없어요.That can't be true.
그 착한 아이가 친구를 때렸을 리가 없어요.That sweet child can't have hit a friend.
Worth knowing (1)
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The short reply
그럴 리가요! — or, more doubtfully, 설마 그럴 리가… — is how Korean answers news that is hard to believe. The polite 요 attaches directly to the cut-off pattern.
"지갑이 없어졌어요." "그럴 리가요! 아까 가방에 넣었잖아요."“My wallet's gone.” “No way! You put it in your bag a moment ago.”
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
리 is one of the small nouns that only accept the future modifier -(eu)l, whatever the time referred to. For the past, the past marker goes in front of it: 했을 리가, never 한 리가.
Geureol riga eopseoyo: no grounds, no way.
Your turn
8 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.