-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 Grammar in Korean: Meaning and How to Use It

What you'll learn

• Attach -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 to vowel stems, consonant stems, ㄹ stems and common irregular stems.
• Reject a rumour or a suggestion firmly with 그럴 리가 없어요.
• Deny a past event with 닫았을 리가 없어요.
• Read the double negative 안 올 리가 없다 correctly, and tell 리 ("likelihood") from 수 ("ability").

Before you start: you should know how to find a stem (drop 다 from the dictionary form) and the polite ending -아요/어요. Audio plays only when you press a button.

What Does -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 Grammar Mean?

-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 grammar means "there is no way that" or "it cannot be that." It is a firm denial. Imagine a friend says, "I heard Min-su lied to the teacher." You think about his character and answer 그 사람이 그럴 리가 없어요, "There is no way he would do that." You did not see anything. You reasoned from what you know.

The pattern has three parts. The first is the future modifier -(으)ㄹ. The second is 리, a dependent noun, which is a noun that cannot stand alone and always follows a describing word. 리 means "reason" or "likelihood," so the whole phrase reads "likelihood that does not exist." The third is the particle 가 plus 없다 ("to not exist"). In plain terms: "there is no likelihood that he does that."

Here are the first two examples.

• 그 사람이 그럴 리가 없어요. (geu sarami geureol riga eopseoyo.) [그 사라미 그럴 리가 업써요] = "There is no way he would do that."
• 이렇게 쉬운 문제를 틀릴 리가 없어요. (ireoke swiun munjereul teullil riga eopseoyo.) [이러케 쉬운 문제를 틀릴 리가 업써요] = "There is no way I would get such an easy problem wrong."

Notice the sound. In 없어요, the ㅅ after ㅂ is tense, so you hear [업써요]. The 리 after the ending ㄹ does not change, because 리 begins with ㄹ and the tensing rule of the standard pronunciation rules (표준 발음법, Article 27) of the 국립국어원 (National Institute of Korean Language) affects only ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ and ㅈ. Also, 이렇게 is pronounced [이러케], because ㅎ and ㄱ join into ㅋ. Next comes the mechanism that builds the pattern.

How Do You Form -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다?

-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 is formed by dropping 다 from the dictionary form and adding -ㄹ 리가 없다 after a vowel or ㄹ, or -을 리가 없다 after any other final consonant. The (으) in brackets is a linking vowel that appears only when it is needed. 리 is a separate word, so keep a space before it.

The table shows one idea: a vowel stem gets a final ㄹ, and a consonant stem gets 을. The next three parts take the groups one at a time.

Stems Ending in a Vowel

A vowel stem takes the ending by adding ㄹ to the last syllable. 하 becomes 할, 오 becomes 올, and 틀리 becomes 틀릴. Then you add 리가 없다.

• 그 사람이 거짓말을 할 리가 없어요. (geu sarami geojinmareul hal riga eopseoyo.) [그 사라미 거진마를 할 리가 업써요] = "There is no way he tells a lie."
• 오늘은 눈이 올 리가 없어요. (oneureun nuni ol riga eopseoyo.) [오느른 누니 올 리가 업써요] = "There is no way it snows today."

Vowel stems are the simplest case. A stem with a final consonant needs one extra vowel.

Stems Ending in a Consonant

A stem with a final consonant takes 을 before 리. 먹다 becomes 먹을 리가 없다, 있다 becomes 있을 리가 없다, and 앉다 becomes 앉을 리가 없다.

• 지금 집에 있을 리가 없어요. (jigeum jibe isseul riga eopseoyo.) [지금 지베 이쓸 리가 업써요] = "There is no way he is at home now."
• 이 시간에 사람이 많을 리가 없어요. (i sigane sarami maneul riga eopseoyo.) [이 시가네 사라미 마늘 리가 업써요] = "There is no way there are many people at this hour."

The final consonant of the stem links to 을, so 있을 is pronounced [이쓸] and 많을 is pronounced [마늘]. Now for stems that change shape.

Irregular Stems and Nouns

Irregular stems change as usual before a vowel, and ㄹ stems keep their ㄹ:

• ㅂ-irregular: 어렵다 becomes 어려울 리가 없다, and 춥다 becomes 추울 리가 없다: 이 문제가 어려울 리가 없어요 ("There is no way this problem is hard").
• ㄷ-irregular: 듣다 becomes 들을 리가 없다: 그 사람이 내 말을 들을 리가 없어요 ("There is no way he listens to me").
• 르-irregular: 모르다 becomes 모를 리가 없다: 민수 씨가 모를 리가 없어요 ("There is no way Min-su doesn't know").
• ㄹ stems: 살다 becomes 살 리가 없다 and 만들다 becomes 만들 리가 없다. No 을 is added.
• Nouns with 이다: add 일 리가 없다. 그 사람이 학생일 리가 없어요 means "There is no way he is a student."

The spelling of each stem follows the same logic as before any vowel ending. With the formation clear, one full sentence can be built step by step.

Worked Example: Building a Sentence with -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다

-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 grammar turns a plain statement into a strong denial. Follow the steps with "He tells a lie."

1. Start with the plain sentence. 그 사람이 거짓말을 해요. (geu sarami geojinmareul haeyo.) = "He tells a lie." The predicate is 해요.
2. Find the dictionary form. 해요 comes from 하다 (to do). The stem is 하.
3. Look at the end of the stem. 하 ends in a vowel, so you add a final ㄹ: 하 becomes 할.
4. Add 리가 없다. 할 + 리가 없다 = 할 리가 없다. Keep the space before 리 and before 없다.
5. Choose the speech level. For polite speech, change 없다 into 없어요. Result: 그 사람이 거짓말을 할 리가 없어요. (geu sarami geojinmareul hal riga eopseoyo.) = "There is no way he tells a lie."

You will know it worked when the subject (그 사람이) and the object (거짓말을) stay in place and only the predicate changes from 해요 to 할 리가 없어요. The most common slip at this step is writing the polite ending on the first verb (해요 리가 없어요). Always work from the stem. The sentence is now a denial. A denial can appear in several tenses, and each has limits.

Which Tenses and Sentence Types Work with -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다?

-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 works for statements about the present, the future or the past. The only tense you can show is the past, with -았/었- placed before 리. The last word 없다 stays in the present. The table shows the forms for 오다 in the polite style.

The pattern is for statements, with one special case. The question form 그럴 리가 있겠어요? is a rhetorical question, a question that expects no answer because the speaker already knows it. It means the same as 그럴 리가 없어요, and it sounds more emotional. You cannot use the pattern for a command or a suggestion.

The double negative is easy to misread. 안 올 리가 없어요 has two negatives: 안 and 없다. They cancel each other, so the sentence means "He will surely come." Read 없다 first, then flip the inside.

• 그 가게가 벌써 문을 닫았을 리가 없어요. (geu gagega beolsseo muneul dadasseul riga eopseoyo.) [그 가게가 벌써 무늘 다다쓸 리가 업써요] = "There is no way that shop has already closed."
• 그 사람이 안 올 리가 없어요. (geu sarami an ol riga eopseoyo.) [그 사라미 아놀 리가 업써요] = "There is no way he will not come." (He will surely come.)

The compatibility pattern is simple: the denial itself never changes tense, and the verb before 리 carries the past. The most useful contrast for a learner is next to the pattern at the opposite end of the scale.

How Is -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 Different from -(으)ㄹ지도 모르다?

-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 closes the door on a possibility, while -(으)ㄹ지도 모르다 leaves it open. Picture a scale of certainty. At one end, 올 리가 없어요 says "he will not come, I am sure." In the middle, 올지도 몰라요 says "he might come, I do not know." The patterns are opposite poles.

Full rules for the open side are on the page for -(으)ㄹ지도 모르다.

A second neighbour looks similar but is not a guess at all: -(으)ㄹ 수가 없다 means "cannot." 리 means "likelihood" and 수 means "way, ability." So 갈 수가 없어요 says "I am unable to go," and 갈 리가 없어요 says "There is no way he would go." A third neighbour is -(으)ㄹ 것 같지 않다, "I do not think it will." It is softer: 올 것 같지 않아요 is an opinion, while 올 리가 없어요 is a conclusion.

For forecasts about the future, Korean uses future guess -겠- or future tense -(으)ㄹ 거예요. Those pages cover them in full. Now for variations you will hear in real talk.

Variations and Edge Cases of -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다

-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 has a few common variations. They differ mostly in tone and in what replaces the particle.

• Dropping 가. In speech, the particle often disappears: 그럴 리 없어요. Replacing 가 with 는 adds contrast: 그럴 리는 없어요 ("It is unlikely, at least").
• Short reaction. 그럴 리가요! is a polite, short exclamation. A longer form is 설마 그럴 리가요? where 설마 means "surely not."
• Tag-like endings. 그럴 리가 없잖아요 [그럴 리가 업짜나요] asks the listener to agree: "There is no way, right?"
• Formal written style. In writing, 만무하다 ("is out of the question") replaces 없다: 그럴 리가 만무하다. It is stiff and found mostly in essays and news.
• Honorific -(으)시-. Put it before 리 when the subject deserves respect: 선생님이 화내실 리가 없어요 ("There is no way the teacher gets angry").

The tone of this pattern is strong. Said about a person who is present, it can sound like an accusation that they are lying. In careful speech, speakers soften it with a gentler pattern such as 올 것 같지 않아요. This lesson covers the common spoken forms. It does not cover every written variant. The mistakes below show where learners go wrong.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다?

Learners most often mix 리 with 수, misread the double negative or use the pattern as a plain "no." Four slips come up again and again.

1. Confusing 리 and 수. 갈 수가 없어요 means "I cannot go." 갈 리가 없어요 means "There is no way he goes." For ability, choose 수.
2. Using it without reasoning. The pattern needs a reason in the speaker's mind. For a plain "he does not come," say 안 와요.
3. Reading the double negative wrongly. 안 올 리가 없어요 means he will surely come, not that he will not.
4. Sticking the words together. 올리가없어요 is wrong. 리 and 없어요 are separate words, so write 올 리가 없어요.

A quick check for any denial: Do you have a reason? Is the stem followed by ㄹ or 을, then 리가 없다? Did you count the negatives? If all three answers are yes, the sentence is sound.

The practice set below tests these points directly.

Practice and Answers

Try the items before you read the answer key.

1. Build the form. Write the polite -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 form of 먹다 ("to eat").
2. Fix the error. A learner says 그 사람이 안 올 리가 없어요 to mean "He will not come." Correct it.
3. Choose the pattern. Which says "I cannot go": 갈 리가 없어요 or 갈 수가 없어요?
4. Write your own. Write one denial about a friend's rumour, using -(으)ㄹ 리가 없어요.

Answer key

1. 먹을 리가 없어요. 먹 ends in a consonant, so 을 is added.
2. 그 사람이 올 리가 없어요, or more simply 그 사람은 안 와요. The double negative means "He will surely come," so it says the opposite of the intended message.
3. 갈 수가 없어요. 수 is about ability. 리 is about likelihood.
4. Answers vary. Check that the stem is followed by ㄹ or 을, then 리가 없어요. An example: 민수 씨가 약속을 잊을 리가 없어요. ("There is no way Min-su forgets the appointment.")

If you can answer items 1 to 3 without the key, you can use the pattern in conversation. Next, the lesson points to related patterns.

What Should You Learn Next after -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 Grammar?

After -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 grammar, learn the open-possibility pattern, then the future forms. This lesson teaches one strong denial and does not cover ability, plans or evidence-based guesses.

1. Start with -(으)ㄹ지도 모르다, the pattern for "might."
2. Review the future with future guess -겠- and future tense -(으)ㄹ 거예요.
3. Return to Guessing and Conjecture to see every lesson in this set, or to the Intermediate Grammar list for other B1 patterns.

With these steps, the pattern becomes automatic: take the stem, add ㄹ or 을, then 리가 없어요, and use it only when you have a reason.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 mean?

-(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 means "there is no way that" or "it cannot be that." It is a strong denial based on what the speaker knows or reasons. 그 사람이 그럴 리가 없어요 means "There is no way he would do that." The speaker is not asking, only rejecting what someone has just suggested.

How do I attach -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 to a verb or adjective?

Drop 다 from the dictionary form. After a vowel or ㄹ, add -ㄹ 리가 없다: 하다 becomes 할 리가 없다, and 살다 becomes 살 리가 없다. After another final consonant, add -을 리가 없다: 먹다 becomes 먹을 리가 없다. ㅂ, ㄷ and 르 stems change first, as in 어려울 리가 없다.

Can -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 be used in the past tense?

Yes. Put the past marker before 리: 그 가게가 벌써 문을 닫았을 리가 없어요 means "There is no way that shop has already closed." The last word 없다 stays in the present.

Is -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 used in speech or only in writing?

It appears in both. In speech people say 그럴 리가 없어요, 그럴 리가 없지, or the short reaction 그럴 리가요! In formal writing and speeches, the pattern becomes 그럴 리가 없습니다 or 그럴 리가 없다. The strong, direct tone stays the same, so it can sound blunt to a person you are not close to.

What is the most common mistake with -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다?

The most common mistake is mixing 리 with 수. 갈 수가 없어요 means "I cannot go" (no way to do it), while 갈 리가 없어요 means "There is no way he goes" (no reason to expect it). A second slip is using it for a plain "no," without the speaker's reasoning behind it.

What does 안 올 리가 없다 mean?

It is a double negative, so it means the opposite: "There is no way he will not come," or "He will surely come." The negative 안 sits inside the guess, and 없다 denies it. 오지 않을 리가 없어요 means the same. Learners should read the last word first and then flip the negative inside.

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