커녕 (let alone) - Let Alone, Far From

At its heart, 커녕 is an emphatic marker. It attaches to a noun to say, "Forget about [Noun A], even [Noun B] didn't happen." Most of the time, the sentence ends with a negative expression like 못 하다 (can't do), 안 하다 (don't do), or 없다 (to not have). It creates a scale of disappointment. You start with the thing that was more likely or more desired, and then you drop down to the reality which is even worse. For example, if you say 공부는커녕 잠도 못 잤어요, you're saying "Far from studying, I couldn't even sleep." Studying was the goal, but the reality was so bad that even basic sleep was impossible. The 은/는 part is often added to the noun (making it 은커녕 or 는커녕) to add even more contrast and punch to your statement. It’s like underlining the word in a text message. If you want to use it with a verb, you just need to turn that verb into a noun form first using 기는. So 먹다 (to eat) becomes 먹기는커녕.

1. 1For Nouns ending in a vowel, add 는커녕 or just 커녕. (e.g., 사과 -> 사과커녕 or 사과는커녕)
2. 2For Nouns ending in a consonant, add 은커녕 or 커녕. (e.g., 밥 -> 밥커녕 or 밥은커녕)
3. 3For Verbs, take the verb stem and add 기는커녕. This works for both action verbs and descriptive verbs (adjectives). (e.g., 가다 -> 가기는커녕, 예쁘다 -> 예쁘기는커녕)
4. 4Always follow up with a negative clause. This is the "grammar traffic light" rule—if you don't have a negative ending, the sentence usually won't make sense. Common endings include 안, 못, 전혀, or 조차 없다.
5. 5Keep the most "difficult" or "ideal" thing first, and the "easier" or "basic" thing second. It’s a downward slope of expectations.

Use this when you want to sound natural while complaining about a situation. It's perfect for real-world scenarios like ordering food at a busy restaurant. If you waited an hour and didn't even get your water, you'd tell your friend: 밥은커녕 물도 안 줘요! (Far from food, they don't even give water!). You can also use it in job interviews (carefully!) or professional settings to describe missed targets: 칭찬은커녕 꾸중만 들었어요 (Far from praise, I only got scolded). It’s great for describing health and fitness struggles too. If you went to the gym to lose weight but ended up gaining some, 살이 빠지기는커녕 더 쪘어요 is your go-to phrase. Basically, anytime reality lets you down, 커녕 is there to help you express that specific flavor of "not even close."

You should avoid 커녕 when the second part of your sentence is positive or successful. For example, you wouldn't say "Far from failing, I got an A+!" using 커녕 because the grammar naturally leads towards a negative or disappointing result. If you use it with a positive result, you’ll sound very sarcastic, which might not be what you want. Also, don't use it for simple substitutions where there's no sense of "even the basics failed." If you just want to say "Instead of coffee, I drank tea," use 대신에. 커녕 implies a lack of something or a failure of an expectation. Using it for a simple choice like "I bought a hat instead of a shirt" sounds like the shirt was a grand dream that you failed to achieve, which is a bit dramatic for a shopping trip!

The most frequent slip-up is forgetting the negative ending. English speakers often forget this because "Let alone" doesn't always strictly require a grammatical negative, but in Korean, it’s almost mandatory. Another mistake is mixing up the order of the nouns. Remember: Big/Ideal thing first, Small/Basic thing second. If you flip them, you’re saying you couldn't even do the big thing, let alone the small thing, which is logically backwards. Also, don't forget the 기는 when using verbs. You can't just attach 커녕 directly to a verb stem like 가커녕. That's a one-way ticket to sounding like a confused robot. Yes, even native speakers mess this up when they're talking too fast, but you should try to keep it clean!

You might wonder how this differs from 대신에 (instead of). 대신에 is neutral. It’s a simple swap. "I ate bread instead of rice." No drama. 커녕 is full of drama. It implies rice was expected, but even bread wasn't available. There's also 말할 것도 없고 (not to mention/needless to say). While 커녕 focuses on the failure of the basic thing, 말할 것도 없고 usually highlights that the first thing is so obvious it doesn't need mentioning. For example, "He speaks Korean perfectly, not to mention English." Here, both are positive. 커녕 stays in the negative lane. Think of 대신에 as a fork in the road, and 커녕 as a pothole you fell into before you even reached the fork.