만료되다

When you hear 만료되다, think of a clock hitting zero on a timer. It is a formal way of saying that the time allowed for something has run out.

You use this word for things that have a start and end date. If you have a driver's license, it doesn't last forever—it has a date when it 만료되다 (expires). It is a very common term in business and daily life when dealing with official documents.

It is not used for people or emotions, but strictly for things with a legal or time-bound limit. It is the perfect word to use when you need to sound professional about deadlines or contract dates.

The word 만료되다 is composed of two Sino-Korean (Hanja) roots: 만 (滿), meaning 'full' or 'complete', and 료 (了), meaning 'finish' or 'end'.

Historically, this reflects the concept of a period being 'fully completed'. In classical Chinese, these characters were used to denote the completion of a cycle or a task. Over centuries, the term was adopted into Korean administrative language to specifically describe the expiration of time.

Because it is rooted in Sino-Korean, it carries a sense of authority and precision. It is much more formal than simply saying '끝나다' (to end), which makes it the go-to choice for government forms, contracts, and official notifications.

You use 만료되다 when talking about contracts, visas, passports, or subscriptions. It is almost exclusively used in formal or neutral settings.

Common phrases include 계약이 만료되다 (the contract expires) or 유효기간이 만료되다 (the validity period expires). You wouldn't use this for a movie ending; for that, you would use '끝나다'.

The register is formal. In a casual conversation, you might say '끝났어' (it's over), but if you are talking to a bank clerk or a government official, 만료되다 is the correct, polite choice to ensure your meaning is clear and professional.

While 만료되다 is a technical verb, it appears in several fixed expressions:

• 임기가 만료되다: To reach the end of a term of office.
• 유효기간이 만료되다: To have an expiration date pass.
• 계약 기간이 만료되다: To reach the end of a contract period.
• 만료를 앞두다: To be approaching the expiration date.
• 만료로 인한 해지: Cancellation due to expiration.

These expressions are standard in legal and business communications. Using them shows you understand the proper administrative terminology in Korean.

Grammatically, 만료되다 functions as an intransitive verb. It usually follows the subject (e.g., [Subject] + 이/가 + 만료되다).

The pronunciation is [만료되다] which sounds like 'man-ryo-doe-da'. Note the liquid sound of the 'ㄹ' (r/l) in '만료'. Ensure you don't drop the sound; it should flow smoothly into the 'doe' syllable.

It is often used in the past tense (만료되었다) when an expiration has already occurred. It rhymes loosely with other Sino-Korean verbs ending in '-되다', such as '완료되다' (to be completed) or '취소되다' (to be cancelled).