Grammar
N(으)로 꼽히다
Meaning
ExpertN(eu)ro kkophida
N(으)로 꼽히다 means 'to be counted/cited as N' or 'to be regarded as N' — used when something or someone is widely recognized or named as belonging to a category, often as one of several examples or as a top-ranked item. It is the passive form of 꼽다 ('to pick out/count'), so the sentence subject is the thing being recognized, not the one doing the recognizing.
Form
Attach (으)로 to a noun naming the category or ranking (로 after a vowel or ㄹ-final noun, 으로 after other consonants), then add 꼽히다: 이유로 꼽히다 (is cited as a/the reason), 1위로 꼽히다 (is ranked no. 1). The active counterpart 꼽다 is used with a stated subject: 전문가들은 ~을/를 원인으로 꼽는다 ('experts cite ~ as the cause').
Examples
한국은 고령화 속도가 빠른 나라로 꼽힙니다.
Korea is regarded as a country with a fast pace of aging.
이 영화는 올해 최고의 작품으로 꼽힌다.
This film is regarded as the best work of the year.
가격 부담이 가장 큰 이유로 꼽힌다.
Cost burden is cited as the biggest reason.
그는 업계 최고의 전문가로 꼽힌다.
He is regarded as the top expert in the industry.
Common mistakes & nuance
Because 꼽히다 is passive, the person or group doing the judging is often left unstated (as in all the examples above). When it needs to be stated, Korean typically switches to the active form 꼽다 with that group as the subject, rather than adding an agent phrase to 꼽히다.
Similar grammar
- -(으)로 알려져 있다
Both are passive 'N(으)로 + verb' reputation patterns, but they differ in nuance: -(으)로 알려져 있다 means 'is known as' (general reputation, often based on common knowledge or hearsay), while N(으)로 꼽히다 means 'is cited/ranked as' (often implies being explicitly selected among several options, as in rankings or top lists).
- N(으)로 선정되다
Nearly the same sentence shape, and the difference is whether a decision was actually taken. N(으)로 선정되다 reports the outcome of a selection — a committee decided, and the decision has a date, which is why awards and designations are written this way. N(으)로 꼽히다 reports that something is widely counted as belonging in a category or named as one of the leading examples; no body decided it and there is nothing to date. 최고의 작품으로 꼽힌다 is how a film is regarded, 수상작으로 선정됐다 is a prize it won.