Grammar
N을/를 계기로
Meaning
AdvancedN eul/reul gyegiro
계기 is the occasion or trigger that starts a change. N을/를 계기로 names the event that set a change in motion without asserting a strict cause the way -기 때문에 does, which is why analysts reach for it when pointing at a turning point they cannot fully explain. A clause can be used instead of a bare noun through the longer variant -(으)ㄴ 것을 계기로.
Form
Noun + 을 계기로 after a final consonant (건강 검진을 계기로), 를 계기로 after a vowel (사고를 계기로). 계기 is a noun meaning 'occasion, trigger', so the phrase is literally 'taking N as the trigger'. To take a whole clause instead of a bare noun, nominalise it first with -(으)ㄴ 것: 상을 받은 것을 계기로 ('prompted by winning a prize'). A fuller and stiffer variant, 을/를 계기로 하여, appears in formal writing with no change of meaning.
Examples
그는 건강 검진을 계기로 담배를 끊었습니다.
He quit smoking, prompted by a health checkup.
이번 사고를 계기로 안전 규정이 강화되었습니다.
Prompted by this accident, the safety rules were tightened.
저는 한국 여행을 계기로 한국어를 배우기 시작했습니다.
A trip to Korea was what prompted me to start learning Korean.
상을 받은 것을 계기로 그는 글을 계속 쓰게 되었습니다.
Winning the prize was what prompted him to keep writing.
Common mistakes & nuance
What comes before 을/를 계기로 has to be an event expressed as a noun. It does not attach to a verb ending, so 여행하를 계기로 is impossible — use the noun (여행을 계기로) or the nominalised form (여행한 것을 계기로). Because it points at a trigger rather than asserting a cause, it makes a weaker claim than -기 때문에: the sentence says the change started from there, not that it had to happen.
Similar grammar
- 때문에
때문에 asserts a cause: A happened, and that is why B happened. N을/를 계기로 only names the occasion a change began from and leaves the causal link loose, which is why writers use it for turning points they can point to but cannot fully explain.