안녕하세요 여려분! Welcome to another lesson focused on expanding your understanding of Korean language structures. Today, we are delving into the intriguing world of the grammar structure “(으)ㄴ가 보다”. We have covered this structure in the previous lesson where we have conjugated action verbs. This lesson will teach you how to conjugate descriptive verbs i.e. adjectives.
If you need a recap of the previous lesson, click here.
This structure allows us to express assumptions or educated guesses based on current or observable circumstances. It’s a powerful tool in conversation, enabling us to infer situations, express our perceptions, or share opinions with others.
Throughout this lesson, we’ll dissect the usage of “(으)ㄴ가 보다”, explore its formation and usage with various verbs, and learn through plenty of examples. So, let’s dive in and unlock another level of your Korean language proficiency!
Conjugation
DESCRIPTION VERB/ADJECTIVE + -(으)ㄴ가 보다
- Take a verb i.e. 바쁘다
- Drop “다” i.e. 바쁘
- Follow the below rules to add the appropriate ending i.e. 바쁜가 보다
- If the word ends in a vowel, add ㄴ가 보다
- If the word ends in a consonant, add 은가 보다
- If the word ends in a consonant “ㅂ”, drop “ㅂ” and add 운가 보다
The 보다 verb also gets conjugated and so it becomes “바쁜가 봐요” – I guess (someone) is busy.
- 좋다 –> 좋 + 은가 보다 –> 좋은가 보다 (It seems that it’s good)
- 크다 –> 크 + ㄴ가 보다 –> 큰가 보다 (It seems that it’s big)
- 작다 –> 작 + 은가 보다 –> 작은가 보다 (It seems that it’s small)
- 빠르다 –> 빠르 + ㄴ가 보다 –> 빠른가 보다 (It seems that it’s fast)
- 무섭다 –> 무서 + 운가 보다 –> 무서운가 보다 (It seems that it’s scary)
- 맵다 –> 매 + 운가 보다 –> 매운가 보다 (It seems that it’s spicy)
이다 (to be)
Please note that 이다 also follows these rules and so it becomes “인가 보다”. While it is not an adjective, it is often combined with nouns that make some sort of statement.
- 남자인가 봐요. – It seems like it’s a man.
- 선생님인가 봐요. – Looks like he is a teacher.
Understanding of -(으)ㄴ가 보다
While we often see the “나 보다” structure used with action verbs, it’s also perfectly valid and useful to use it with descriptive verbs (also known as adjectives or stative verbs) in Korean. The application of this structure to descriptive verbs allows you to make assumptions or educated guesses about certain states or qualities.
Let’s take an example with the descriptive verb ‘춥다’ (to be cold). When we add ‘(으)ㄴ 가 보다’ to this verb, it becomes ‘추운가 보다’, which can be translated to “it seems (it is) cold” or “I guess (it is) cold”.
Here’s a full sentence example:
- 날씨가 추운가 봐요. (It seems like the weather is cold.)
Here’s another example with the descriptive verb ‘많다’ (to be many):
- 사람들이 많은가 봐요. (It seems like there are many people.)
By using this grammar structure with descriptive verbs, you’re able to communicate your assumptions or inferences about various states or conditions. This can be particularly useful when you want to express your observations about the world around you in a nuanced and subtle manner.
Past tense
When it comes to using the structure “(으)ㄴ가 보다” with descriptive verbs in the past tense, you would simply attach the suffix -았/었/였 to the stem of the adjective and add 나 봐요.
DESCRIPTIVE VERB + 았/었/였 + 나 봐요.
- 예쁘다 –> 예뻤나 봐요 (It seems like it was pretty)
- 뜨겁다 –> 뜨거웠나 봐요 (It seems like it was hot)
- 깨끗하다 –> 깨끗했나 봐요 (It seems like it was clean)
- 착하다 –> 착했나 봐요 (It seems like it was kind)
- 바쁘다 –> 바빴나 봐요 (It seems like it was busy)
You can remember this by firstly conjugating the adjectives to a past tense and then simply removing the “어요” part and adding “나 봐요” instead.
- 예쁘다 –> 예뻤어요 –> 예뻤 + 나 봐요 –> 예뻤나 봐요
- 뜨겁다 –> 뜨거웠어요 –> 뜨거웠 + 나 봐요 –> 뜨거웠나 봐요
- 깨끗하다 –> 깨끗했어요 –> 깨끗했 + 나 봐요 –> 깨끗했나 봐요
- 착하다 –> 착했어요 –> 착했 + 나 봐요 –> 착했나 봐요
- 바쁘다 –> 바빴어요 –> 바빴 + 나 봐요 –> 바빴나 봐요
Negative sentences
To create a negative sentence with the “(으)ㄴ가 보다” structure, you would first need to make the verb or adjective negative. In Korean, you typically make a verb or adjective negative by adding ‘지 않다’ or ‘안’.
Once you have the negative form, you then add the “(으)ㄴ가 보다” structure. Remember to use ‘은’ if the stem ends with a consonant, and ‘ㄴ’ if it ends with a vowel.
Let’s take ‘춥다’ (to be cold). The negative form would be ‘춥지 않다’ (to not be cold). Then, adding “(으)ㄴ가 보다” forms ‘춥지 않은가 보다’, which means “it seems (it’s) not cold”.
Or, using the ‘안’ we can simply say ‘안 추운가 보다”.
- 안 가까운가 봐요. – It seems like it’s not close.
- 가깝지 않은가 봐요. – It seems like it’s not close.
- 안 싼가 봐요. – It seems like its not cheap.
- 싸지 않은가 봐요. – It seems like its not cheap.
- 안 느린가 봐요. – It seems like it’s not slow.
- 느리지 않은가 봐요. – It seems like it’s not slow.
- 안 가벼운가 봐요. – It seems like it’s not light
- 가볍지 않은가 봐요. – It seems like it’s not light.
Can you see the difference? When adding just “안” all you have to do is just add it in front of the adjective. But when you use the “지 않다” you have to conjugate that verb as well as the adjective.
Examples
- 이 책이 좋지 않은가 봐요. – This book doesn’t seem to be good.
- 콜라는 몸에 안 좋은가 봐요. – Coke doesn’t seem to be good for your body.
- 사람들이 많은가 봐요. – There seems to be a lot of people..
- 생각보다 가깝지 않은가 봐요. – It seems it’s not as close as I thought.
- 이 차는 빠른가 봐요. – It seems that this car is fast.
Activity 1
Fill in the blanks
- 이거 너무 _________. 조심해요. – This seems to be very heavy. Be careful.
- 한국어가 _______. – Korean seems to be hard.
- 밖에 너무 ________. 따뜻하게 입어요. – It seems to be cold outside. Dress warmly.
- 어제 많이 _________. – It seems like you were very busy yesterday.
- 학생들이 __________. – It seems like there weren’t many students.
Activity 1 Answers
- 이거 너무 무거운가 봐요. 조심해요. – This seems to be very heavy. Be careful.
- 한국어가 어려운가 봐요. – Korean seems to be hard.
- 밖에 너무 추운가 봐요. 따뜻하게 입어요. – It seems to be cold outside. Dress warmly.
- 어제 많이 바빴나 봐요. – It seems like you were very busy yesterday.
- 학생들이 많지 않았었나 봐요. – It seems like there weren’t many students.
And that brings us to the end of our exploration of the fascinating Korean grammar structure “(으)ㄴ가 보다”. Remember, the key to truly mastering any new grammar structure is consistent practice and application. Try to use “(으)ㄴ가 보다” in your conversations or writings whenever you can. It’s a valuable tool for expressing assumptions, inferences, or educated guesses, and it will definitely help you to sound more like a native speaker.
We hope that you found this lesson helpful and informative! Now, we would love to see what you’ve learned. Please share your own sentences using the “(으)ㄴ가 보다” structure in the comments section below. This is a fantastic way to reinforce your understanding and practice what you’ve learned.
Remember, learning a new language is a journey, and every step you take brings you closer to fluency. Keep up the great work, and happy studying!