Korean grammar · Level 3 · 3급
-나 보다 / -(으)ㄴ가 보다
It seems … (from what I can see)
A guess based on something you can see or hear right now: people are carrying umbrellas, so it must be raining. Verbs take -나 보다, adjectives take -(으)ㄴ가 보다 and nouns take 인가 보다; for a guess about the past, use -았/었나 보다. In conversation it's usually -나 봐요.
| When | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| verb | -나 봐요 | 비가 오나 봐요 |
| adjective | -(으)ㄴ가 봐요 | 바쁜가 봐요 · 좋은가 봐요 |
| noun | 인가 봐요 | 선생님인가 봐요 · 친구인가 봐요 |
| past | -았/었나 봐요 | 왔나 봐요 · 동그래졌나 봐요 |
Examples
사람들이 우산을 들고 있어요. 비가 오나 봐요.
People are carrying umbrellas. It must be raining.
호야 씨가 계속 웃어요. 기분이 좋은가 봐요.
Hoya keeps smiling. He must be in a good mood.
그래서 우리 가족이 북쪽 숲으로 왔나 봐요.
So that must be why our family came to the northern forest.
Practise it in context · Level 3, Unit 6
I heard it's different in Korea
A dialogue with audio, practice that checks itself, Hoya’s mistakes, a reading and a writing task.
Open the unit →