✍️ Intermediate Day 7: Making Assumptions – ~나 봐요 / ~(으)ㄴ가 봐요

📘 Intermediate Day 7: Making Assumptions – ~나 봐요 / ~(으)ㄴ가 봐요

Welcome to Day 7 of the Intermediate Korean Series! 🎓 In today’s lesson, you’ll learn how to express assumptions or guesses in Korean using two common expressions: ~나 봐요 and ~(으)ㄴ가 봐요.

These expressions are polite, natural, and often used in conversation when you're unsure or making a guess based on context or what you see.

📘 What You’ll Learn

  • ✔️ How to use ~나 봐요 with action verbs
  • ✔️ How to use ~(으)ㄴ가 봐요 with adjectives, nouns, and past tense
  • ✔️ Real-life example sentences
  • ✔️ Practice quiz to reinforce learning

📘 Part 1: ~나 봐요 (I guess... / It seems...)

~나 봐요 is used after **action verbs** to make a soft guess or assumption. It’s often used when observing something and inferring meaning.

  • Verb stem + ~나 봐요

📌 Examples:

  • 비가 오나 봐요.
    bi-ga o-na bwa-yo
    👉 I guess it’s raining.
  • 늦었나 봐요.
    neu-jeot-na bwa-yo
    👉 I think they’re late.
  • 출발했나 봐요.
    chul-bal-haet-na bwa-yo
    👉 I guess they already left.

📘 Part 2: ~(으)ㄴ가 봐요 (Seems like...)

~(으)ㄴ가 봐요 is used with **adjectives, nouns, or past tense verbs** to make an assumption about a state or fact.

  • Adjective stem + ~(으)ㄴ가 봐요
  • Noun + 인가 봐요
  • Past tense verb + ~(으)ㄴ가 봐요

📌 Examples:

  • 춥은가 봐요.
    chu-un-ga bwa-yo
    👉 I guess it’s cold.
  • 학생인가 봐요.
    hak-saeng-in-ga bwa-yo
    👉 I think they are a student.
  • 피곤했는가 봐요.
    pi-gon-haet-neun-ga bwa-yo
    👉 I guess you were tired.

📘 Comparison Table

Form Used With Meaning Example Romanization
~나 봐요 Action Verbs I guess / It seems 가나 봐요 ga-na bwa-yo
~(으)ㄴ가 봐요 Adjectives / Nouns / Past Verbs I suppose / It seems 예쁜가 봐요 / 학생인가 봐요 ye-ppeun-ga bwa-yo / hak-saeng-in-ga bwa-yo

💬 Real-Life Dialogue

👧 수지: 왜 사람들이 줄 서 있어요?
👦 준호: 인기 많은 가게인가 봐요.
👧 수지: 우산을 보니까 비가 오나 봐요.


📘 Practice Sentences

  • 그 사람은 외국인인가 봐요.
  • 오늘은 좀 춥(은)가 봐요.
  • 그들은 벌써 도착했나 봐요.
  • 수업이 끝났나 봐요.

🧪 Mini Quiz

  1. Translate: “I guess it’s snowing.”
    Click to Show Answer

    ✅ 눈이 오나 봐요.

  2. What’s the meaning of “예쁜가 봐요”?
    Click to Show Answer

    ✅ I guess she is pretty.

  3. How would you say “He already went home, I guess”?
    Click to Show Answer

    ✅ 벌써 집에 갔나 봐요.


✅ Conclusion

🎉 Great job! Now you can speak more softly and naturally by expressing assumptions with:

  • ✔️ ~나 봐요 for action verbs
  • ✔️ ~(으)ㄴ가 봐요 for adjectives, nouns, and past verbs
  • ✔️ Used in real-life conversations to be less direct and more polite


📘 Coming Up Next

Tomorrow: Intermediate Day 8: Explaining Reasons – ~거든요 / ~(으)니까 Let’s learn how to explain your thoughts naturally in Korean!

Related Keywords:
learn korean, korean grammar, korean assumption expression, 나 봐요, 은가 봐요, korean guessing structure, intermediate korean expressions