-잖아요

-잖아요 reminds the listener of something they already know or should know, often to justify what you are saying or as a mild complaint.

문장 끝·말투Endings & speech style

Han: A person you have just met cannot already know where you are from, so -잖아요 sounds strange and even rude; use a plain ending for new information.

Examples

민수 씨는 매운 음식을 못 먹잖아요. 다른 식당으로 가요.Minsu can't eat spicy food, you know. Let's go to another restaurant.

밖에 비가 오잖아요. 우산 가져가세요.It's raining outside, see? Take an umbrella.

제가 어제 말했잖아요. 오늘 오후에 회의가 있다고요.I told you yesterday, remember? That there's a meeting this afternoon.

주말이잖아요. 길이 많이 막힐 거예요.It's the weekend, you know. The roads will be really busy.

Don’t mix up

-잖아요vs-거든요-거든요 gives a reason the listener did NOT know; -잖아요 points to a reason they already know: 어제 아팠거든요 (new info) vs 어제 아팠잖아요 (you know I was sick).-잖아요vs-지요(죠)-죠 softly seeks agreement and can be a question; -잖아요 asserts the listener already knows: 날씨가 덥죠? (isn't it hot?) vs 날씨가 덥잖아요 (it's hot, as you can see).

How to build it

V/A+잖아요

N+(이)잖아요

past: V/A+았/었잖아요

바쁘다 → 바쁘잖아요, 학생 → 학생이잖아요, 말하다 → 말했잖아요

Use it only for information the listener already shares; for news they do not know, use -거든요 or a plain ending.
It can sound reproachful ("you should know this"), so be careful using it with seniors or people you have just met.
It is a spoken, statement-type ending: it is not used in formal writing and is not combined with commands or suggestions in the same clause.
Tense goes before it (갔잖아요, 갈 거잖아요); in casual speech drop 요: -잖아.

Classic mistake

Wrong: ~~(처음 만난 사람에게) 저는 우즈베키스탄에서 왔잖아요.~~

Right: (처음 만난 사람에게) 저는 우즈베키스탄에서 왔어요.

A person you have just met cannot already know where you are from, so -잖아요 sounds strange and even rude; use a plain ending for new information.

Practise -잖아요 on real TOPIK questions

Hannim plans each day up to your exam date: questions on this pattern, reviews, full mock papers and graded writing. 7 days free, no card.

Start 7-day free trial

More level 3 grammar

All TOPIK grammar