TOPIK II · LEVEL 3

-나 보다/-(으)ㄴ가 보다

-나 보다/-(으)ㄴ가 보다 express a guess based on something you notice: 'it seems that …'.

추측·판단Guessing & judging

Han: You know your own feelings directly, so you don't guess about them with -(으)ㄴ가 보다.

Examples

민수 씨가 요즘 많이 바쁜가 봐요.Minsu seems to be very busy these days.
밖에 비가 오나 봐요. 사람들이 우산을 쓰고 있어요.It seems to be raining outside. People are using umbrellas.
불이 꺼져 있네요. 다들 집에 갔나 봐요.The lights are off. Everyone must have gone home.

Don’t mix up

-나 보다/-(으)ㄴ가 보다vs-(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다-는 것 같다 is a general 'I think'; -나 보다 needs something you've just seen or heard as evidence: 비가 오는 것 같아요 vs (seeing wet umbrellas) 비가 오나 봐요.

How to build it

V+나 보다
A+(으)ㄴ가 보다
N+인가 보다

오다 → 오나 봐요, 바쁘다 → 바쁜가 봐요, 학생 → 학생인가 봐요

  1. Use it for guesses about others or situations, not about your own feelings.
  2. Past forms take -나 보다: 갔나 봐요, 바빴나 봐요.
  3. In speech -나 보다 also appears after adjectives (바쁘나 봐요), but -(으)ㄴ가 보다 is the standard form.

Classic mistake

Wrong: 저는 배가 고픈가 봐요.

Right: 저는 배가 고파요.

You know your own feelings directly, so you don't guess about them with -(으)ㄴ가 보다.

Practise -나 보다/-(으)ㄴ가 보다 on real TOPIK questions

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More level 3 grammar

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