TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-나 싶다 / -(으)ㄴ가 싶다
It expresses a tentative thought or doubt in your own mind, like 'I wonder if…' or 'maybe…', often with a touch of worry.
추측·판단Guessing & judgingHan: The possible slip of the tongue happened yesterday, so the guess itself needs the past tense: 했나 싶다. 하나 싶다 would mean wondering whether you are making a slip right now.
Examples
요즘 잠을 너무 못 자서 이러다 병이 나는 게 아닌가 싶어요.I've been sleeping so badly lately that I'm afraid I might get sick at this rate.
혹시 제가 말실수를 했나 싶어서 계속 신경이 쓰였어요.I kept worrying, wondering whether I had said something wrong.
창밖이 조용해서 비가 그쳤나 싶어 나가 봤어요.It got quiet outside, so I thought the rain might have stopped and went out to check.
처음에는 일이 너무 어려운가 싶었는데 해 보니까 할 만했어요.At first I wondered if the work was too hard, but once I tried it, it was manageable.
Don’t mix up
-나 싶다 / -(으)ㄴ가 싶다vs-나 보다-나 보다 states a conclusion drawn from evidence; -나 싶다 voices your own uncertain thought, often leading to an action: 불이 꺼졌네요. 다들 퇴근했나 봐요. vs 다들 퇴근했나 싶어서 사무실에 가 봤어요.
-나 싶다 / -(으)ㄴ가 싶다vs-(으)ㄹ까 싶다-(으)ㄹ까 싶다 is about something not yet done (a plan or a future worry); -나 싶다 guesses about a present or past situation: 주말에는 집에서 쉴까 싶어요 (I'm thinking of resting at home).-나 싶다 / -(으)ㄴ가 싶다vs-고 싶다-고 싶다 means 'want to'; -나 싶다 has nothing to do with wanting, only with guessing: 집에 가고 싶어요 (I want to go home) vs 벌써 집에 갔나 싶어요 (I wonder if he's already gone home).How to build it
V / 있다·없다+나 싶다
A+(으)ㄴ가 싶다
N+인가 싶다
past: V/A+았/었나 싶다
오다 → 오나 싶다, 비싸다 → 비싼가 싶다, 학생이다 → 학생인가 싶다, 끝나다 → 끝났나 싶다
- If you are guessing about something that already happened, put the past tense inside the guess (했나 싶다). The tense on 싶다 (싶었다) only shows when you had the thought.
- In standard usage, adjectives and 이다 take -(으)ㄴ가/인가 싶다 (비싼가, 학생인가), while verbs and 있다/없다 take -나 싶다. In casual speech, -나 with adjectives is also heard.
- In conversation it usually voices the speaker's own thought; it is not used to ask the listener a question (not: 비가 오나 싶어요?).
- It very often appears as -나 싶어서 (the thought led to an action) or -나 싶었는데 (the guess turned out wrong); -는 게 아닌가 싶다 softens a worry or opinion.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 혹시 제가 어제 말실수를 하나 싶어서 전화로 사과했어요.
Right: 혹시 제가 어제 말실수를 했나 싶어서 전화로 사과했어요.
The possible slip of the tongue happened yesterday, so the guess itself needs the past tense: 했나 싶다. 하나 싶다 would mean wondering whether you are making a slip right now.
Practise -나 싶다 / -(으)ㄴ가 싶다 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다Use -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다 when the situation makes it plain to you that something, usually something bad, will happen or has happened.
- -(으)ㄹ 턱이 없다Use -(으)ㄹ 턱이 없다 to say firmly that, given what you know, something simply cannot be true or happen: "there's no way that ~".
- -(으)ㄹ 우려가 있다States formally that there is a real risk that something bad or undesirable could happen.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 경향이 있다Says that people or things generally lean toward a certain behavior or state; it describes a tendency, not a fixed rule.
- -(으)ㄹ까 싶다-(으)ㄹ까 싶다 voices a half-formed thought in the speaker's mind: either "I'm thinking I might do ~" or "I suspect, worry or hope that ~ might happen."
- -(으)려나 보다Guesses from a visible sign that something is about to happen or that someone means to do something: 'it looks like … is going to …'. -(으)려나 is short for -(으)려고 하나; conversational.
- -(으)려고(요)? (의심)A rhetorical question voicing doubt that something could be true: 'Surely … wouldn't …?' The speaker expects the answer no. Spoken and a little old-fashioned; the polite form is -(으)려고요?
- -는 수가 있다-는 수가 있다 says that something, usually unwanted, can occasionally happen under certain conditions, and it is often used as a warning.
- -는 법이다States that something naturally happens, or is supposed to be done, as a general rule of life or common sense.