TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-(으)ㄴ/는걸(요)
A conversational ending that states something the speaker has just found out or wants the listener to notice, often with mild surprise or as a gentle counterpoint or excuse: 'Oh, it's actually …!', 'But …'. -걸요 is the polite form.
문장 끝·말투Endings & speech styleHan: The speaker can see that it fits, so it is a known fact (는걸), not a guess (을걸).
Examples
와, 처음 만든 것치고는 정말 맛있는걸!Wow, for a first try this is really tasty!
가: 숙제 아직 안 했지? 나: 아니요, 벌써 다 했는걸요.A: You haven't done your homework yet, have you? B: Actually, I've already finished it.
가: 내일 같이 영화 볼래? 나: 미안, 나 내일은 약속이 있는걸.A: Want to see a film together tomorrow? B: Sorry, I've got plans tomorrow.
Don’t mix up
-(으)ㄴ/는걸(요)vs-(으)ㄹ걸요-(으)ㄹ걸요 guesses (rising tone); -는걸요 states a fact the speaker knows: 문을 닫았을걸요 (probably closed) vs 문을 닫았는걸요 (it is closed, I saw).-(으)ㄴ/는걸(요)vs-네요-네요 is a simple fresh reaction; -는걸요 often adds 'contrary to what you think': 맛있네요 vs 가: 맛없지? 나: 아니, 맛있는걸.How to build it
V+는걸(요)
A+(으)ㄴ걸(요)
N+인걸(요)
있다·없다 → 있는걸
past: V/A+았/었는걸(요)
오다 → 오는걸; 먹다 → 먹었는걸; 크다 → 큰걸; 좋다 → 좋은걸; 학생 → 학생인걸; 약속 → 약속이 있는걸
- Said with falling intonation, in two typical ways: mild admiration or surprise at what you just noticed (생각보다 잘하는걸!), or gently correcting the listener's assumption (가: 같이 가자. 나: 난 벌써 다녀왔는걸).
- Choose the modifier as with 것: verbs and 있다/없다 → 는걸, adjectives → (으)ㄴ걸, nouns → 인걸; for the past use 았/었는걸 with all.
- Do not confuse it with -(으)ㄹ걸(요), a guess said with rising intonation, or regret -(으)ㄹ걸 (그랬다): 벌써 갔는걸요 (I know he's gone) vs 벌써 갔을걸요 (he's probably gone).
- Casual speech only; with 요 it stays soft and polite, but it is not used in formal writing.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 가: 이 옷 좀 작지 않아? 나: 아니, 딱 맞을걸.
Right: 가: 이 옷 좀 작지 않아? 나: 아니, 딱 맞는걸.
The speaker can see that it fits, so it is a known fact (는걸), not a guess (을걸).
Practise -(으)ㄴ/는걸(요) on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -네 (감탄)Casual (반말) ending that voices a fresh reaction to something just seen, heard or realized: 'Oh, …!'. Often said half to oneself; the polite form is -네요.
- -데(요)A spoken ending that passes on something the speaker personally saw or experienced in the past, like -더라(고요): 'I found that …, it turned out …'. With rising intonation it asks about what the listener saw. -데요 is the polite form.
- -거라A plain (해라체) command ending with an old-fashioned, warm or dignified tone, used by parents, grandparents and teachers to children and juniors, and common in novels and historical dramas.
- -는가/-(으)ㄴ가A plain question ending with two uses: in writing (essays, titles, speeches) it poses a thoughtful or rhetorical question, 'What is …?'; in speech it is the old-fashioned 하게체 level that older speakers use to adult juniors.
- -(이)란N(이)란 picks out a concept that you are about to define or explain the essence of: "N is (by its nature)…", "what we call N is…".
- -(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)ㄴ 끝에Shows that a result was finally reached after a long or difficult process of doing something.
- -(으)ㄹ 망정-(으)ㄹ망정 means 'even if I have to accept this bad situation, I still won't give up something more important,' or 'although X is true, Y still holds.'
- -(으)ㄹ 즈음-(으)ㄹ 즈음 means "around the time when something happens": it marks an approximate time, not an exact moment.