TOPIK II · LEVEL 5
-(으)려나 보다
Guesses 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.
추측·판단Guessing & judgingHan: You do not guess your own plans from signs; state them with -(으)려고 하다.
Examples
옆집 앞에 이삿짐 트럭이 서 있는 걸 보니 이사를 가려나 봐.There's a moving truck outside next door, so they must be about to move.
하늘이 잔뜩 흐린 걸 보니 곧 비가 오려나 봐요.The sky is so overcast; it looks like it's about to rain.
아기가 자꾸 눈을 비비는 걸 보니 이제 자려나 보다.The baby keeps rubbing its eyes; it looks like it's ready to sleep.
Don’t mix up
-(으)려나 보다vs-나 보다-나 보다 guesses about what is already happening: 비가 오나 봐요 (it seems to be raining). -(으)려나 보다 is about to happen: 비가 오려나 봐요 (it seems about to rain).
-(으)려나 보다vs-(으)ㄹ 것 같다-(으)ㄹ 것 같다 is a general guess that needs no visible sign and can be about yourself: 내일 좀 늦을 것 같아요.
How to build it
V+(으)려나 보다
ㄹ-stems: V+려나 보다
오다 → 오려나 봐요; 먹다 → 먹으려나 봐요; 떠나다 → 떠나려나 봐요; 울다 → 울려나 봐요; 듣다 → 들으려나 봐요
- It rests on something you see or notice, often stated first with -는 걸 보니: 하늘이 흐린 걸 보니 비가 오려나 봐요.
- Not for your own intention, which you know: 제가 가려나 봐요 (X) → 제가 가려고 해요.
- Used with verbs, very often natural processes or people's next moves: 비가 오다, 해가 지다, 꽃이 피다, 아기가 자다, 이사를 가다.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 저는 내년에 유학을 가려나 봐요.
Right: 저는 내년에 유학을 가려고 해요.
You do not guess your own plans from signs; state them with -(으)려고 하다.
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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)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?
- -나 싶다 / -(으)ㄴ가 싶다It expresses a tentative thought or doubt in your own mind, like 'I wonder if…' or 'maybe…', often with a touch of worry.
- -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.