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Grammar / Level 3 / Lesson 67

나 보다, ㄴ/은가 보다, 는 모양이다, 았/었겠: it must be

By Daniel Buckley · 11 minute read · TOPIK 3

Vocabulary

  1. 모양 - shape, look
  2. 줄 - queue, line
  3. 젖다 - to get wet
  4. 불 - light, fire
  5. 꺼지다 - to go out (of a light)
  6. 사귀다 - to go out with, to date
  7. 그만두다 - to quit
  8. 정장 - suit
  9. 놀라다 - to be surprised
  10. 속상하다 - to be upset

You walk past a restaurant with a queue out of the door. You've never eaten there, so you can't say 맛있어요. What you can say is 맛있나 봐요: it must be good.

Everything here reasons backwards from something you've noticed, and English says "must" or "it looks like". The thinking goes: here's what I can see, so that must be what's going on. The 보다 in 나 보다 has lost its usual meaning and is just part of the ending.

~나 보다: verbs

~나 보다 goes on verb stems, and on anything ending in 있다 or 없다. For something that's already happened, add 았/었. It usually appears as 나 봐요, or 나 봐 with friends.

Making ~나 보다

  • Verbs, and 있다 and 없다: drop 다, add 나 보다.오다 → 오나 봐요맛있다 → 맛있나 봐요
  • Stem ends in ㄹ: the ㄹ drops.살다 → 사나 봐요알다 → 아나 봐요
  • Past, verbs and adjectives: add 나 보다 to the 았/었 stem.왔나 봐요바빴나 봐요

Pick a verb

오다오오나 봐요

Pick a verb

오다왔어요왔나 봐요

  1. 사람들이 우산을 쓰고 있어요. 비가 오나 봐요.

    People have their umbrellas up. It must be raining.

  2. 저 식당은 항상 줄이 길어요. 정말 맛있나 봐요.

    That place always has a long queue. It must be really good.

  3. 전화를 안 받아요. 지금 운전하나 봐요.

    He's not picking up. He must be driving.

  4. 불이 꺼져 있어요. 벌써 잤나 봐요.

    The lights are off. They must have gone to bed already.

  5. 길이 젖어 있어요. 어젯밤에 비가 왔나 봐요.

    The road's wet. It must have rained last night.

  6. 제임스 씨가 한국어를 정말 잘해요. 한국에서 오래 살았나 봐요.

    James speaks really good Korean. He must have lived in Korea for a long time.

Each of those comes in two parts, because that's how the thinking goes: first the evidence, then the conclusion. In real speech the evidence is often just in front of you, so you only say the second half.

~ㄴ/은가 보다: adjectives and nouns

Adjectives take the ㄴ/은 modifier and then 가 보다, and nouns take 인가 보다. It means the same thing as ~나 보다. In the past, adjectives join the verbs and take 았/었나 보다.

Making ~ㄴ/은가 보다

  • Adjectives: ㄴ/은, then 가 보다.바쁘다 → 바쁜가 봐요좋다 → 좋은가 봐요춥다 → 추운가 봐요
  • Nouns: add 인가 보다.학생 → 학생인가 봐요친구 → 친구인가 봐요

Pick a verb

바쁘다바쁘바쁜가 봐요

  1. 민수 씨가 전화를 안 받아요. 바쁜가 봐요.

    Minsu isn't picking up. He must be busy.

  2. 아이가 계속 울어요. 어디가 아픈가 봐요.

    The child won't stop crying. Something must hurt.

  3. 다들 코트를 입었어요. 밖이 추운가 봐요.

    Everyone's in coats. It must be cold out.

  4. 저 사람은 항상 정장을 입어요. 회사원인가 봐요.

    That man always wears a suit. He must be an office worker.

  5. 케이크가 있네요. 오늘이 민수 씨 생일인가 봐요.

    There's a cake. It must be Minsu's birthday today.

※ You'll hear people say 바쁘나 봐요 in casual speech, with an adjective. Textbooks and exams want 바쁜가 봐요, so use that. Don't mix this up with ㄹ/을까 봐요 from Plans and decisions, which is about you thinking of doing something.

Not the same as 것 같다

것 같다 can be your own impression, and it softens an opinion. ~나 보다 does neither: it needs something outside your own experience to go on. A film shows the difference nicely.

  1. 이 영화 재미있는 것 같아요.

    I think this film is good. (You've seen it.)

  2. 이 영화 재미있나 봐요.

    This film must be good. (You haven't, but everyone's talking about it.)

So with food in your mouth, 맛있나 봐요 sounds as if you're watching someone else eat. You can use it about yourself when you're reading your own symptoms, though, as if from outside: 감기에 걸렸나 봐요, I think I've caught a cold.

는 모양이다: from the look of things

모양 means shape or look, so this says "the look of it is". It does much the same job as ~나 보다, and the two often swap, though to my ear it's a little more formal, and it's just as at home in writing. It also has an easy future, ㄹ/을 모양이다, which reads what's coming.

Making 는 모양이다

  • Verbs now, and 있다 and 없다: 는 모양이다.사귀다 → 사귀는 모양이에요있다 → 있는 모양이에요
  • Verbs, already happened: ㄴ/은 모양이다.오다 → 온 모양이에요먹다 → 먹은 모양이에요
  • Adjectives: ㄴ/은 모양이다.좋다 → 좋은 모양이에요
  • Nouns: 인 모양이다.학생 → 학생인 모양이에요
  • Still to come: ㄹ/을 모양이다.오다 → 올 모양이에요그만두다 → 그만둘 모양이에요

Pick a verb

오다오올 모양이에요

  1. 두 사람은 매일 같이 다녀요. 사귀는 모양이에요.

    Those two go everywhere together. They seem to be going out.

  2. 길이 젖어 있어요. 비가 온 모양이에요.

    The road's wet. It looks like it's rained.

  3. 민수 씨가 계속 웃어요. 기분이 좋은 모양이에요.

    Minsu keeps smiling. He seems to be in a good mood.

  4. 하늘이 어두워요. 눈이 많이 올 모양이에요.

    The sky's dark. It looks like we're in for a lot of snow.

  5. 민수 씨가 요즘 다른 일을 찾고 있어요. 회사를 그만둘 모양이에요.

    Minsu's been looking for other work. He looks set to quit.

~았/었겠: that must have been

겠 was a guess from what's in front of you, as in 피곤하겠어요, you must be tired. Put 았/었 before it and the guess is about the past. You'll mostly use this as a reply: someone tells you what happened, and you say how it must have been for them.

Making ~았/었겠어요

  • Add 겠어요 to the 았/었 stem. 겠 comes second.힘들다 → 힘들었겠어요좋다 → 좋았겠어요

Pick a verb

힘들다힘들었어요힘들었겠어요

  1. 세 시간이나 기다렸어요? 정말 힘들었겠어요.

    You waited three whole hours? That must have been hard.

  2. 제주도에 다녀왔어요? 좋았겠어요.

    You've been to Jeju? That must have been nice.

  3. 갑자기 불이 꺼졌어요? 놀랐겠어요.

    The lights just went out? You must have been startled.

  4. 많이 아팠겠어요.

    That must have really hurt.

  5. 버스를 놓쳤으면 늦었겠어요.

    If you'd missed the bus, you would have been late.

Example 5 shows the other use: after (으)면, it's what would have happened. ~았/었나 봐요 starts from different ground. 힘들었겠어요 is the sympathetic reply when you've been told what happened, and 힘들었나 봐요 reads it off evidence, like someone who looks worn out.

  1. 우산을 쓴 사람이 많아요. 밖에 비가 ___.

    Lots of people have umbrellas up. It must be raining out.

  2. 지갑을 잃어버렸어요? 정말 ___.

    You lost your wallet? You must have been so upset.

  3. 저는 지금 떡볶이를 먹고 있어요. 정말 ___.

    I'm eating tteokbokki right now. It's really good.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

In a conversation

A

민수 씨가 오늘 계속 웃어요.

Minsu today keeps smiling.

B

좋은 일이 있나 봐요.

Good thing must exist.

A

여자 친구가 생긴 모양이에요. 어제 꽃을 사는 걸 봤어요.

Girlfriend looks to have appeared. Yesterday (I) saw (him) buying flowers.

B

그래요? 저는 어제 회의를 세 시간이나 해서 못 봤어요.

Is that so? I yesterday had a meeting for a whole three hours, so couldn't see.

A

세 시간이요? 힘들었겠어요.

Three hours? Must have been hard.

Common mistakes

  1. 저 식당은 맛있은가 봐요.

    저 식당은 맛있나 봐요.

    있다 and 없다 words take 나, even when English calls them adjectives.

  2. 저 사람은 학생나 봐요.

    저 사람은 학생인가 봐요.

    Nouns take 인가 보다.

  3. 정말 힘들겠었어요.

    정말 힘들었겠어요.

    The 았/었 comes first, then 겠.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

불이 꺼져 있어요. 벌써 ___. (자다, with 나 보다) The lights are off. They must have gone to bed already.

It's already happened.

Summary

~나 봐요 forms
DictionaryStem~나 봐요
오다오오나 봐요
먹다먹먹나 봐요
살다살사나 봐요
있다있있나 봐요
~ㄴ/은가 봐요 forms
DictionaryStem~ㄴ/은가 봐요
바쁘다바쁘바쁜가 봐요
좋다좋좋은가 봐요
춥다춥추운가 봐요
길다길긴가 봐요
~았/었겠어요 forms
DictionaryPast~았/었겠어요
힘들다힘들었어요힘들었겠어요
좋다좋았어요좋았겠어요
놀라다놀랐어요놀랐겠어요
듣다들었어요들었겠어요

The family

  • ~나 보다, ~ㄴ/은가 보다: that must be what's going on.비가 오나 봐요바쁜가 봐요
  • 는 모양이다: much the same, and it suits writing too.비가 온 모양이에요
  • ㄹ/을 모양이다: that looks to be what's coming.눈이 올 모양이에요
  • ~았/었겠어요: that must have been, usually in sympathy.힘들었겠어요

Now you can say

  1. 저 식당은 항상 줄이 길어요. 정말 맛있나 봐요.

    That place always has a long queue. It must be really good.

  2. 민수 씨가 전화를 안 받아요. 바쁜가 봐요.

    Minsu isn't picking up. He must be busy.

  3. 세 시간이나 기다렸어요? 정말 힘들었겠어요.

    You waited three whole hours? That must have been hard.

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