Lesson 28
In Level 1 Lesson 13, we introduced -고 싶다, which means “to want to”. It is one of the most basic sentence endings in Korean and is probably quite familiar to you. But in addition to the form of “-고 싶다”, 싶다 also has some other usages that are very interesting and useful to know.
In addition to meaning “to want to”, 싶다 can also mean “to think”, “to wonder”, or “to be not sure if”. It is used in the form of -(으)ㄴ/는가 싶다, -나 싶다, or -(으)ㄹ까 싶다. When it is used in the sense of “to wonder”, 싶다 often expresses the speaker’s doubt about something being possible or true. The exact meaning of 싶다 really depends on the context of the conversation because even when used in the same sentence structure 싶다 can mean either “I think” or “I doubt”.
1. Verb stem + -(으)ㄴ/는가 싶다
-(으)ㄴ/는가 싶다 is most commonly used in the form of 아닌가 싶다 and 건가 싶다. 건가 싶다 is the shortened form of 것인가 싶다. 아닌가 싶다 originally means “I wonder if it is not”, and can be translated to “I think it is”.
Sample Sentences
은희 씨요? 오늘 휴가가 아닌가 싶어요.
= Eunhee? I think she is off-duty today.
= 은희 씨요? 오늘 휴가인 것 같아요.
옆집 사람들한테도 말해 줘야 하는 거 아닌가 싶어요.
= I think we need to tell our next-door neighbors, too.
= 옆집 사람들한테도 말해 줘야 할 것 같아요.
둘이 같이 일하는 건가 싶었어요.
= I was wondering if they work together.
= 둘이 같이 일하는 건지 궁금했어요.
회의가 끝난 건가 싶어서 문을 열어 봤어요.
= I wondered if the meeting was over so I opened the door.
= 회의가 끝난 건지 궁금해서 문을 열어 봤어요.
제 생각이 틀린 건가 싶어요.
= I feel like I might be wrong.
= 제 생각이 틀린 건지도 모르겠다는 생각이 들어요.
2. Verb stem + -나 싶다
-나 싶다 can be thought of as a question to oneself in the form of “verb stem + -나?” followed by 싶다, which means “I wonder” in this usage. Since you are questioning something, it means that you are not sure about it. This structure is often used in the form of -지 않나 싶다 as well. You can think of -지 않나 싶다 as “I ask myself + isn’t this so-and-so?”, which can be translated to “I think”.
Sample Sentences
이게 맞나 싶어요.
= I am not sure if this is correct.
= 이게 맞는지 모르겠어요.
이게 다 무슨 의미가 있나 싶어요.
= I do not know what this all means.
= 이게 다 무슨 의미가 있는지 모르겠어요.
사람들이 왜 이런 걸 좋아하나 싶어요.
= I wonder why people like this kind of stuff.
= 사람들이 왜 이런 걸 좋아하는지 모르겠어요.
왜 그런 말을 하나 싶었어요.
= I wondered why he/she said such a thing.
= 왜 그런 말을 하는 것인지 궁금했어요.
= 왜 그런 말을 하는 것인지 이해할 수 없었어요.
이건 초등학생에게는 너무 어렵지 않나 싶어요.
= I feel like this is too difficult for an elementary school student.
= 이건 초등학생에게는 너무 어려운 것 같아요.
어딘가에서 공사를 하고 있지 않나 싶어요.
= I guess they are doing construction somewhere.
= 어딘가에서 공사를 하고 있는 것 같아요.
When talking about a past incident, you can add the past tense suffix -았/었/였-.
Ex)
이게 다 무슨 의미가 있었나 싶어요.
= I do not know what this all meant.
= I do not understand anymore why we did all that.
이건 초등학생에게는 너무 어렵지 않았나 싶어요.
= I feel like this was too difficult for an elementary school student.
3.Verb stem + -(으)ㄹ까 싶다
-(으)ㄹ까 싶다 can be translated in a similar way to the two previous 싶다 expressions. Because -(으)ㄹ까 is in the future tense, it is commonly used to talk about a future possibility or your assumption about the future.
Sample Sentences
진짜 이게 다 필요할까 싶어요.
= I am not sure if all this will be really necessary.
= 진짜 이게 다 필요할지 모르겠어요.
정말로 다 할 수 있을까 싶어요.
= I am not sure if we can really do all of this.
= 정말로 다 할 수 있을지 모르겠어요.
어렵지 않을까 싶어요.
= I feel like this will be difficult.
= 어려울 것 같아요.
제가 직접 말하면 오해가 생기지 않을까 싶어요.
= I feel like there will be a misunderstanding if I talk to them directly.
= 제가 직접 말하면 오해가 생길 것 같아요.
Unlike -(으)ㄴ/는가 싶다 or -나 싶다, -(으)ㄹ까 싶다 can also be used when talking about what you are considering doing.
Sample Sentences
오늘은 그냥 집에 일찍 갈까 싶어요.
= I am thinking maybe I should just go home early today.
= 오늘은 그냥 집에 일찍 가려고 생각 중이에요.
저 혼자는 못 할 것 같아서 도움을 요청할까 싶어요.
= I do not think I will be able to do it by myself, so I am thinking of asking for help.
= 저 혼자는 못 할 것 같아서 도움을 요청할까 생각 중이에요.