Lesson 4
If you have studied with our Level 4 book, in Lesson 27 you learned how to express “I think that...” or “ it seems that...” by using 것 같다. The key sentence structure in this lesson is somewhat similar to 것 같다, but it carries a stronger connotation of “I suppose… because…” or “I assume … based on ABC (fact).”
-나 보다 = I assume; I suppose; I guess
This is typically only used when you are talking about someone other than yourself. However, when you talk about yourself using -나 보다, you are referring to yourself in the third person by making assumptions about how or why you have done something.
Ex)
I guess you do not like coffee.
I guess I have never heard about it.
* Very important note: -나 보다 is only used with action verbs.
Conjugation
[present tense]
Verb stem + -나 보다
[past tense]
Verb stem + -았/었/였- + -나 보다
(Future tense uses a different structure, which you will learn with us later.)
Ex)
- 하다 = to do
하 + -나 보다 = 하나 보다 = I guess they do + something
→ [present tense] 하나 봐요.
→ [past tense] 했나 봐요.
- 모르다 = to not know
모르 + -나 봐요 = 모르나 봐요. = I guess he/she does not know.
→ [past tense] 몰랐나 봐요. = I guess he/she did not know.
- 없다 = to not exist; to not be present
없 + -나 봐요 = 없나 봐요. = I guess he/she/it is not there.
→ [past tense] 없었나 봐요. = I guess he/she/it was not there.
- 재미있다 = to be fun; to be interesting
재미있 + -나 봐요 = 재미있나 봐요. = I guess it is fun. / I suppose it is interesting.
→ [past tense] 재미있었나 봐요. = I guess it was fun.
- 사다 = to buy
사 + -나 봐요 = 사나 봐요. = I guess he/she buys.
→ [past tense] 샀나 봐요. = I guess he/she bought.
Sample Sentences
주연 씨는 아직 모르나 봐요.
= I guess Jooyeon still does not know.
또 비가 오나 봐요.
= I guess it is raining again.
어제 재미있었나 봐요.
= I guess it was fun yesterday. / I assume you had a good time yesterday.
아무도 없나 봐요.
= I guess there is no one there.
고장 났나 봐요.
= I guess it broke.