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Lv 4Sentence-final endingIntermediate · TOPIK II

-을걸

-eulgeol

I bet; I should have

An informal sentence-final ending used to make a casual guess or assumption, or, especially in past tense, to express light regret about something the speaker didn't do.

Form

Attaches to
Verb, Adjective, 이다, Auxiliary
Other shapes
-ㄹ걸 · -을걸요 · -ㄹ걸요

Meanings

  1. 1

    (informal addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used to indicate a guess or assumption.

    (두루낮춤으로) 미루어 짐작하거나 추측함을 나타내는 종결 어미.

    ※ ‘ㄹ’을 제외한 받침 있는 동사와 형용사 또는 ‘-었-’ 뒤에 붙여 쓴다.

  2. 2

    (informal addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used to indicate a small sense of remorse for or regret about something.

    (두루낮춤으로) 어떤 일에 대해 가벼운 뉘우침이나 아쉬움을 나타내는 종결 어미.

    ※ ‘ㄹ’을 제외한 받침 있는 동사 또는 ‘-었-’ 뒤에 붙여 쓴다.

Examples

  • 나는 네 마음대로 안 될걸.

    I bet things won't go the way you want.

  • 주사가 많이는 안 아플걸.

    The shot probably won't hurt that much.

  • 미국도 지금쯤이면 꽤 추울걸.

    It's probably quite cold in the US by now too.

  • 승규가 민준이보다 생일이 더 빠를걸?

    I bet Seunggyu's birthday comes before Minjun's.

  • 네가 충고했다가 친구한테 괜히 미움만 살걸?

    If you give that advice, you'll probably just end up getting your friend mad at you for nothing.

  • 선생님은 편찮으셔서 댁에 계실걸.

    The teacher isn't feeling well, so I bet she's at home.

Examples: 한국어기초사전, CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.

Don’t confuse with

Forms with a close meaning — a favourite source of wrong answers on TOPIK.

Quick check

  1. 1. What does ‘-을걸’ mean?

  2. 2. Which form means “I bet; I should have”?