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Lv 5Grammar expressionAdvanced · TOPIK II

-으려나 보다

-euryeona boda

it seems (something) is about to

Attaches to verb stems to express the speaker's guess that the event described is about to happen, based on some observed sign — 'it looks like it's going to...'.

Form

Other shapes
-려나 보다

Meanings

  1. 1

    An expression used to guess that the something mentioned in the preceding statement is likely to happen.

    앞말이 나타내는 일이 일어날 것이라고 추측함을 나타내는 표현.

Examples

  • 갑자기 승규가 만나자고 하는 걸 보니 무슨 부탁을 하려나 보다.

    Seunggyu suddenly asking to meet up — I guess he's about to ask for a favor.

  • 좋은 꿈도 꾸고 기분도 좋으니 오늘 내게 좋은 일이 생기려나 보다.

    I had a good dream and I'm in a good mood, so it seems something good is going to happen to me today.

  • 할아버지께서 잠시 댁에 들르라고 하시는 걸 보니 용돈이라도 주시려나 보다.

    Grandfather is asking me to stop by his place for a bit, so I guess he's about to give me some spending money.

  • 장마도 끝났으니 이제 정말 더워지려나 봐. 맞아. 오늘 아침에 걸어오는데 땀이 줄줄 나더라.

    Now that monsoon season is over, it seems like it's really going to get hot. Right. I was sweating buckets walking here this morning.

  • 하늘이 맑은 것을 보니 오늘은 비가 오지 않으려나 보다.

    Seeing the clear sky, it looks like it's not going to rain today.

  • 승규는 오늘도 밥 대신 라면을 먹으려나 봅니다.

    It looks like Seunggyu is going to have ramyeon instead of rice again today.

Examples: 한국어기초사전, CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.

Quick check

  1. 1. What does ‘-으려나 보다’ mean?

  2. 2. Which form means “it seems (something) is about to”?