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Lv 5Grammar expressionAdvanced · TOPIK II

-게 생겼다

-ge saengyeotta

it looks like... (heading for trouble)

Attaches to verb stems to indicate the speaker has ended up in the situation described, usually an unwanted or troublesome one — 'it looks like I'm going to...'.

Form

Attaches to
Verb, Adjective

Meanings

  1. 1

    An expression used to indicate that someone is facing the situation expressed by the preceding statement.

    앞말이 가리키는 상황에 처하게 됨을 나타내는 표현.

    ※ 주로 부정적인 의미를 나타낼 때, 동사와 형용사 또는 ‘-으시-’ 뒤에 붙여 쓴다.

Examples

  • 쌀이 없어서 저녁을 굶게 생겼다.

    There's no rice, so it looks like we're going to skip dinner.

  • 갑자기 비가 오는 바람에 소풍을 못 가게 생겼다.

    Because of the sudden rain, it looks like we won't be able to go on the picnic.

  • 옆집 공사 때문에 시끄러워서 공부를 못 하게 생겼다.

    The construction next door is so noisy that it looks like I won't be able to study.

  • 이제 휴가가 짧아진다면서? 응. 앞으로 휴가에 멀리 여행을 가기는 힘들게 생겼어.

    I heard vacations are getting shorter now? Yeah. It looks like it'll be hard to travel far on vacation from now on.

  • 이제 휴가가 짧아진다면서?

    I heard vacations are getting shorter now?

  • 응. 앞으로 휴가에 멀리 여행을 가기는 힘들게 생겼어.

    Yeah. It looks like it'll be hard to travel far on vacation from now on.

Examples: 한국어기초사전, CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.

Quick check

  1. 1. What does ‘-게 생겼다’ mean?

  2. 2. Which form means “it looks like... (heading for trouble)”?