-는가
-neun-ga
(question) — is it...?
A moderately addressee-lowering sentence-final ending used to ask a question about a present fact, or for the speaker to pose a rhetorical question to raise an issue or muse to themselves.
Form
- Attaches to
- Verb, Adjective, 이다, Auxiliary
- Other shapes
- -ㄴ가 · -은가
Meanings
- 1
(formal, moderately addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending referring to a question about a fact of the present.
(예사 낮춤으로) 현재의 사실에 대한 물음을 나타내는 종결 어미.
- 2
A sentence-final ending used when the speaker is asking himself/herself or assuming something.
말하는 사람이 스스로에게 묻거나 추측할 때 쓰는 종결 어미.
※ 주로 ‘-는가 하다’, ‘-는가 싶다’, ‘-는가 보다’로 쓴다.
Examples
지수가 열이 심하다던데 좀 어때요?
I heard Jisu has a high fever — how is she doing?
좀 나아지는가 싶으면 열이 또 오르고 그래서 걱정이에요.
Just when it seems like she's getting better, her fever goes back up, so I'm worried.
내가 여기서 무얼 하고 있는가.
What am I even doing here.
머뭇거리는 걸 보니 자신이 없는가 보구나.
Seeing you hesitate, I guess you're not confident.
나는 그가 왜 그냥 갔는가 하며 궁금해했다.
I wondered why he had just left like that.
오래 기다렸는가?
Have you been waiting long?
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. What does ‘-는가’ mean?
2. Which form means “(question) — is it...?”?