Learn Korean: State Verb + 가 보다

Let’s take a look at the Korean sentence pattern State Verb + 가 보다. We use this to make assumptions based on what we see or hear. It is similar to the following expressions in English: She must be pretty, He must be tired, and He must be mad. We say someone must be pretty if she has so many admirers, but we have no idea how she looks like. We say someone must be tired when he just got home after 15 hours of work. We say someone must be mad when he is giving a cold shoulder. The main state verbs are 예쁘다 (to be pretty), 피곤하다 (to be tired), and 화나다 (to get mad) respectively. We take the verb stem (예쁘/피곤하/화나) and attach ㄴ가 보다. The actual sentences is 예쁜가 봐(요), 피곤한가 봐(요), and 화난가 봐(요).

오빠가 화난가 봐.

(Oppa) must be mad.

아빠가 피곤한가 봐요.

Dad must be tired.

바쁜가 보다.
He must be busy. (He is not answering the call)