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MIGHT BE / SEEMS TO IN KOREAN
Things are not always the way they look!
You’ll learn how to express “might be” in Korean, as well as when things “seem to” be something else.
BASIC STRUCTURE
In Korean, following expression can be used to express “might be/seem to”.
This expression is generally used in future tense.
PATTERN
Verb + ᄅ것 같다
내일비가올것같다.
It seems it will rain tomorrow.그가학교에결석할것같다.
It seems he will miss the school.View More Phrases
| 동생은이번여름유럽으로여행을떠날것 같다. | My brother might travel to Europe this summer. |
| 미경은이번주말친구집을방문할것같다. | Mi-Kyung might visit her friend this weekend. |
NEGATION FORM
The negation of the expression in future tense is as follow:
| #1 | #2 | #3 |
|---|---|---|
| 안 + verb + ᄅ것 같다 (* for “하다” verb, “안” should be placed in front of “하다”) | Verb + ᄅ것은아닌것같다 | Verb + 않을것같다 |
Let’s have a look at some examples:
| #1
내일비가안올것같다.
#2 내일비가올것은아닌것같다. #3 내일비가오지는않을것같다. | It doesn’t seem it will rain tomorrow. It seems it won’t rain tomorrow. |
View More Phrases
| #1 #2 #3 |
그가학교에결석은안할것같다.
그가학교에결석할것은아닌것같다. 그가 학교에 결석하지는 않을 것같다. | It doesn’t seem he will miss the school. It seems he won’t miss the school. |
| #1 #2 #3 |
동생은이번여름유럽으로여행을안 떠날것같다.
동생은 이번 여름 유럽으로 여행을 떠날것은아닌것같다. 동생은 이번 여름 유럽으로 여행을 떠나지는 않을 것 같다. | It doesn’t seem my brother will travel to Europe this summer. It seems my brother won’t travel to Europe this summer. |
| #1 #2 #3 |
미경은이번주말친구집을방문 안할것같다.
미경은이번주말친구집을방문할 것은아닌것같다. 미경은이번주말친구집을 방문하지는 않을 것 같다. | Mi-Kyung might not visit her friend this weekend. It seems Mi-Kyung won’t visit her friend this weekend. |
PAST TENSE
To express “might be/seem to” in past tense, following expression can be used.
PATTERN
Verb+ᄊ던것같다
어제비가왔었던것같다.
It seems it rained yesterday.그가 지난주 학교에 결석했던것같다.
It seems he missed the school last week.View More Phrases
| 동생은지난여름유럽으로여행을떠났던것 같다. | It seems my brother travelled to Europe last summer. |
| 미경은 지난 주말 친구집을 방문했던 것 같다. | It seems Mi-Kyung visited her friend last weekend. |
NEGATION OF THE PAST TENSE
The negation of the expression in past tense is as follow:
| #1 | #2 |
|---|---|
| 안 + Verb + ᄊ 던 것 같다 | Verb + 는 않았던 것 같다. |
Here are some examples of negation of “might be/seem to” in past tense:
| #1
어제비가안왔었던것같다.
#2 어제비가오지는않았던것같다. | It doesn’t’ seem it rained yesterday. |
View More Phrases
| #1 #2 |
그가지난주학교에결석은안했던 것 같다.
그가 지난 주 학교에 결석하지는 않았던 것 같다. | It doesn’t seem he missed the school last week. |
| #1 #2 |
동생은 지난 여름 유럽으로 여행을 안떠났던 것 같다.
동생은 지난 여름 유럽으로 여행을 떠나지는 않았던 것 같다. | It doesn’t seem my brother travelled to Europe last summer. |
| #1 #2 |
미경은 지난 주말 친구집을 방문 안했던 것 같다.
미경은 지난 주말 친구집을 방문하지는 않았던 것 같다. | It doesn’t seem Mi-Kyung visited her friend last weekend. |
PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
To express “might be/seem to” in present tense, following expression can be used.
PATTERN
Verb + ᄂ것 같다.
지금비가오는것같다.
It might be raining now.그가오늘결석하는것같다.
It seems he is missing school today.View More Phrases
| 동생은 지금 유럽을 여행하는 것 같다. | It seems my brother is traveling in Europe right now. |
| 미경은 오늘 친구집을 방문하는 것 같다. | It seems Mi-Kyung is visiting her friend today. |
NEGATION OF PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
The negation of the expression in present continuous tense is as follow:
| #1 | #2 |
|---|---|
| 안 + Verb + ᄂ것같다 | Verb + ᄂ것은아닌것같다 |
| #1
지금비가안오는것같다.
#2 지금비가오는것은아닌것같다. | It doesn’t seem it is raining now. |
View More Phrases
| #1 #2 |
그가오늘결석은안하는것같다.
그가오늘결석하는것은아닌것같다. | It doesn’t seem he is missing school today. |
| #1 #2 |
동생은지금유럽여행은안하는것 같다.
동생은지금유럽여행을하는것은 아닌것같다. | It doesn’t seem my brother is traveling in Europe right now. |
| #1 #2 |
미경은오늘친구집을방문안하는것 같다.
미경은 오늘 친구집을 방문하는 것은 아닌것같다. | It doesn’t seem Mi-Kyung is visiting her friend today. |
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FAQs
How to say “might be” in Korean?
In Korean, following expression can be used to express “might be/seem to”.
This expression is generally used in future tense.
Verb + ᄅ것 같다
What’s the negative of “might be” in Korean?
The negation structure of the expression in future tense is as follow:
#1 안 + verb + ᄅ것 같다
#2 Verb + ᄅ것은아닌것같다
#3 Verb + 않을것같다
—
Example: It doesn’t seem it will rain tomorrow. / It seems it won’t rain tomorrow.
1 내일비가안올것같다.
2 내일비가올것은아닌것같다.
3 내일비가오지는않을것같다.
What’s the past tense of “might be” in Korean?
To express “might be/seem to” in past tense, following expression can be used.
Verb+ᄊ던것같다
Examples:
어제비가왔었던것같다. // It seems it rained yesterday.
그가 지난주 학교에 결석했던것같다. // It seems he missed the school last week.
How to express certainty in Korean?
In Korean, following expression can be used to express certainty on an event or an action.
Verb + 다고/ᄅ 것이라고
A verb conjugated with 다고/ ᄅ것 이라고 is often followed by a verb “생각한다” or “확신한다” which means “think” and “be sure”, respectively.
Example:
I think (I am certain) that she will come to the party tomorrow.
그녀가 내일 파티에 온다고 생각한다.
그녀가 내일 파티에 올 것이라고 생각한다.
—
Learn more about certainty in Korean here.
How to express uncertainty in Korean?
In Korean, different expressions can be used depending on the degree of uncertainty.
VERB+ᄅ지
#1 General uncertainty. The subject has no bias on the degree of uncertainty.
#2 Uncertainty on the future/present event.
VERB + 는지
#1 The subject has bias on the degree of uncertainty, typically on the side that the event or action will not take place.
#2 Uncertainty on the present event
VERB + ᄊ는/을지
#1 General uncertainty for past event/action.
— View our full lesson for sentence examples.
—
Learn more about uncertainty in Korean here.
Where to find more lessons like this?
You can visit our Korean Grammar Bank for more lessons on levels A1, A2 and B1.