Saturday, May 13, 2017

UNIT 41: The Suffix -겠

The suffix - is a pre-final ending that is used to indicate two things, intentional and inferential usage.

First, the suffix - is intentional when its subject of the predicate is the first/second person since it conveys the speaker’s intention and/or asks the listener’s intention which corresponds to “will” in English. Consider the following instances,

열심히 하습니다                   “(I) will work hard”
당신 생일파티를 노래하습니다    “(I) will sing at your birthday party”
                 버스로 학교에 가시습니까?       “Will (you) go to school by bus?”
                  뭐 하시습니까?                    “What will (you) do?”

Therefore, it is used for first person statements and/or second person questions. Second person questions usually had honorific form -() [-(eu)si ] since Koreans normally honor other people. Notice that the intentional suffix - has similar meaning to -()ㄹ래요 [-(eu)llaeyo] which denotes “will” also. The only difference is that the latter (-()ㄹ래요) is generally used on colloquial settings (i.e., daily slang conversation) and the former (-is used in more formal settings.

Second, the suffix - is inferential because its subject of the predicate is the third person or entity which indicates the speaker’s speculation or asks the listener’s thought about the topic in question (i.e., not directly expressed).  Consider these instances,

이 계절은 꽃이 피어요            “(I guess that this) flower will bloom this season”
영화가 재미있어요               “(I guess that) the movie will be interesting”
행복하게 드라마 끝나어요?      “(Do you think that) the drama will end happily?”
제가 해외에 공부하어요?                         “(Do you think that) I will study abroad?”

Thus, it corresponds to “I guess/think that…” (for the first person statement) or “do you think that…” (for the second person question) in English. Moreover, the inferential suffix - is commonly used in formal contexts like on broadcasting weather forecasts and news reports. Like for these instances,

내일은 겨울 계절이 시작하습니다   “(I guess that) as for tomorrow, winter season
  will start”
오늘 오후 비가 습니다                                 “(I guess that) it will rain this afternoon”





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