~나 보다 ( ~na boda) _ I guess~
Korean culture is “indirect”. That is, we tend to avoid saying ‘I’m sure….’. Instead, we try to say “I guess / I assume/ I suppose” even it is the obvious context.
Hence we have several expressions regarding “I suppose”. Let’s find out what they are.
Firstly, ~나 보다 (~na boda) is used when you are talking about people other than yourself. For example, ‘I guess you don’t like Shinee : 샤이니를 안 좋아하나 봐요 (Shinee reul an joa hana bwa yo)’ or ‘I assume that you never tried it: 한 번도 안 해봤나 봐요 (han beon do an hae buanna bwa yo).’
Another common expression is ~것 같다 (~ geot gatta) which is similar to the first one but is stronger than ~ 나 보다 because ~것 같다 is based on the face or evidence. For example, “유리는 저 보다 더 키가 큰 것 같아요.” ,means that “I think Yuri is taller than me.” If you try to say “It’s a sunny day, isn’t it?”, you had better to say “오늘은 날씨가 좋은 것 같아요 (oneureun nalssiga jo eun geot gattayo)” rather than “오늘은 날씨가 좋아요 (oneureun nalssiga joayo).”.
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