What's the difference between (-겠) and (-것 같다)? Hi everyone, I just came across this grammar pattern (-겠) the textbook I am studying from. and i did look it up in the Korean grammar in use book.How

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Youssif

What's the difference between (-겠) and (-것 같다)?

Hi everyone,

I just came across this grammar pattern (-겠) the textbook I am studying from. and i did look it up in the Korean grammar in use book.

However, it sounds too similar to the (-것 같다) pattern which have the same meaning, the only viable option (to me) is that (-것 같다) can be used in all tenses, past,present and future, other than that, what would you say the important difference between them is?

13 ต.ค. 2018 เวลา 11:41

ความคิดเห็น · 1

One important difference is that 겠 indicates more reflexive and spontaneous thought or feelings, like "it might/would ...", whereas 것 같다 involves more thinking and thus sounds more indirect, like "it seems" or "it appears".

For example, if a baby is about to fall from a place, you'd say 저 애(가) 저기서 떨어지겠다 rather than 떨어질 것 같다. Both are correct, but 겠 sounds more urgent and visceral while 것 같다 sounds like a leisurely judgement.

Another example would the colloquial "be dying (from pain)", which translates to (아파) 죽겠어 or (아파) 죽을 것 같아. Again, both can be said, but 겠어 is more common.

As for the tenses, you're right that 것 같다 can have wider applications.

Here are the main possible forms.

- 갔을 것이다 (would have gone) / 간 것이다 (went) / 가는 것이다 (goes; is going) / 갈 것이다 (will be going).

- 갔겠다 (might have gone; perhaps (they) went) / 가겠다 (will/would/might go).

14 ตุลาคม 2018