Korean Grammar: Expressions with "을까요?"

This lesson covers the Korean grammatical expression "을까요?" which is attached to the stem of adjectives or verbs to form questions that speculate about the future or unknown situations. It is used to ask someone’s opinion or guess about something that has not happened yet or is unknown.

Usage of "을까요?"

• Expression Form: Adds to the stem of adjectives or verbs.
• Function: To speculate about or question the future or unknown situations, and to ask someone's opinion or thoughts.

Construction of "을까요?"

• With Stems with Final Consonants (받침 있는 어간): Receives "을까요?"
  • e.g., 좋다 (to be good) becomes 좋을까요?
• With Stems without Final Consonants (받침 없는 어간): Directly attaches "을까요?"
  • e.g., 오다 (to come) becomes 올까요?
• Stems with ㄹ Final Consonants (리을 받침): The ㄹ is dropped before adding "을까요?"
  • e.g., 놀다 (to play) becomes 놀까요?
• Usage with Nouns ('이다' form): Add 일까요 irrespective of having a final consonant or not.
  • e.g., 학생이다 (to be a student) becomes 학생일까요?

Past Tense Form

• Possible to make past tense forms by using the past tense verb endings (았/었) before adding "을까요?"
  • Future example: 누가 이길까요? (Who will win the game tomorrow?)
  • Past example: 누가 이겼을까요? (Who would have won the game yesterday?)

Practice

Practice involves converting sentences to include the "을까요?" form, to question or speculate about various situations based on the verb, adjective, or noun.

Key Differences from Similar Expressions

• Also compares with similar expressions like "을까?" which has a slightly different usage, such as making suggestions or asking for opinions in more general terms.

Conclusion

The lesson provides a concise overview of how to form and use the "을까요?" expression in Korean to speculate about uncertain future events or to engage in conversations by asking for opinions or thoughts. It's a fundamental part of Korean grammar that enhances conversational skills.