jabi.
Grammar Beginner TOPIK I · Level 1–2 Sejong Korean 2 · Unit 19

-을까 보다

-을까 보다: Thinking I Might

Marks speaker intention that is still being weighed — 'I might… / I'm thinking of…'.

Before this, make sure you know: -을까 , -아요 / -어요

How to form it

When Form Example
Consonant stem (not ㄹ) -을까 보다 먹다 → 먹을까 보다 / 읽다 → 읽을까 보다
Vowel or ㄹ stem -ㄹ까 보다 가다 → 갈까 보다 / 살다 → 살까 보다 / 이사하다 → 이사할까 보다
Polite -을까 봐요 / -ㄹ까 봐요 이사할까 봐요

-을까 보다 is I’m thinking I might… — a plan still on the scale, not locked in.

세종 초급2 unit title: 저도 학교 근처로 이사할까 봐요 — I’m thinking I might move near school too.

우리말샘 lists auxiliary 보다 in the -을까 보다 frame as: the speaker has the intention to do that action.

이사할까 봐요.
I’m thinking of moving.

오늘 일찍 잘까 봐요.
I might go to bed early today.

다른 집을 알아볼까 봐요.
I might look into another place.

Forms

Same stem split as -을까:

StemShapeExample
consonant (not ㄹ)-을까 보다먹을까 봐요
vowel / ㄹ-ㄹ까 보다갈까 봐요, 살까 봐요, 이사할까 봐요

Polite speech conjugates 보다: 봐요.

Not bare -을까

FormJob
-을까 -을까요?shall we? / I wonder?
-을까 보다I might — weighed intention

*우리 이사할까요? invites the other person. 이사할까 봐요 reports your own leaning.

Not -을 것 같다

FormJob
-을 것 같다hedge a guess / impression
-을까 보다speaker’s possible plan
비 올 것 같아요.     It looks like rain. (guess)
우산 가져갈까 봐요.   I might take an umbrella. (plan)

Not -어 보다

-어 보다 is try it / have you ever. -을까 보다 is thinking of doing it. Do not glue them into 을까 어 보다.

Watch the lookalike: worry

A different dictionary sense uses -을까 봐(서) for lest / for fear that… (늦을까 봐 일찍 나왔어요). Same pieces, different job. If the line is about your plan, you want intention -을까 봐요. If it is about preventing a bad outcome, you are in the worry frame.

Practice rule

Subject is usually I. Ending is 봐요. Meaning is considering, not promising.

Do not confuse it with

-을까

shall we? — a suggestion phrased as a question

-을 것 같다

I think, it seems — the hedge Koreans put on almost everything

-어 보다

try doing — and in the past, "have you ever"

Taught alongside this

In the Sejong course this appears in 저도 학교 근처로 이사할까 봐요 — Sejong Korean 2, Unit 19, on the theme of 집. These come with it:

-거나 or — choosing between actions 이나 or — choosing between nouns, often with a hint of settling

Words used above

Tap the speaker to hear it read aloud by your browser.

-을까 보다-eulkka bodabe thinking of doing / might do
이사하다isahadato move house
알아볼까 봐요arabolkka bwayoI might look into it
할까 봐요halkka bwayoI might do it / I'm thinking of doing it

Quick check

No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.

1. What does 이사할까 봐요 mainly signal?

2. How does -을까 보다 differ from -을까요?

3. Which is closer to a softened guess about the weather?

Common questions

Is this the same 보다 as -어 보다?

Same Hangul, different job. [[g:eo-boda]] is try / have-you-ever. -을까 보다 is intention you are still weighing.

What about -을까 봐(서) for worry?

Dictionary 보다 also appears in -을까 봐 / -을까 봐서 for fear that something might happen. That is a different sense (lest…). This page is the intention frame in 이사할까 봐요.

First person only?

Everyday classroom lines are first-person plans. Stick to 저는 …을까 봐요 while you learn the pattern.

을까 봐요 vs 을 것 같아요?

을까 봐요 ≈ I'm considering doing it. [[g:eul-geot-gatda]] ≈ it seems / I think (about a situation). Do not swap them for the same job.