Grammar Advanced TOPIK II · Level 5–6 Advanced Grammar Supplement · Curriculum gap

-겠거니

-겠거니: Thinking It Would… — Guiding Assumption

Connective -겠거니: assume that state, take it as given, then act or feel accordingly.

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

How to form it

When	Form	Example
Assumption + -겠거니	-겠거니	먹었겠거니 / 도착했겠거니
Noun copula flavour	N이겠거니 / N겠거니	여자겠거니

-겠거니 assumes, then guides what follows — figuring that….

Often 하고 + the next act.

Why this is hard

Soft guess tools (-을까 보다, -는 듯하다, -으려나 보다) look similar. -겠거니 is less “I wonder” and more I take it as so — therefore….

What it does

You treat a guess as given and behave on it.

먹었겠거니 하고 상을 치웠어요.
도착했겠거니 걱정 안 했어요.
여자겠거니 했는데 남자였어요.
알아서 하겠거니 잔소리 안 했어요.

Forms

먹다 → 먹었겠거니
도착하다 → 도착했겠거니
여자이다 → 여자겠거니
하다 → 하겠거니

When not to use it

Do not use it for open wondering without taking-as-given.

Do not drop the sequel when the guided act is the point.

Do not treat it as hard evidence.

Neighbours — and why they differ

Form	Why it is not this slot
-을까 보다	Soft wonder / tentative guess.
-는 듯하다	Seems / appears.
-으려나 보다	Looks like intending to…

Ask: am I taking a guess as given to guide the next act? If yes, -겠거니.

Do not confuse it with

-을까 보다

thinking I might — a plan you are still weighing

-는 듯하다

seems to… — a soft guess from appearance

-으려나 보다

I guess they mean to… — reading someone's likely intention

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 교재·표준 교육과정 밖의 문법 (Grammar outside of textbooks and standard curriculum) — Advanced Grammar Supplement, Unit 1, on the theme of Curriculum gap. These come with it:

-는 셈이다 amounts to / counts as — treating the situation as that result (-는 셈이다) -을 지경이다 to the point of… — an extreme state or plight (-을 지경이다) -기 십상이다 almost certain to… — nine times out of ten (-기 십상이다) -는 둥 마는 둥 half-doing it — barely, half-heartedly (-는 둥 마는 둥) -던 차에 just when… — at the very moment that was underway (-던 차에) 으로 말미암아 owing to… — formal written cause (으로 말미암아) -는답시고 under the pretext of… — claiming to, often critically (-는답시고) -는가 하면 and then again… — stacking contrasting cases (-는가 하면) -을 겸 while also… — doing it for that purpose too (-을 겸) -게끔 so that… — purpose with a firm push (-게끔) -을 턱이 없다 no reason whatsoever… — denying grounds flatly (-을 턱이 없다) -을 리 만무하다 utterly no chance… — impossibility stressed (-을 리 만무하다) -을 성싶다 seems likely to… — a soft forecast (-을 성싶다) -을지언정 even if… — conceding then holding the other line (-을지언정) -기 그지없다 endlessly… — extreme degree with no bound (-기 그지없다) -기 이를 데 없다 beyond words… — so much there is no way to say it (-기 이를 데 없다) -다 못해 unable to go on… — past the limit, then the sequel (-다 못해) -는 셈치고 pretending / counting it as… — provisional assumption (-는 셈치고) -는다 뿐이지 only that… — limiting the claim to just that (-는다 뿐이지) -는다손 치더라도 even granting that… — strong concession then pushback (-는다손 치더라도) -어 주십사 please do… for me — earnest old-style request (-어 주십사) -으랴 -으랴 what with A and B… — piling pressures or tasks (-으랴 -으랴) -으려던 참이다 was just about to… — intention interrupted at the brink (-으려던 참이다) -는다기보다는 rather than saying… — reframing the label (-는다기보다는) -은 끝에 after all that… — only at the end of the ordeal (-은 끝에) -은 바 있다 have (once)… — formal experience on record (-은 바 있다) -건 간에 whether A or B… — it does not matter which (-건 간에)

Words used above

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-겠거니-getgeonithinking it would…

추측chucheukguess

인정injeongtaking as given

-을까 보다-eulkka bodaI wonder / guess — neighbour

거니geoniconnective colour in this package

Quick check

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

1. You did not check, but you took it as read that they had eaten, and you cleared the table on that basis. Which line reports that?

2. Which line attaches the ending to a noun the way the forms table shows?

3. You are weighing whether to just go home, without having decided. Which line is the wondering rather than the settled assumption?

Common questions

Dictionary?

기초사전: assume a fact and recognize it — often with 하고 + sequel.

Tone?

Narrative, parental, explanatory — ‘I figured… so…’.

Wrong assumption?

Common — 여자겠거니 했는데 남자였다. The assumption can fail.

Café soft?

먹은 줄 알고…. Keep 겠거니 when the assume-then-act link is clear.