-는가①
-는가①: Is It…? — Open / Literary Question
Ending: question about a present fact in 하게 style; also self-question/conjecture frames.
How to form it
| When | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb / 있다·없다 | -는가 | 가는가 / 있는가 / 없는가 |
| Self-question frames | -는가 하다 / 싶다 / 보다 | 오는가 싶다 / 맞는가 보다 |
-는가① asks an open question — often literary, rhetorical, or 하게체 flavour: is it…?
It is not the soft spoken -나요 of everyday curiosity. Same broad “question” idea; different register.
Why this is hard
Learners map every question to -아요? / -나요?. Then essays, editorials, and older speech show -는가 and it feels cold or grand. The reverse mistake is using -는가 in café small talk and sounding like a textbook or a speech.
Action verbs take -는가; adjectives and 이다 have related shapes (-ㄴ가, -인가) — learn the family without forcing one form on every stem.
What it does
It opens a question with distance or written weight.
이것이 옳은가?
그는 어디에 사는가?
무엇을 원하는가?
정말 그럴 수 있는가?Often self-addressed or addressed to readers, not a barista.
Forms
Adnominal-style question endings in the -는가 / -ㄴ가 / -인가 family (classroom label -는가①).
When not to use it
Do not replace friendly -요? questions with -는가 in service talk.
Do not confuse it with guessing -는가 보다. That phrase means it seems; this slot is the question ending itself.
Do not treat it as angry by default — tone comes from context; the grammar is open/literary questioning.
Neighbours — and why they differ
| Form | Why it is not this slot |
|---|---|
| -나요 | Soft spoken question. |
| -는가 보다 | It seems that… — conjecture chunk. |
| -을까 | Wondering I wonder / shall we. |
Ask: do I need an open, often written question? If yes, -는가. If you are chatting politely, use -요? / -나요?
Do not confuse it with
Taught alongside this
On the jabi learning path, this appears in 종결어미 (final ending) — Advanced Korean 1, Unit 3, on the theme of final ending. These come with it:
Words used above
Quick check
No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.
1. You ask, in the open literary question, whether he goes. Not a guess, not café 나요, not blunt 니.
2. You ask whether he comes, as an open written question. Not a guess that he seems to come.
3. You ask whether that can really be so, in the literary question, not I wonder and not it seems.
Common questions
Dictionary?
「001」 하게 question about present fact. 「002」 self-question/conjecture (-는가 하다/싶다/보다). 「003」 rhetorical raise.
Curriculum focus?
의문 — open question, often literary.
Vs -나요?
-나요 is polite spoken inquiry. -는가 is 하게/literary.
Vs -는가 보다?
Guessing frame is related; keep the question ending clear first.