-을걸
-eulgeol
I bet; I should have
An informal sentence-final ending used to make a casual guess or assumption, or, especially in past tense, to express light regret about something the speaker didn't do.
Form
- Attaches to
- Verb, Adjective, 이다, Auxiliary
- Other shapes
- -ㄹ걸 · -을걸요 · -ㄹ걸요
Meanings
- 1
(informal addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used to indicate a guess or assumption.
(두루낮춤으로) 미루어 짐작하거나 추측함을 나타내는 종결 어미.
※ ‘ㄹ’을 제외한 받침 있는 동사와 형용사 또는 ‘-었-’ 뒤에 붙여 쓴다.
- 2
(informal addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used to indicate a small sense of remorse for or regret about something.
(두루낮춤으로) 어떤 일에 대해 가벼운 뉘우침이나 아쉬움을 나타내는 종결 어미.
※ ‘ㄹ’을 제외한 받침 있는 동사 또는 ‘-었-’ 뒤에 붙여 쓴다.
Examples
나는 네 마음대로 안 될걸.
I bet things won't go the way you want.
주사가 많이는 안 아플걸.
The shot probably won't hurt that much.
미국도 지금쯤이면 꽤 추울걸.
It's probably quite cold in the US by now too.
승규가 민준이보다 생일이 더 빠를걸?
I bet Seunggyu's birthday comes before Minjun's.
네가 충고했다가 친구한테 괜히 미움만 살걸?
If you give that advice, you'll probably just end up getting your friend mad at you for nothing.
선생님은 편찮으셔서 댁에 계실걸.
The teacher isn't feeling well, so I bet she's at home.
Examples: 한국어기초사전, CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.
Don’t confuse with
Forms with a close meaning — a favourite source of wrong answers on TOPIK.
Quick check
1. What does ‘-을걸’ mean?
2. Which form means “I bet; I should have”?