TTMIK nível 9 lição 12 (Brasil)

The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

Let’s look at how to say that something or someone “seems” to be in a certain state or “looks” a certain way. The basic structure, -아/어/여 보이다, is fairly easy to understand and use, but it is important to understand the difference between this structure and some other similar structures.

Basic Construction Verb stem + -아/어/여 보이다

보이다 is originally the passive voice of 보다, to see.

Example 재미있다 = to be fun 재미있 + -어 보이다 = 재미있어 보이다 = to look fun, to look interesting Sample Sentences 1. 피곤해 보여요. = You look tired. 2. 이 영화는 재미없어 보여요. = This movie looks boring. 3. 이거 매워 보이는데, 사실은 하나도 안 매워요. = This looks spicy, but it’s not spicy at all. 4. 이 케이크가 맛있어 보여서 샀는데, 너무 달아요. = This cake looked delicious so I bought it, but it’s too sweet. 5. 사장님 기분이 안 좋아 보이는데, 무슨 일 있어요? = The boss doesn’t look happy. Is there anything wrong? Difference between 좋아 보이네요 and 좋은 것 같아요 The structure -(으)ㄴ 것 같다 is literally translated as “to seem like” but is commonly used to express one’s thought or opinion. Therefore, when someone says 좋은 것 같아요, it is different from 좋아 보이네요 because if something looks good (좋아 보이네요) but you don’t think it’s good, or you’re not happy about it, you wouldn’t always say 좋은 것 같아요 in that case. So - 아/어/여 보이다 is commonly used when you just express the fact that something or someone “seems” or “looks” a certain way. Examples 이 영화는 재미없어 보여요 = This movie looks boring. 이 영화는 재미없는 것 같아요 = I think this movie is boring. 이거 매워 보이는데, 사실은 하나도 안 매워요. = This looks spicy but it’s not spicy at all. 이거 매울 것 같았는데 (you need to change this to the past tense because you “thought” it would be spicy) 사실은 하나도 안 매웠어요. = I thought it would be spicy but it wasn’t spicy at all. 사장님 기분이 안 좋아 보이는데, 무슨 일 있어요? = The boss doesn’t look happy. Is there anything wrong? 사장님 기분이 안 좋은 것 같은데, (you’re guessing or thinking based on either what you saw or some other clues) 무슨 일 있어요? = I thin the boss is upset. Is there anything wrong? Using 보이다 with nouns With nouns, instead of using -아/어/여 after a verb stem, you add -처럼 after a noun. With nouns, the above mentioned difference is also applied to 보이다 and 같다. Example 학생 = student 학생처럼 보여요. = He looks like a student. 학생 같아요. = He looks like a student, so I think he’s a student. Sample Sentences 1. 비둘기처럼 보이네요. = It looks like a pigeon. 2. 멀어서 잘 안 보이지만, “3”처럼 보이네요. = I can’t see clearly because it’s far, but it looks like a “3”. 3. 경찰처럼 보이는 사람이 그 여자를 데려갔어요. = Someone who looks like a cop took her.