# - 인가요



## idialegre

A Korean pen pal asked me, 일하실 계획인가요?

I understand the construction  계휙입니까? or 계휙이에요?, but could someone explain the ending - 인가요? for me, please?

Thanks!


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## esparkpse30

Hmm, well, as I understand it, -인가요? is more suggestive and less  inquisitive for the purpose of soliciting an answer. Sort of like,  "perhaps it is (that ___...)". But since it's less direct, I sometimes  see it used as an alternative way of being more polite.

I'm not very good with written (or spoken!) Korean but I think you will  also see it in contractions when there is no 받침 at the end of a word. I  know there is a similar construction for other 동사 but that's a question I  am wondering about myself.


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## kenjoluma

'-ㄴ가 / -은가' (optional + '-요')

Connected to adjective or '-이다', it suggests (1) question about a present situation or (2) assumption you make by given impression or information.

If you want to use this form with verbs, you can simply change it into "-는가", but this, by itself, somewhat feels a little poetic (archaic).


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## idialegre

Thank you both. 

Kenjoluma, I'm trying to pinpoint the "flavor" of this ending. You say it's like an assumption you make by a given impression. That implies to me that it would be like the English, "So I guess you're going to continue working?"

Would that be a good equivalent?


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## kenjoluma

Yes. It has a sense of English "I guess you are (it is / he is / she is) doing ..., right?"


More precisely, '-ㄴ가/-은가/-는가' is an ending to 'self-question', hence used to make 'a less direct and less aggressive question'. 
I know it's hard for Europeans to understand there is a derivation for 'self-questioning', crazy language Korean...
('- 나' can be also used, except it can't go along with '-이다'. Adjectives and -이다 usually go with '-ㄴ가', and verbs usually go with '-나', I guess.)


Conclusion: You assume something and make a question. But we Koreans are very shy people(well...) so we deliberately make this question sound like asking to oneself, not directly shooting at the target. (Same sense applies to German using Sie, third person pronoun, to refer to second person. We make our speech indirect to make it polite or kind) If you think this 'sense' is equivalent to English "guess", then it's way to go. Because I can't come up with something better. Maybe "Are you planning to have a job?" without any indication of '-ㄴ가요' is good as well. Sometimes you can't help something lost in translation. Good luck!


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## idialegre

감사합니다! 켄졸루마의 대답은 항상 재미있어요. 

I understand very well what you say about not being too direct with one's questions. It reminds me of the way Irish people speak: "You wouldn't fancy a game of chess now, would you?" (We Americans would just ask, "Wanna play chess?")

As for Koreans being shy, I don't know, but I have had some encounters with Koreans who are definitely exceptions to that rule!


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