Lesson 30: An uncertain clause with ~는지, I have been doing

X for…: ~ㄴ/은 지 X 됐다

Introduction
Up to now, you have learned a lot (probably too much!) about using ~는 것 (or one of its
derivatives) with a clause to describe an upcoming noun. For example:

내가 가고 있는 곳 = the place I am going

내가 만난 사람 = the person I met
내가 먹을 음식 = the food I will eat

In this lesson, you will learn about adding ~는지 to indicate that the preceding clause is
a guess or something uncertain. Let’s get started.

A Clause of Uncertainty: ~는지

I didn’t know what title to give to “~는지,” but I came up with the “clause of uncertainty”
which I feel describes it well. By placing ~는지 at the end of a clause, you can indicate
that the clause is some sort of guess, question or uncertainty.

A common situation where there is uncertainty is when there is a question word in a

sentence. For example:

저는 친구가 어디 가는 것을 몰라요

If we break that sentence down into more simple pieces, we get:

저는 (—) 몰라요 = I don’t know (—-)

What don’t you know? You don’t know the noun within the brackets:

저는 (친구가 어디 가는 것을) 몰라요

So the sentence reads:

저는 친구가 어디 가는 것을 몰라요 = I don’t know where my friend is going

However, because “친구가 어디 가는 것” is uncertain, ~는지 should be added to the

clause instead of ~는 것. For example:

저는 친구가 어디 가는지 몰라요 = I don’t know where my friend is going

It is also worth pointing out here that the future tense ~겠다 is commonly added
to 모르다 in these types of sentences. When 모르다 is used like this (as “모르겠다”), it
does not have a future tense meaning. Rather, it is just a common (and slightly more
polite) way to say that one “does not know something.” Therefore, it would be more
common to see the sentence above written/spoken as:
저는 친구가 어디 가는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know where my friend is going

You will continue to see “모르겠다” used instead of a present tense conjugation
of 모르다 in the rest of this lesson and throughout your Korean studies.
By default, if a clause contains a question word (누구, 뭐, 언제, 어디, 왜, etc…) ~는지 is
usually added due to the uncertainty that it contains. For example:

엄마가 누구랑 먹는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know who mom is eating with
엄마가 뭐 먹는지 모르겠어요= I don’t know what mom is eating
엄마가 어디서 먹는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know where mom is eating
엄마가 왜 먹는지 모르겠어요= I don’t know why mom is eating
However, a question word does not need to be included in order to use ~는지. All that is
needed is that there is uncertainty in the sentence. When there is no question word in a
sentence that includes “~는지” the English word “if” is usually used. For example:

엄마가 지금 먹고 있는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if mom is eating now

Below are more examples. Also notice that the final word of the sentence does not need
to be “모르다.” Any verb or adjective that makes sense along with the preceding
uncertain clause can be used. For example:

그 사람을 왜 데려오는지 물어봤어요

= I asked him why he is bringing that person
비상출입구가 어디 있는지 찾았어요
= We found where the emergency exit is

해안까지 어떻게 가는지 물어봤어요

= I asked how to get to the beach/coast

엄마가 무슨 재료를 쓰고 있는지 모르겠어요

= I don’t know what ingredients mom is using

정부가 외국인 선생님 예산을 왜 줄이는지 모르겠어요

= I don’t know why the government is decreasing the budget for foreign teachers

학생들은 선생님들이 돈을 얼마나 버는지 몰라요

= Students don’t know how much money teachers earn

저는 그 학생이 어느 대학교를 다니는지 기억(이) 안 나요

= I don’t remember which university that student attends

.
.
Past tense:
The same concept can be used to indicate a guess, question or uncertainty in the past
tense. In order to express this, ~았/었 should be added to the verb at the end of the
uncertain clause, followed by ~는지. For example:
저는 엄마가 왜 먹었는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know why mom ate
저는 엄마가 뭐 먹었는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know what mom ate
저는 엄마가 언제 먹었는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know when mom ate
저는 엄마가 어디서 먹었는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know where mom ate
저는 엄마가 밥을 먹었는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if mom ate

The form above (using ~았/었는지) is officially correct in Korean. However, in speech, it
is very common to hear ~ㄴ/은지 being used instead. For example:

저는 엄마가 왜 먹은지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know why mom ate

저는 엄마가 뭐 먹은지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know what mom ate
저는 엄마가 언제 먹은지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know when mom ate
저는 엄마가 어디서 먹은지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know where mom ate
저는 엄마가 밥을 먹은지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if mom ate
There really isn’t any difference between the two sets of sentences, especially in
speech. Both sets of sentences sound natural to a Korean speaker. However, the
correct grammatical form is to use ~았/었는지, and the use of ~ㄴ/은지 is more used in
spoken Korean.

Other examples:
그 셔츠를 언제 버렸는지 기억이 안 나요 = I don’t remember when I threw away that
shirt
열쇠를 어디 두었는지 잊어버렸어요 = I forget where I put my keys
우리가 이것을 언제 정했는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know when we set it
그가 저에게 무슨 말을 전했는지 기억이 안 나요 = I don’t remember what that person
told me (conveyed to me)

Future tense:
The same concept can be used to indicate a guess, question or uncertainty in the future
tense. In order to express this, ~ㄹ/을 should be added to the verb at the end of the
uncertain clause, followed by ~지. For example:

택배가 언제 올지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know when the delivery will come

용돈을 얼마나 줄지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know how much allowance I should give
오후에 비가 올지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if it will rain in the afternoon
수술을 받을지 확실하지 않아요 = It is not certain if I will get surgery
내일 공원에 갈지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if I will go to the park tomorrow
내일 영화를 볼지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if I will see a movie tomorrow

When the uncertain clause doesn’t have a question word in it, it is common to use the
word “might” in the English translation. For example

오후에 비가 올지 모르겠어요 = It might rain in the afternoon tomorrow

수술을 받을지 모르겠어요 = I might get surgery
내일 공원에 갈지 모르겠어요 = I might go to the park tomorrow
내일 영화를 볼지 모르겠어요 = I might see a movie tomorrow

English speakers are often confused about how the same Korean sentence can
seemingly translate to different things in English. My answer is: They don’t translate to
different things. The Korean usage of “~ㄹ/을지 몰라요” just indicates that something
may or may not happen. Both translations above (“I don’t know if” and “might…”)
indicate that something may or may not happen. Remember that sometimes it is difficult
to translate a Korean sentence perfectly into English. As such, I always suggest that
you understand the general meaning of the Koreansentence, and try to focus less on
the given English translations. The nuance of using “~ㄹ/을지 몰라요” can translate to
many things in English, all which (as a result of being a completely different language)
cannot perfectly describe this nuance.

Using ~는지 with Adjectives

It is also possible to attach ~는지 to an uncertain clause that is predicated by an
adjective. However, instead of adding ~는지, ~ㄴ/은지 should be added. Notice that the
difference in ~는지 and ~ㄴ/은지 is the same as the difference when attaching ~는 or
~ㄴ/은 to verbs and adjectives to describe an upcoming noun. For example:

먹는 것
가는 것

행복한 것
밝은 것

Below are some examples of ~ㄴ/은지 being used with adjectives:

제가 준 것이 괜찮은지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if the thing that I gave is good
이 빛이 충분히 밝은지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if this light is bright enough
제가 구한 아르바이트가 좋은지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if the job I found is good
제가 가져온 자료가 충분한지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if I brought enough materials
제가 강아지를 기르고 싶은지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if I want to raise a puppy
그 책이 얼마나 긴지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know how long that book is

To use this form with adjectives in the past or future tenses, you can add the same thing
as with verbs. For example:

그 시대가 그렇게 길었는지 깨닫지 못했어요 = I didn’t realize that era was so long
그 일이 힘들지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if that work will be difficult
내일 날씨가 쌀쌀할지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if tomorrow’s weather will be chilly

If… or not…
In all of the above examples, only one situation is indicated in the sentence. It is
possible to indicate more than one situation by using more than one verb or adjective
connected to ~는지 in the sentence. The simplest way to do this is to include the
opposite situation, followed by ~는지. For example:

내일 영화를 볼지 안 볼지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if I will see a movie tomorrow or not

수술을 받을지 안 받을지 확실하지 않아요 = It is not certain if I will get surgery or not
그가 제 말을 들었는지 안 들었는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if he was listening to me
or not
저는 엄마가 밥을 먹었는지 안 먹었는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if mom ate or not
제가 구한 아르바이트가 좋은지 안 좋은지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if the job I found is
good or not

When you are dealing with non-하다 verbs (like 먹다), you need to write out the verb
again to indicate “I don’t know if mom ate or not.” However, when dealing with 하다
verbs, the sentence can usually be shortened by eliminating the word before ~ 하다
when you say the verb the second time. For example, instead of saying:
저는 엄마가 공부했는지 안 공부했는지 모르겠어요

You could just say:

저는 엄마가 공부했는지 안 했는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know if mom studied or not

Remember that Korean people love shortening their sentences, and taking out the
redundant “공부” the second time around is more natural in Korean.

In all of the above examples, two possibilities are listed, and the speaker is indicating
that he/she doesn’t know which one will happen amongst the two. The examples above
simply use the positive and negative outcomes of the same situation. It is also possible
to list two (or more) outcomes that are unrelated to each other. For example:

내일 공원에 갈지 영화를 볼지 모르겠어요

= I don’t know if I will see a movie or go to the park tomorrow

제가 구한 아르바이트가 좋은지 나쁜지 모르겠어요

= I don’t know if the (part-time) job I found is good or bad

수술을 받을지 그냥 약으로 치료할지 확실하지 않아요

= It is not certain if I will get surgery or just treat it with medicine

You can also use “~지” to form a question. For example, if you are asking somebody if
they know how to do something. The most common word that finished the sentence
would be “알다” For example, you can say:

서울에 어떻게 가는지 알아요? = Do you know how to get to Seoul?

그 단어를 어떻게 발음하는지 알아요? = Do you know how to pronounce that word?
그 학생이 책을 왜 버렸는지 알아요? = Do you know why that student threw out his
book?
물을 어떻게 막는지 알아요? = Do you know how to block the water?

I call clauses with ~지 “clauses of uncertainty”, but that is just a name I gave it because
it describes it well in most situations. There are times when “지” represents something
certain. For example, the answers to those questions would be:

서울에 어떻게 가는지 알아요 = I know how to get to Seoul

그 단어를 어떻게 발음하는지 알아요 = I know how to pronounce that word
그 학생이 책을 왜 버렸는지 알아요 = I know why that student threw out his book
In those examples, “지” technically doesn’t represent something uncertain…. so why do
we use “지?” In these cases, the use of the question word in the sentence makes it
more natural to use “지” as the noun instead of “것.”

Also note that there is another way to say that one “knows how to do something” (which
is more based on ability than knowing something). This other way is discussed
in Lesson 85.

Attaching ~도 to ~지
It is common to find ~도 attached to ~지. Adding ~도 to ~지 can have two meanings:

1) To have the “too” or “also” or “either” meaning that ~도 usually has. For example:

저는 밥도 먹었어요 = I ate rice too

저도 밥을 먹었어요 = I also ate rice
저는 밥도 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat rice either
This first meaning of ~도 will be discussed in a later lesson. This usage is more about
the use of ~도 and not really related to the usage of ~지. I will just show you one
example sentence so you can understand what I mean:
문을 열지도 몰라요 = You don’t even know how to open the door
Let’s focus on the more ambiguous meaning of ~도, which will be talked about in #2:

2) To have very little meaning or purpose in a sentence. Look at the two sentences
below:

내일 비가 올지 모르겠어요 = It might rain tomorrow

내일 비가 올지도 모르겠어요 = It might rain tomorrow

Assuming ~도 isn’t being added to have the meaning described in #1 above (which is
possible), the use of ~도 does not really change the sentence. Same goes for these two
sentences:
내일 공원에 갈지 모르겠어요 = I might go to the park tomorrow
내일 공원에 갈지도 모르겠어요 = I might go to the park tomorrow

For seven years, I’ve been curious about the specific nuance that ~도 adds to these
types of sentences (again, assuming that ~도 is not the ~도 from #1 above). All of my
research, all of my studying, and all of my exposure to the language has lead me to
believe that they are essentially the same. I’ve always thought to myself – “they can’t
be exactly the same… the ~도 must have some purpose… right?”
Recently, I had discussions with many people to try to better understand this nuance. I
want to show you conversations I had with two people because I think it will not only
help you understand how subtle this difference is, but it will also show you that even
Korean people don’t really know what the difference is.

My first conversation was with a Korean person who is a fluent English speaker. Below
is how our conversation went.

—————————————————————————————————————-

Me: Explain the difference in nuance that you feel between these two sentences:
내일 비가 올지 모르겠어요 = It might rain tomorrow
내일 비가 올지도 모르겠어요 = It might rain tomorrow

Her: The use of ~도 makes it seem like you don’t know if it will happen or not. It’s
possible that it will happen, but it is also possible that it won’t happen.
Me: But isn’t that sort of implied in the first sentence as well?

Her: Technically yes, but it’s just two different ways to say the same meaning. It would
be like saying “I don’t know if it will rain tomorrow or not” and “It might rain tomorrow.”

Me: I feel like that first sentence that you just said would be better written as
“내일 비가 올지 안 올지 모르겠어요.”

Her: Ah, yes. I feel like these two sentences mean exactly the same thing:
내일 비가 올지도 모르겠어요
내일 비가 올지 안 올지 모르겠어요.
I feel like the use of ~도 adds that extra nuance that something might happen or not.
—————————————————————————————————————-
After speaking with that person, I discussed this problem with a teacher who teaches
Korean grammar to Korean high school students. I can only assume that her
understanding of Korean grammar is excellent, although sometimes it is hard for
somebody to understand the grammar of their own language. Either way, she cannot
speak English and our entire conversation was in Korean. This is how it went:

—————————————————————————————————————-

Me: Explain the difference in nuance that you feel between these three sentences:
내일 비가 올지 모르겠어요
내일 비가 올지도 모르겠어요
내일 비가 올지 안 올지 모르겠어요

Her: The first two sentences are identical. In the third one, you are indicating the two
possibilities of “it might rain” or “it might not rain.”

Me: I just talked with another Korean person, and she said that the use of “~도” in the
second sentence sort of implies those two possibilities as well. She said that the second
and third sentences had the same meaning. What do you think about that?

Her: I don’t feel that way when I hear it. I feel the first two are the same, and the third
one is listing more possibilities.

——————————

So here I had two Korean people – one with excellent English and the other with a lot of
Korean grammar knowledge, and they gave me opposing answers. My conclusion from
this and all of my studying, researching and exposure to the language is:

~ㄹ/을지 모르다 and

~ㄹ/을지도 모르다

Have the same, or effectively the same meaning.

Let me take a minute to explain when you would use ~도 in this case.

~도 is added to uncertain clauses that are conjugated in the future tense to express
one’s uncertainty of if something will happen in the future (or not). You will typically not
see ~도 added to an uncertain clause in the past or present tense unless it is being
used to have the meaning as discussed in #1 above.
~도 is not added to uncertain clauses where there is a question word in the clause. For
example, it would be unnatural to say something like this:
비가 언제 올지도 모르겠어요
This “rule” leads me to believe that the purpose of ~도 is somewhat closer to having the
“if or not” meaning as it was described by the English speaking Korean person in our
conversation. Just like how adding “or not” would be unnatural to add to the following
English sentence, it would be unnatural to add “~도” to its Korean translation:
비가 언제 올지도 모르겠어요 = I don’t know when it will rain or not
Again, this usage is not the usage of ~도 from #1 above. In that usage, ~도 can be
added to ~는지, ~았/었는지 or ~ㄹ/을지 to have the meaning that ~도 usually
possesses when it is added to nouns. It can also be added to uncertain clauses that
have question words. I will discuss this meaning in a future lesson.
Wow. All of that work to understand one syllable.
We’re not done yet. That syllable (지) has another meaning… one that is easier to
dissect.

I have been doing X for Y – 지

Up to this point, this lesson has explained the meaning of ~는지 as a grammatical
principle that is attached to its previous clause. For example:

저는 친구가 어디 가는지 모르겠어요 = I don’t know where my friend is going

When ~는지 is added to 가다, notice that there is no space between 가다, ~는 or 지. In
this usage, ~지 is not a noun but instead just a part of a larger grammatical principle that
can be attached to verbs or adjectives.

지 has another meaning, and it is completely unrelated to the meaning of ~지 that was
described earlier in this lesson. I would like to talk about this other meaning in this
lesson as well.

In this other meaning, you will see ~지 used after a verb with ~ㄴ/은 attached to the
verb.
Notice that ~ㄴ/은 is the same addition that is added to verbs in the past tense of ~는 것
For example, you will see:

사귀다 + ㄴ/은 지 = 사귄 지
먹다 + ㄴ/은 지 먹은 지

I want to take a moment to explain what you are seeing here.

Remember that ~ㄴ/은 (just like ~는 in the present tense and ~ㄹ/을 in the future tense)
is added to verbs when they will describe an upcoming noun. For example:
우리가 먹은 밥 = The food we ate
우리가 먹는 밥 = The food we eat
우리가 먹을 밥 = The food we will eat
In this same respect, 지 is also a noun. However, this is the type of noun that I like to
call a “pseudo-noun.” A pseudo-noun is a noun (like above) that can replace “것” (as the
noun) in the ~는 것 principle. However, these pseudo-nouns only have meaning in
specific sentences and cannot be applied to other situations.
You will eventually learn more pseudo-nouns in your Korean studies. Below are some of
the pseudo-nouns that you will come across shortly:

적 in ~ㄴ/은 적이 없다 | Introduced in Lesson 32

(For example: 그것을 한 적이 없어요= I’ve done that)
수 in ~ㄹ/을 수 있다 | Introduced in Lesson 45
For example: 그것을 할 수 있어요 = I can do that)
줄 in ~ㄹ/을 줄 알다 | Introduced in Lesson 85
(For example: 그것을 할 줄 알아요 = I know how to do that)
Let me explain the situation where you can use the pseudo-noun “지.”

Again, when placed after a verb with ~ㄴ/은 attached:

사귄 지
먹은 지

… and when followed by an indication of time:

사귄 지 6 개월
먹은 지 5분

… and then followed by 되다 (usually in the past tense):

사귄 지 6 개월 됐다
먹은 지 5 분 됐다

You can use “지” in these constructions to indicate how long you have been doing
something. You can only say this when you are still doing the action that describes “지.”
For example, if I use the constructions above I can say:

여자 친구랑 사귄 지 6 개월 됐어 = I have been going out with my girlfriend for 6 months

밥을 먹은 지 5 분 됐다 = I have been eating for 5 minutes
You cannot use this to say how long you had been doing something. If you want to say
something like that, you would have to simply say “I did X for Y amount of time.” For
example:
저는 두 시간 동안 먹었어요 = I ate for two hours

English speakers will quickly point out that “I ate for two hours” and “I had eaten for two
hours” do not have exactly the same meanings. Korean people usually don’t distinguish
between these two meanings in their sentences and instead rely on context to make the
specific meaning clear.
Many more examples using “지:”
한국에서 산 지 25 년 됐어요 = I have been living in Korea for 25 years
강아지를 기른 지 10 년 됐어요 = I have been raising a dog for 10 years
그 그룹이 훈련을 받은 지 다섯 시간 됐어요 = That group has been receiving training for
5 hours
이 아르바이트를 한 지 2 주일 됐어요 = I’ve had this (part-time) job for 2 weeks
한국에 온 지 2 년 됐어요 = I have been in Korea for 2 years
Notice in this last example that this literally translates to ‘I have been coming to Korea
for 2 years’ – but it actually means ‘I have been in Korea for 2 years.’ When indicating
how long you have been at a location, it is common to use 오다. You should remember
that in these cases the speaker is not referring to the actual act of “coming” but rather
how long it has been since arriving at the location.
It is also possible to use this form to indicate how long it has been since you’ve last
done something. To do this, you use the negative form of the verb – which (when
combined with “지”) indicates that one still hasn’t done the action since the specified
time. For example:

우리가 안 만난 지 2 주일 됐어요 = We haven’t met in 2 weeks

밥을 안 먹은 지 아홉 시간 됐어요 = I haven’t eaten in nine hours
용돈을 안 받은 지 1 년 됐어요 = I haven’t received (an) allowance in a year

You can also use this same form to ask questions to people about how long they have
been doing something by using 얼마나 or words like 오래:

한국어를 공부한 지 얼마나 되었어요? = How long have you been studying Korean?
운동한 지 오래 됐어? = Have you been exercising for a long time?
It is common to use the construction “얼마 안 되다” to indicate that you haven’t been
doing something for very long. For example

제가 한국에서 산 지 얼마 안 됐어요 = I haven’t been living in Seoul for very long

제가 우리 학교에서 일한 지 얼마 안 됐어요 = I haven’t been working at our school for
very long

You also saw in Lesson 28 that this is one of the acceptable times where ~은 can be
added to 있다. For example:
여기에 있은 지 얼마나 되었어요? = How long have you been here for?

That’s it!