A Weather Forecast (일기 예보)

The television weather forecast has a sound all its own, and the sound is one grammatical morpheme repeated at the end of nearly every sentence: -겠-. 맑겠습니다, 떨어지겠습니다, 오르겠습니다 — clause after clause closes on -겠습니다. This is the forecasting register, a polished form of the formal-polite 합니다체, and once you know that -겠- here means "is (likely) to / is forecast to" — a hedge of prediction, not the "I will" of intention — the whole broadcast opens up. This page walks through a full nationwide forecast, one clause per line.

The forecast, clause by clause

The signature is here in the first line. 맑겠습니다 = 맑다 ("to be clear") + -겠- + 습니다. This -겠- is predictive/conjectural: the forecaster is not clairvoyant and is not promising anything — they are projecting a likelihood, "it will (probably) be clear." Note also the register frame: 내일은 takes the topic particle 은 to set the temporal frame ("as for tomorrow…"), and 전국이 ("the whole country") is the subject. 대체로 = "on the whole / mostly."

최저 기온 ("lowest temperature," 最低氣溫) again wears the topic 은 as its frame. 영하 3도까지 = "down to minus 3 degrees," with 까지 ("as far as / down to") marking the endpoint of the fall, and 떨어지겠습니다 the predictive "will drop." Meteorology numbers are Sino-Korean (삼 도, not native 세 도).

안팎으로 ("to around / give or take") is a lovely forecast word — 안팎 literally "inside-and-outside," i.e. "roughly." The 으로 marks the level risen to. 최고 기온 ("highest temperature," 最高氣溫) mirrors the 최저 기온 of the line before — forecasts love these paired Sino-Korean compounds.

Two register features here. 오후부터는 stacks 부터 ("from") with topic 는 — "from the afternoon on." And 을 중심으로 ("centered on / mainly in") is the forecaster's standard scope phrase: 서쪽 지방을 중심으로 = "with the western regions as the center," i.e. rain concentrated there. 지방 (地方, "region") is Sino-Korean. The rain itself: 비가 내리겠습니다, predictive again.

Now the register's other impersonal device: the passive 예상되다 ("is expected"). 예상하다 means "to expect/anticipate"; its passive 예상됩니다 removes the human forecaster, so the number reads as an objective projection rather than a personal guess. The range is built with 에서 … (으)로: 20에서 40밀리미터로 = "from 20 to 40 mm." 강수량 (降水量, "precipitation amount") is a classic weather compound. (More on this agentless passive at passive -되다.)

바람도 ("wind too," 도 = "also/too") and 강하게 불어 ("blowing strongly," the connective -어 giving "and so"). The clincher: 낮겠습니다 shows -겠- riding on an adjective (낮다, "to be low") — predictive -겠- attaches to descriptive verbs just as happily as to action verbs. 체감 온도 (體感溫度) = "perceived/wind-chill temperature," 더욱 = "even more."

주말에는 = 주말 ("weekend") + 에 (time) + 는 (topic), the frame again. 추위 ("the cold") 한풀 꺾이다 is an idiom — 한풀 꺾이다 literally "to have one layer broken," i.e. "to lose intensity, to let up." 꺾이겠습니다 is the passive-ish 꺾이다 ("to be broken/bent") plus predictive -겠-.

A modern forecast staple: 미세먼지 ("fine dust / particulate matter"). 농도 (濃度, "concentration") 는 topic-framed; 보통 수준 ("moderate level") in Korean quotation marks flags the official air-quality category; 보이겠습니다 ("will show," predictive) is the register's idiom for "will register at."

The forecast ends by turning to the viewer with the courteous advisory -(으)시기 바랍니다 ("we ask that you kindly ~"). Two honorific touches raise the viewer: 외출하실 때 ("when you go out") and 준비하시기 both carry the subject honorific -(으)시-, and 바라다 ("to hope/ask") in 바랍니다 makes the whole thing a polished request rather than a bald command. This is far more genteel than a plain 준비하세요.

A second advisory closes the care segment: 유의하시기 바랍니다 ("please take care / pay heed"). 건강 관리 (健康管理) = "health management," 유의하다 (留意) = "to pay heed."

The sign-off, a frozen broadcast formula: 지금까지 날씨였습니다 ("up to now, [this] has been the weather"), the past copula 였습니다 in 합니다체.

What to notice

• The register is polished 합니다체, and its heartbeat is the predictive -겠- (맑겠습니다, 떨어지겠습니다, 낮겠습니다) — "is forecast to," never "I will."
• Figures are stated with the impersonal passive -(으)로 예상됩니다 (강수량은 … 예상됩니다), keeping the forecaster out of the sentence.
• Scope is set with 을 중심으로 ("mainly in") and ranges with 에서 … (으)로 ("from … to").
• Temporal frames take the topic particle: 내일은, 오후부터는, 주말에는.
• The forecast turns to the viewer with the courteous -(으)시기 바랍니다, honoring you with -(으)시- and softening the request with 바라다.

Common Mistakes

1. Reading broadcast -겠- as "I will." 맑겠습니다 does not mean anyone intends the sky to clear; with a weather subject, -겠- is pure prediction. Confusing it with volition makes the forecast nonsensical.

2. Using the active 예상하다 for the impersonal figure. Stating rainfall as 예상한다 injects an "expecter"; the register wants the agentless passive 예상됩니다.

3. Using native numbers for temperatures. Degrees, rainfall, and percentages take Sino-Korean numbers (삼 도), not native (세 도). Native numbers are for clock hours and small counts.

4. Ending the advisory with a bald imperative. 준비하세요 ("get one ready") is fine to a friend but blunt for broadcast; the polished register uses -(으)시기 바랍니다.