Word
내일 친구를 만날지 모르겠어요.naeil chingureul mannalji moreugesseoyo.
Meaning
I don’t know if I’ll meet a friend tomorrow.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of naeil chingureul mannalji moreugesseoyo.
~을~eul
object particle
친구chingu
friend
만나다mannada
to meet
내일naeil
tomorrow
Questions & Answers about naeil chingureul mannalji moreugesseoyo.
What does the grammar pattern -ㄹ지 모르겠어요 mean and how is it used?
The pattern -ㄹ지 모르겠다 (polite form -ㄹ지 모르겠어요) expresses uncertainty about a future action or situation. Literally it’s “I don’t know whether (something will happen).” In 내일 친구를 만날지 모르겠어요, it means “I’m not sure if I’ll meet my friend tomorrow.”
Why is 만날지 used instead of just 만나다?
To attach -ㄹ지 모르다, you need the verb stem plus -ㄹ지. For 만나다 (to meet):
- Drop -다 → 만나
- Add -ㄹ지 → 만날지
This -ㄹ지 creates the “whether or not” clause.
Why does 친구 take the object particle -를 here?
만나다 is a transitive verb, so its object (the person you meet) must be marked. 친구 is that object, so you add -를 → 친구를 만날지 모르겠어요.
What’s the difference between 몰라요 and 모르겠어요?
- 몰라요 is the plain present form “I don’t know.”
- 모르겠어요 uses the suffix -겠-, adding a nuance of conjecture or tentativeness: “I’m not sure” or “I guess I don’t know.” It softens the statement and is often used with -ㄹ지 to highlight uncertainty.
Which politeness level does the ending represent?