Question 1

What does 고장 나다 mean, and how is it constructed?

Accepted Answer

고장 is a noun meaning breakdown or malfunction. When you add 나다 (to occur), it forms the intransitive verb 고장 나다, to break down or to stop working. In this construction, the thing that breaks (here, the elevator) is the subject experiencing the breakdown.

Question 2

Why is 가 used after 엘리베이터 instead of 은/는?

Accepted Answer

가 marks 엘리베이터 as the grammatical subject, focusing on what happened to it. If you used 은/는, you’d turn it into the topic or imply contrast. For example, 엘리베이터는 고장 난 것 같아요 can sound like “As for the elevator (but maybe not the escalator), it seems broken.”

Question 3

Why isn’t there an object marker 을/를 after 고장?

Accepted Answer

In 고장 나다, 고장 is part of a single intransitive verb phrase, not a direct object. 나다 here means “to occur,” so 고장 나다 means “a breakdown occurs.” You don’t separate 고장 with 을/를 because it’s not the object of the action—it’s the cause of the verb.

Question 4

Why is it 고장 난 것 같다 instead of 고장 났다 것 같다 or 고장 나요 것 같다?

Accepted Answer

When you modify a noun with a verb, you use the attributive form. You take 고장 났다 (it broke) and drop -다, then add the past attributive suffix -ㄴ, giving 고장 난. Placing 것 after that nominalizes it (“the thing that broke”), and 같다 expresses “seems.” Unattributive forms like 났다 or 나요 can’t attach directly to 것.

Question 5

What does 것 같아요 express, and how do you form it?

Accepted Answer

-것 같다 is a grammar pattern for speculation or guesswork: it seems that…, I think…, or it looks like…. You take a verb or adjective in its attributive form, add 것 (thing), then 같다 (to be like). In polite speech, 같아요 is the present-tense form. Example: 고장 난 것 같아요 = “It seems (the elevator) is broken.”

Question 6

Can you omit 것 and say 엘리베이터가 고장 난 같아요?

Accepted Answer

No. 같다 must attach to a noun. 고장 난 by itself is a verb clause, not a noun, so you need 것 to turn it into “the thing that broke.” Without 것, the structure is ungrammatical.

Question 7

What are some alternative ways to say “The elevator seems broken” in Korean?

Accepted Answer

Here are a few common variants:  
• 엘리베이터가 고장 났나 봐요 (using –나 보다 for speculation)  
• 엘리베이터가 망가진 것 같아요 (using the verb 망가지다, to break)  
• 엘리베이터가 고장인 것 같아요 (treating 고장 as a noun + 이다)  
• 엘리베이터가 작동을 안 하는 것 같아요 (more colloquial: “doesn’t seem to be operating”)  
Each carries a similar meaning with slight nuance or formality differences.

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