Questions & Answers about ama oneul sueobi eobseoyo.
What does 아마 mean here? Is it “maybe” or “probably”?
아마 expresses the speaker’s guess and is closest to “probably.” So 아마 오늘 수업이 없어요 ≈ “There’s probably no class today.” It signals uncertainty but leans more confident than English “maybe.”
Where can 아마 go in the sentence? Are other word orders okay?
- Most natural: 아마 오늘 수업이 없어요.
- Also fine: 오늘 아마 수업이 없어요.
- To contrast “today”: 아마 오늘은 수업이 없어요.
- Less natural: 수업이 아마 없어요. (understood but adverbs like 아마 typically come early)
- Avoid: 아마 수업이 오늘 없어요 (odd unless you add contrast with 오늘은: 수업이 오늘은 없어요)
Why is it 수업이 and not 수업은? What’s the difference between 이/가 and 은/는?
- 이/가 marks the grammatical subject. 수업이 없어요 neutrally states “class does not exist (today).”
- 은/는 is a topic/contrast marker. 수업은 없어요 implies contrast: “As for class, there isn’t any (but there might be something else).”
- Form choice depends on nuance. Also, 수업 ends in a consonant, so use 이 (after vowels, use 가).
Can I drop the subject marker 이 here?