seonsaengnimi nareul bogo useo jusyeosseoyo.

The teacher smiled at me.

Breakdown of seonsaengnimi nareul bogo useo jusyeosseoyo.

• ~이: subject particle
• ~를: object particle
• 선생님: teacher
• 보다: to look at

Questions & Answers about seonsaengnimi nareul bogo useo jusyeosseoyo.

What does 보고 mean here? Is it see/look or something else?

Here, 보고 is 보다 (to see / to look at) + -고, a connector meaning and.

So:

• 나를 보고 = looking at me / after seeing me
• 웃어 주셨어요 = smiled (for me / kindly)

So the flow is:

• 선생님이 = the teacher
• 나를 보고 = looked at me / saw me
• 웃어 주셨어요 = smiled for me / kindly smiled

This 보고 is not the noun 보고 meaning report.

Why is it 나를 보고, not 나에게 보고 or 나한테 보고?

Because 보다 normally takes a direct object marked by 을/를.

So:

• 나를 보다 = to see me / to look at me

That is why you get:

• 나를 보고 = seeing me / looking at me

If you used 나에게 or 나한테, that would not fit 보다 in the normal way.

A useful way to understand it is:

• 나를 보다 = see/look at me
• 나에게 웃다 = smile at me

But Korean often says 나를 보고 웃다, literally look at me and smile, where English might simply say smile at me.

What does 웃어 주셨어요 mean exactly? Why is 주다 there?