jeo sikdangeun jigeum sarami manheun geos gatayo.

저 means that when something is away from both the speaker and the listener, or simply not near the speaker.

So 저 식당 = that restaurant.

A quick comparison:

• 이 식당 = this restaurant
• 그 식당 = that restaurant (near you / previously mentioned)
• 저 식당 = that restaurant (over there)

In everyday conversation, 그 식당 is also often used for that restaurant if it is already known in context.

은/는 is the topic particle.

So 저 식당은 means something like:

• as for that restaurant
• that restaurant, ...

It sets 저 식당 as the topic of the sentence.

This sentence is not just saying there are many people. It is saying something about that restaurant in particular:

• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많은 것 같아요.
• As for that restaurant, it seems crowded now.

Using 은/는 gives the sentence a topic-comment structure, which is very common in Korean.

Because 많다 describes the quantity of people, and 사람이 marks the thing that is numerous.

The core statement is:

• 사람이 많아요 = there are many people / people are many

Here, 이/가 marks the subject of 많다.

So inside the sentence:

• 저 식당은 = topic
• 사람이 많다 = there are many people
• 것 같아요 = it seems like...

This is a very common pattern in Korean:

• A는 B가 많아요
  = As for A, B is many.

For example:

• 이 도시는 차가 많아요. = This city has a lot of cars.
• 그 가게는 손님이 많아요. = That store has a lot of customers.

Because 많다 is being used in a form that modifies a noun, and the noun here is 것.

The plain descriptive form is:

• 사람이 많다 = there are many people

When a descriptive verb like 많다 modifies a noun, it changes like this:

• 많다 → 많은

So:

• 사람이 많은 것 같아요

literally has the structure:

• [사람이 많은] 것 같아요
• it seems like [there are many people]

This is the normal way Korean builds it seems that ... with 것 같아요.

A similar example:

• 비가 오는 것 같아요. = It seems like it’s raining.
• 맛있는 것 같아요. = It seems delicious.

것 같아요 means it seems like..., I think..., or it looks like..., depending on context.

In this sentence, it softens the statement and shows that the speaker is making an observation rather than stating a hard fact.

So:

• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많아요.
  = That restaurant has a lot of people now. / That restaurant is crowded now.

• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많은 것 같아요.
  = It seems like that restaurant has a lot of people now. / That restaurant looks crowded now.

This expression is very common because Korean often prefers sounding less absolute.

Usually, yes. It suggests the speaker is judging based on what they see, hear, or feel, rather than stating a confirmed fact.

So this sentence sounds like:

• From what I can tell, that restaurant seems crowded right now.

It can express:

• uncertainty
• politeness
• indirectness
• a personal impression

It does not always mean strong doubt. Sometimes it is just a natural, softer way to speak.

지금 means now or right now.

It tells you the time frame of the observation:

• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많은 것 같아요.
• That restaurant seems crowded now.

Without 지금, the sentence would be more general:

• 저 식당은 사람이 많은 것 같아요.
• That restaurant seems crowded / seems to have a lot of people.

With 지금, it clearly refers to the current moment.

Yes. Korean word order is flexible as long as the relationships are clear.

These are all possible, though some may sound more natural depending on emphasis:

• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많은 것 같아요.
• 지금 저 식당은 사람이 많은 것 같아요.
• 저 식당은 사람이 지금 많은 것 같아요. ← less natural in many contexts

The most natural version here is the original:

• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많은 것 같아요.

It smoothly places 지금 before the part it describes.

Yes, 것 같다 is a very common grammar pattern meaning seems like or I think.

It is written with spaces because:

• 것 is a noun
• 같다 is an adjective/descriptive verb

So it is normally spaced as:

• 것 같아요
• 것 같아
• 것 같습니다

Even though it functions as a set expression in meaning, it is still written as separate words.

Yes. 같아요 is in the standard polite style.

Levels you might see:

• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많은 것 같아요. = standard polite
• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많은 것 같아. = casual
• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많은 것 같습니다. = more formal

So the original sentence is appropriate in most everyday conversations.

Yes, absolutely.

Even though the Korean literally says there seem to be many people, the natural English translation is often:

• That restaurant seems crowded right now.

That is because 사람이 많다 often corresponds naturally to:

• be crowded
• have a lot of people

depending on context.

So both of these are good natural translations:

• That restaurant seems crowded right now.
• It looks like that restaurant has a lot of people right now.

In casual spoken Korean, people do sometimes omit particles, so you may hear something like:

• 저 식당 지금 사람 많아요.

However, for learners, it is better to keep the full grammatical form:

• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많아요.

And in this specific sentence with 것 같아요, the standard form is:

• 저 식당은 지금 사람이 많은 것 같아요.

Using the particles helps make the structure clear and natural.

A helpful breakdown is:

• 저 식당은 = as for that restaurant
• 지금 = now
• 사람이 많다 = there are many people
• 사람이 많은 = having many people
• 사람이 많은 것 같아요 = it seems like there are many people
• whole sentence: As for that restaurant, it seems like there are many people now

So the pattern is basically:

• N은/는 [clause] 것 같아요

In this sentence, the clause is:

• 사람이 많다

which becomes:

• 사람이 많은

before 것 같아요.