V+겠거니

Overview

The V+겠거니 expression is used to convey the speaker's prior assumption or inference about a situation or someone's state. It indicates that the speaker made an internal judgment or prediction, often based on available information or intuition, and is now recalling or confirming that initial thought. It carries a nuance of "I thought to myself that..." or "I had a hunch that...".

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Usage

You use V+겠거니 when you want to express that you made an assumption or inference about something in the past. This assumption might have been a guess, a prediction, or a conclusion drawn from circumstances. It is frequently used when the speaker later realizes or confirms the truth of that initial thought, whether it turned out to be correct or incorrect. The expression implies a retrospective realization or a confirmation of a past assumption, often serving as a reason or background for a subsequent action or outcome. It's about the speaker's own internal thought process of making an inference.

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Conjugation Rules

V+겠거니 attaches directly to the verb stem. There are no distinctions based on whether the verb stem ends in a consonant or a vowel.

• Verb Stem + 겠거니

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Knowledge Plus

While V+겠거니 expresses an assumption, it differs from similar expressions like -는 줄 알았다 and -다고 생각했다.

• -는 줄 알았다 often implies a mistaken belief or a realization that something was different from what was initially thought (e.g., "I thought it was X, but it was Y").
• -다고 생각했다 is a more general expression for "I thought that..." and doesn't necessarily carry the nuance of an inference or hunch as strongly as -겠거니.
• V+겠거니 specifically highlights the speaker's inference or prediction about a future or current state, which is then often confirmed or disproven. It has a slightly informal and colloquial feel, often used in narrative or reflective contexts where the speaker is explaining their thought process. It's like saying, "I just figured that would be the case."