-(으)ㄴ/는지
(eu)n/neunji
Grammar · 1 sense
Vague reasoning
Examples
시험 문제가 어려웠는지 점수가 좋은 학생이 적어요.
Fewer students scored well because the test questions were difficult.
제 친구는 여행을 좋아하는지 방학 때마다 여행을 가요.
My friend goes on a trip every vacation, so I think she likes traveling.
When you'd hear it
This neutral pattern appears in everyday conversation and explanatory writing when a speaker speculates about a situation, including dialogue in dramas. It is not especially formal, but it can also occur in careful written explanations.
What learners get wrong
Learners may treat it like the direct-cause pattern -아/어서. Here, the cause is an inference based on the result, while -아/어서 presents the cause more directly; it can also mean “whether” in other contexts.
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