Ability and possibility

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~(㦒)ඥ 㑮 㧞┺/㠜┺ is used to indicate an ability or possibility of doing something. This form is constructed from the noun-modifying ending

~(㦒)ඥ, the noun 㑮 “means/way,” and the verb 㧞┺ “have/exist.” For negation, 㠜┺ “not have/not exist” is used instead of 㧞┺.

~(㦒)ඥ 㑮 㧞┺ is equivalent to English translation “one can do/be” or

“it is possible to,” as shown in the examples below:

䞒㞚⏎⯒ 䂶G 㑮G 㧞㠊㣪. “(I) can play a piano” or “(It) is possible to play a piano.”

㍲㤎㠦 ṞG㑮G㧞㠊㣪. “(I) can go to Seoul” or “(It) is possible to go to Seoul.”

⁎ 㺛㦚 㧓㦚G㑮G㧞㠊㣪. “(I) can read that book” or “(It) is possible to read that book.”

On the other hand, ~(㦒)ඥ 㑮 㠜┺ is used to express “cannot do/be”

or “it is not possible to.”

㰧㠦㍲ Ὃ⿖䞶G 㑮G 㠜㠊㣪. “(I) cannot study at home” or “(It) is not possible to study at home.”

䕢䕆㠦 ṞG 㑮G 㠜㠊㣪. “(I) cannot go to the party” or “(It) is not pos-sible to go to the party.”

ⰺ㧒 㑮㡗䞶G 㑮G 㠜㠊㣪. “(I) cannot swim everyday” or “(It) is not possible to swim everyday.”

The meaning of ~(㦒)ඥ 㑮 㠜㠊㣪 is similar to that of the negative expression with ⴑ “cannot/unable.” For instance, compare the following two sentences:

ニ㦚 ⴑGⲏ㠊㣪 (or ニ㦚 ⲏ㰖Gⴑ䟊㣪). “(I) cannot eat bread.”

ニ㦚 ⲏ㦚G㑮G㠜㠊㣪. “(I) cannot eat bread” or “(It) is not possible to eat bread.”

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~O㦒PඥG㭚G 㞢┺V⳾⯊┺

Notice that while the first sentence with the negative ⴑ simply emphasizes one’s inability (e.g., whether one can eat bread or not), the second sentence with ~(㦒)ඥ 㑮 㠜㠊㣪 indicates one’s ability as well as the possibility of the action (e.g., whether eating bread is possible or not).

When ~(㦒)ඥ 㑮 㧞┺/㠜┺ is used with adjectives, it indicates the possibility of the state or quality, as shown below:

㤪㣪㧒 㔲䠮㧊 㠊⩺㤎G 㑮G 㧞㠊㣪. “(It) is possible that the test on Monday can be difficult.”

⌊㧒㦮 ⋶㝾Ṗ 㿪㤎G㑮G㧞㔋┞┺. “(It) is possible that the tomorrow’s weather can be cold.”

Meanwhile, some particles, such as ☚ “also,” Ⱒ “only,” and ⹬㠦 “except/

but,” can appear after the noun 㑮 to indicate additional meanings. Consider the following examples:

⌊㧒㦮 ⋶㝾Ṗ ▪㤎G㑮☚G㧞㠊㣪. “(It) is possible that the tomorrow’s weather can be also hot.”

㍲㤎㠦㍲ ㌊G 㑮ⰢG 㧞┺Ⳋ 㫡Ỷ㠊㣪. “(It) would be wonderful, only if (I) can live in Seoul.”

Notice that the particle ☚ adds a special meaning of “also” to the first sentence, and the particle Ⱒ adds a meaning of “only” to the second sentence.

When the noun 㑮 is followed by the particle ⹬㠦, which means “except/

but,” as in ~(㦒)ඥ 㑮⹬㠦 㠜㠊㣪, it creates an expression of “have no other way to/can’t help (doing),” as shown below:

䄺䞒⯒ Ⱎ㔺G㑮⹬㠦G㠜㠊㣪. “(I) cannot help drinking coffee.”

ⰺ㧒 㫆ₛ㦚 䞶G㑮⹬㠦G㠜㠊㣪. “(I) cannot help jogging everyday.”

㩲 㰧㦚 䕪G㑮⹬㠦G㠜㠞㠊㣪. “(I) couldn’t help selling my house.”

~(

~(㦒)ඥ 㭚 㞢┺/⳾⯊┺ is used to express a specific ability of the subject, equivalent to “know how to” in English. This form is constructed from the noun-modifying ending ~(㦒)ඥ, the noun 㭚 “the way (how to),” and the verb 㞢┺ “know” or ⳾⯊┺ “do not know.”

㢖㧎㦚 Ⱎ㔺G㭚G㞢㞚㣪. “(I) know how to drink wine.”

⍻䌖㧊⯒ ⱂG㭚G㞢㞮㠊㣪. “(I) knew how to wear a tie.”

㡗㠊⯒ 䞶G㭚G㞢㞚㣪? “(Do you) know how to speak English?”

䞲ῃ㠊⯒ 䞶G㭚Gⴆ⧒㣪. “(I) do not know how to speak Korean.”

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Ability and possibility

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䞲ῃ 㦢㔳㦚 Ⱒ✺G㭚Gⴆ⧦㠊㣪. “(I) did not know how to make Korean food.”

☞㦚 㝎G㭚Gⴆ⧒㣪? “Don’t (you) know how to spend money?”

When the subject of ~(㦒)ඥ 㭚 㞢㞮┺/ⴆ⧦┺ is a third person, it indicates the speaker’s presumed thought, as shown below:

䐆㧊 㢖㧎㦚 Ⱎ㔺G 㭚G 㞢㞮㠊㣪. “(I) thought that Tom would drink wine.”

⋶㝾Ṗ ▪㤎G 㭚G 㞢㞮㠊㣪. “(I) thought that the weather would be hot.”

┞䆲⧒㓺Ṗ 㧒㦚 㧒㹣 ⊳⌒G㭚G㞢㞮㠊㣪. “(I) thought that Nicolas would finish (his) work early.”

㑮㧪㧊 䞲ῃ㠊⯒ 䞶G 㭚G ⴆ⧦㠊㣪. “(I) did not think that Susan would speak Korean.”

䐆㧊 㡂₆㠦 㝆⩞₆⯒ ⻚ⰊG㭚Gⴆ⧦㠊㣪. “(I) did not expect that Tom would throw the garbage away here.”

㞚⌊Ṗ ⁎ 㰧㦚 㫡㞚䞶G 㭚G ⴆ⧦㠊㣪. “(I) did not think that (my) wife would like that house.”

~(㦒)ඥ ⰂṖ

~(㦒)ඥ ⰂṖ 㠜┺ is constructed from the noun-modifying ending ~(㦒) ඥ, the dependent noun Ⰲ “possibility,” the subject particle Ṗ, and the verb 㠜┺ “not have/not exist.” ~(㦒)ඥ ⰂṖ 㠜┺ indicates that content of the ~(㦒)ඥ Ⰲ ending clause is not true or far from the reality. It can be translated as “it is not possible that . . . ” or “there is no possibility that . . . ” in English.

㞺㰖Ṗ 䞲ῃ㠦 ṞGⰂṖG㠜㠊㣪. “There is no possibility that Angie goes to Korea.”

⁎ 䂲ῂ✺㧊 ⋮⯒ 㕁㠊䞶G ⰂṖG 㠜㠊㣪. “(It) is not possible that those friends dislike me.”

㡂⯚㠦 䆪䔎⯒ 㧛㦚GⰂṖG㠜㠊㣪. “(It) is not possible that (she) wears a coat in summer.”

㔲䠮㧊 㓂㤎GⰂṖG㠜㠊㣪. “(It) is not possible that the test is easy.”

⋶㝾Ṗ 㿪㤎G ⰂṖG 㠜㠊㣪. “(It) is not possible that the weather is cold.”

ア㧊 Ṗ⋲䞶GⰂṖG㠜㠊㣪. “(It) is not possible that Bill is poor.”

⭎Ⲫ㧊䔎Ṗ 㡂㧦㧒G ⰂṖG 㠜㠊㣪. “(It) is not possible that (his) room-mate is a woman.”

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