Jump to:
~다 싶다: Stating One’s Feeling, Thought or Perception
Vocabulary
Nouns:
간 = for a food to be salted appropriately
Notes: This is a very Korean phenomenon. The flavor of something is very important in Korea. Sometimes things can be “too salty.” In which case, it is common for Korean people to use 짜다 to indicate it is not flavored enough. In the opposite case, when something is not flavored (or salted) enough, the common expression is “간이 안 되다.”
Common Usages:
간이 맞다 = to be flavored appropriately
간이 안 되다 = to not be flavored enough
간을 보다 = to taste for seasoning / to test or gauge a situation
간을 맞추다 = to season to taste
Examples:
이 국은 간이 딱 맞네요
= This soup is seasoned just right
국물 = soup broth
Common Usages:
국물을 내다 = to make broth
Examples:
국물 맛이 깊고 진해서 좋았어요
= The broth had a deep, rich flavor
국물 맛을 보니 생각보다 매콤하다 싶었어요
= After tasting the soup, I thought it was spicier than expected
국물을 한입 마시니 조금 짭짤하다 싶은 맛이 났어요
= After taking a sip of the soup, it had a taste that seemed a bit salty
한입 = one bite, one mouthful
Common Usages:
한입거리 = bite-sized food
Examples:
오빠는 햄버거를 한입에 먹어치웠어요
= My older brother ate the hamburger in one big bite
반찬을 한입 먹어 보니 간이 짭짤하다 싶었어요
= After taking a bite of the side dish, I felt it was quite salty
국물을 한입 마시니 조금 짭짤하다 싶은 맛이 났어요
= After taking a sip of the soup, it had a taste that seemed a bit salty
방문 = door to a room
Examples:
방문을 조용히 닫고 나갔어요
= I quietly closed the door to the room and left
방문 너머에서 들리는 말소리가 불안하다 싶었어요
= The voice I heard beyond the door seemed uneasy
경사 = slope
Common Usages:
급경사 = steep slope
Examples:
경사가 가파르니 조심해서 내려가세요
= The slope is steep, so go down carefully
길이 꽤 가파른 경사라서 조심해야겠다 싶었어요
= Since the road had a pretty steep slope, I thought I should be careful
황사 = yellow dust
Common Usages:
황사 마스크 = yellow dust mask
Notes: There are various dust particles that are reported in the weather in Korea. The most commonly worried about are the PM 2.5 and PM 10 fine dust (미세먼지) particles. However, every spring, winds coming from the west and north bring 황사 into Korea.
Examples:
오늘 황사 때문에 외출을 자제하고 있어요
= I’m avoiding going out today because of the yellow dust
하늘을 보니 황사가 심하다 싶었어요
= Looking at the sky, I felt that the yellow dust was severe
지시 = order, directions
Common Usages:
지시를 내리다 = to give instructions
Examples:
선생님의 지시에 따라 행동하세요
= Act according to the teacher’s directions
본부에서 내린 지시가 다소 엄격하다 싶었어요
= The order from headquarters seemed a bit strict
손실액 = amount of money lost
Examples:
이번 사고로 회사의 손실액이 상당히 컸어요
= Because of this accident, the amount of money the company lost was quite big
손실액이 예상보다 적었으면 싶어요
= I hope the amount of money lost is smaller than expected
말소리 = voice
Examples:
멀리서 아이들의 말소리가 들렸어요
= I could hear children’s voices from far away
방문 너머에서 들리는 말소리가 불안하다 싶었어요
= The voice I heard beyond the door seemed uneasy
근무지 = workplace
Examples:
저는 새로운 근무지에 적응 중이에요
= I am adjusting to my new workplace
새로운 근무지가 생각보다 괜찮다 싶었어요
= I felt that my new workplace was better than expected
꽃가루 = pollen
Common Usages:
꽃가루 알레르기 = pollen allergy
Examples:
봄이 되자 꽃가루 알레르기가 심해졌어요
= My pollen allergy got worse when spring came
꽃가루가 날려서 오늘은 마스크를 써야겠다 싶었어요
= Since pollen was floating around, I thought I should wear a mask today
새끼손가락 = pinky finger
Common Usages:
새끼손가락을 걸고 약속하다 = pinky swear
Examples:
여자는 새끼손가락에 작은 반지를 끼고 있었어요
= The girl was wearing a small ring on her pinky finger
새끼손가락이 욱신거려서 다쳤다 싶었어요
= My pinky finger was throbbing, so I must have injured it somehow
Verbs:
싱긋하다 = to grin
Examples:
여자는 싱긋 웃으며 인사를 건넸어요
= The girl greeted me with a gentle grin
친구가 싱긋하는 것을 보니 좋은 소식이 있다 싶었어요
= Seeing my friend grin, I thought there was good news
손실하다 = to lose
Examples:
부상으로 걸을 수가 없어서 다리 근육을 많이 손실했어요
= Because I couldn’t walk due to an injury, I lost a lot of leg muscle
이번 투자에서 큰 손실이 없었으면 싶어요
= I hope there are no big losses in this investment
예상보다 많은 돈을 손실해서 투자 판단이 잘못되었다 싶었어요
= Since I lost more money than expected, I felt my investment decision was wrong
욱신거리다 = to ache, to throb
Common Usages:
머리가 욱신거리다 = to have a throbbing headache
Examples:
운동 후에 다리가 욱신거렸어요
= My legs ached after the workout
새끼손가락이 욱신거려서 다쳤다 싶었어요
= My pinky finger was throbbing, so I must have injured it somehow
Adjectives:
한적하다 = to be secluded, to be quaint
Examples:
한적한 마을에서 조용히 휴식을 취했어요
= I took a quiet rest in a secluded village
한적한 시골 마을에서 하룻밤 묵었으면 싶어요
= I wish I could stay a night in a quiet countryside village
한적한 시골 마을을 보니 여유롭다 싶은 분위기가 느껴졌어요
= Looking at the quiet countryside village, I felt a relaxed atmosphere
매콤하다 = to be spicy
Examples:
매콤한 떡볶이를 먹고 싶어요
= I want to eat some spicy ddeokbokki
국물 맛을 보니 생각보다 매콤하다 싶었어요
= After tasting the soup, I thought it was spicier than expected
짭짤하다 = to be salty
Common Usages:
수입이 짭짤하다 (idiom) = to have a decent income
Examples:
이 김치는 짭짤하면서도 맛있어요
= This kimchi is salty yet delicious
반찬을 한입 먹어 보니 간이 짭짤하다 싶었어요
= After taking a bite of the side dish, I felt it was quite salty
국물을 한입 마시니 조금 짭짤하다 싶은 맛이 났어요
= After taking a sip of the soup, it had a taste that seemed a bit salty
Adverbs and Other Words:
금세 = shortly, a short time later
Examples:
그 사람이 금세 돌아오겠다고 약속했어요
= That person promised to come back shortly
하늘을 보고 맑다 싶으면 금세 구름이 끼었다
= Just when I thought the sky was clear, clouds quickly gathered
다소 = somewhat
Examples:
그 계획은 다소 위험할 수도 있어요
= That plan could be somewhat risky
이번 주 연료 가격이 다소 낮춰졌어요
= Fuel prices dropped slightly this week
본부에서 내린 지시가 다소 엄격하다 싶었어요
= The order from headquarters seemed a bit strict
Introduction
I remember being a few years into my Korean study journey. Two years of being an absolute Korean grammar nerd, I was getting a bit arrogant about how good my understanding of Korean grammar was. It was getting to the point that I was sometimes correcting the grammar of Korean people. Then one day I was reading a book and I saw something that deeply confused me. Something like this:
새로운 근무지가 생각보다 괜찮다 싶었어요
I was shocked. What is this 싶다 thing? Surely this has to have some connection to the 싶다 that I learned a long time ago, right?
It put me in my place pretty quickly. There are many uses to 싶다, one being the usage you saw back in Lesson 17. In this lesson and the next, you will learn about more uses of 싶다. Let’s get started!
Usage 1
~다 싶다: Stating One’s Feeling, Thought or Perception
One of the ways 싶다 is used is by placing after ~다 of a verb adjective or 이다. By doing so, the speaker indicates an idea that they are not totally sure about, but something that they think or perceive to be true. Let’s look at the example from the introduction:
새로운 근무지가 생각보다 괜찮다 싶었어요
= I felt that my new workplace was better than expected
Here, the use of ~다 싶다 indicates that the speaker isn’t totally sure that the workplace is better than expected but, from the best of their judgement, they think/perceive it to be true.
You can conjugate the word before ~다 to the past or future tense using ~았/었 or ~겠다 to indicate that the idea that was perceived to be true was in the past or future. For example:
새끼손가락이 욱신거려서 다쳤다 싶었어요
= My pinky finger was throbbing, so I must have injured it somehow
길이 꽤 가파른 경사라서 조심해야겠다 싶었어요
= Since the road had a pretty steep slope, I thought I should be careful
Below are many more examples:
하늘을 보니 황사가 심하다 싶었어요
= Looking at the sky, I felt that the yellow dust was severe
국물 맛을 보니 생각보다 매콤하다 싶었어요
= After tasting the soup, I thought it was spicier than expected
본부에서 내린 지시가 다소 엄격하다 싶었어요
= The order from headquarters seemed a bit strict
반찬을 한입 먹어 보니 간이 짭짤하다 싶었어요
= After taking a bite of the side dish, I felt it was quite salty
방문 너머에서 들리는 말소리가 불안하다 싶었어요
= The voice I heard beyond the door seemed uneasy
오늘 일정이 많지 않아서 하루가 여유롭다 싶었어요
= Since there weren’t many plans today, I felt the day was quite relaxed
친구가 싱긋하는 것을 보니 좋은 소식이 있다 싶었어요
= Seeing my friend grin, I thought there was good news
꽃가루가 날려서 오늘은 마스크를 써야겠다 싶었어요
= Since pollen was floating around, I thought I should wear a mask today
예상보다 많은 돈을 손실해서 투자 판단이 잘못되었다 싶었어요
= Since I lost more money than expected, I felt my investment decision was wrong
It is also possible to use 싶다 in these types of sentences to describe an upcoming noun. This allows a noun to be described by the meaning encompassed with the ideas that were described above. It’s quite a complex thing to do for a Korean learner, so I’m very proud to be able to be at a point in my lessons (we’re almost at Unit 8!) that a learner who has been with me since Lesson 1 should be able to understand it. For example, notice how the nouns 맛 and 분위기 below are being described by 싶다.
Remember that 싶다 is an adjective.
국물을 한입 마시니 조금 짭짤하다 싶은 맛이 났어요
= After taking a sip of the soup, it had a taste that seemed a bit salty
한적한 시골 마을을 보니 여유롭다 싶은 분위기가 느껴졌어요
= Looking at the quiet countryside village, I felt a relaxed atmosphere
Naturally, it is also possible to attach other grammatical principles to 싶다 to make your sentences more complex. This allows 싶다 to be used in the middle of a sentence to set up other clauses. For example:
~다 싶어서 (Lesson 37):
길이 미끄럽다 싶어서 천천히 걸었어요
= Since I thought the road was slippery, I walked slowly
~다 싶으면 (Lesson 43):
하늘을 보고 맑다 싶으면 금세 구름이 끼었어요
= Just when I thought the sky was clear, clouds quickly gathered
몸이 아프다 싶으면 꼭 열이나요
= Whenever I start feeling like I’m sick, I always end up with a fever
~다 싶을까 (Lesson 63):
비가 그쳤다 싶을까 해서 우산을 놓고 나갔어요
= Thinking the rain had stopped, I went out without an umbrella
~다 싶은데 (Lesson 76):
일이 거의 다 끝났다 싶은데 이제 집에 가는 게 어때요?
= Since it feels like most of the work is done, how about going home now?
That’s it for this lesson! Stay tuned for more 싶다 in the next two lessons!