What is „Guess!“ in Korean?
Obviously it is a command to someone we know (closely).
We could use the verb 맞추다 that can have the meanings „to match to something“, „to adapt to something“,“to get something right“. The imperative would맞춰(요)! (casual) or 맞추세요!
That sounds a bit too direct, so also Korean has softer commands:
“please try to“ and „please try (for me)“.
See also Imperative in Korean
We take the informal polite form and add 보다 *to see, to look“:
답을 맞춰 보세요! → “Please try to guess the answer!”
맞추다 + 보다 -> 맞춰요 + 보다 -> 맞춰 봐!
or more polite:
맞추다 + 보다 -> 맞추세요 + 보다 -> 맞추 보세요!
For example:
답을 맞춰 봐! → “Try to guess the answer!”
답을 맞춰 보세요! → “please try to guess the answer!”
퍼즐을 맞춰 봐! → “try to solve the puzzle!”
퍼즐을 맞춰 보세요! → “please try to solve the puzzle!”
There is a second candidate “맞혀 봐” (맞히다 + 보다). It is a causative verb: to make something 맞다.
While “맞혀 봐” is technically the correct form when asking someone to guess the answer, “맞춰 봐” is commonly used in everyday conversation.
A third candidate is “찍어요 봐! (찍다 + 보다). Here: to (randomly) choose among options.
🎯 “시험에서 답을 찍었는데 맞았다!” (I guessed the answer on the test, and it was correct!)
A ‘동료’ is a collegue, companion or fellow worker.
Nice youtube video here:
Other prepositions you can find here
Vocabulary
| Korean | English | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 물근 | thing(s) | |
| 가위, 바위, 보를 해요 | to play rock, paper scissors | |
| 시게 | clock | |
| 안경 | spectacles | |
| 테이블 | table | |
| 책 | book | |
| 책상 | desk | |
| 휴대폼 | mobile phone | 핸드폰 |
| 의자 | chair | |
| 지도 | map | |
| 랩탑 | laptop | |
| 칠판 | blackboard | |
| 노트북 | notebook | |
| 컴퓨터 | computer | |
| 고장나다 | to break down, to be out of order |
컴퓨터가 고장났어요. → “The computer is broken.”