14.7. Synopsis: Types of Bases and Types of Future

14.7.1. Types of Base

Now you have learned all three verbal base forms in Korean — Plain, Past and Future-Presumptive:

Sometimes it is convenient to speak of Honorific Bases, but really the honorific marker
-(으)시- is just an extension of the plain base, which can then be further converted to Past or Future. Whenever you learn a new ending or pattern, you need to learn which bases the ending is compatible with [see section 14.8 below for a recap of how -겠- works with the various endings you already know].

14.7.2. Types of Future

Now you have learned several different kinds of future verb form in Korean. None of them corresponds exactly to a future as we might conceive of it English, and each has different nuances.

The Probable Future is the most common way to refer to future events in Korean, and can be used in all persons with both processive and descriptive verbs.

On a Plain Base, it means (probably) will do / happen / be. . ., etc.
On Past Bases it means must have done / been / happened, etc. E.g.:

59. 철민씨가 벌써 왔을 거예요.
    Ch’o&lmin must have arrived already.

This usage is equivalent to, but increasingly more common than, the Past-Future: 왔겠어요.

IMMEDIATE FUTURE:   -(으)ㄹ게요

The Immediate Future is used only on Plain Processive Bases, is always first person (I, we), and the action referred to is usually beneficial to the hearer:

60. 점심은 내가 낼게요.
    Let me pay for lunch. or Why don’t I pay for lunch.

FUTURE-PRESUMPTIVE BASE:   -겠-

Although is is often called a ‘future’ by most textbooks, the Future-Presumptive is more of
a) a matter-of-fact statement of personal intention in 1st-person declaratives and 2nd-person questions, and
b) a supposition in 3rd-person sentences.

Here are some example sentences:

61. 내일 오시겠습니까? – 네, 내일 가겠습니다.
    Will you (do you intend to) come tomorrow? Yes, I will (do).
62. 그 책이 도서관에 있을까요? – 있겠지요.
    Do you suppose that book will be in the library? Sure (I’ll bet it would be).
63. (little child falls on his face on the pavement)
    야, 아프겠다!
    Ooh, that must hurt! (ignore the 다 for now; you will learn it in Volume Two)

On Past Bases, the Future-Presumptive -겠-has only the meaning of supposition (must have; I’ll bet that. . .).

64. 아마 기차로 갔겠지요.
    I’ll bet he must have gone by train.

In order to understand the various Korean ‘futures’ fully, it may be helpful to have a careful look at the meanings of certain English words used for ‘future’-like purposes.

a. Will, is Going to

Simple future action is expressed in English by will and is going to. These have slightly different connotations, but both are covered by the Korean futures:

• 읽겠어요 I will read, am going to read
  [strong statement of intention]
• 읽을 거예요 will read, am/is going to read
  [probably future; less certain than 읽겠어요]
• 읽을게요 I’ll read it, I promise
  [more immediate, with a hint of promise, assurance, or even reassurance]

b. Would
Korean often prefers to construe verbs of knowing in the future-presumptive: one often hears 알겠어요 I know or I understand where one would expect 알아요; 모르겠어요 I wouldn’t know or I don’t understand where one would expect 몰라요. The present forms are also used, but the -겠- form has a suggestion of tentativeness (like English I wouldn’t know) and perhaps for that reason seems more polite, especially in second-person questions: 아시겠어요 Do you know? or Do you understand? (cf English Would you happen to know?)

c. Is Willing to, Wants to
In both English and Korean, a future verb form may mean will in the sense is willing to or wants to [do so-and-so]. In this sense, one usually uses -겠-:

65. 산보하시겠어요?
    Would you like to take a walk? [or Are you willing to take a walk? or Will you take a walk? or Are you going to take a walk?]

Sometimes a verb in this form is made negative, and the result is a polite suggestion. We had an example of this in the Dialogue of this lesson:

66. 같이 가지 않겠어요?
    Shall we go together?

You cannot make questions or suggestions like this with Immediate Futures in -(으)ㄹ게요, or Probable Futures in -(으)ㄹ 거예요. Thus, the Probable Future form of the two sentences just above is just a matter-of-fact question:

67. 산보하실 거예요?
    Are you going to take a walk?
68. 같이 가지 않을 거예요?
    You’re not going to go with us?

d. Probably; Must (Conjecture)
The words probably and must are alike in adding the same flavor to English sentences in a certain usage. In this connection, it is necessary first to distinguish between the two kinds of English must. One must expresses obligation:

I simply must get my work finished.

This kind of must is expressed by the Korean construction -어야 해요 which we learn later in Lesson 18. The other must expresses probability or likelihood:

That girl with Bill must be his fiance!e.
It’s raining — it must be getting cooler.

It is this second kind of must which is sometimes conveyed by both the Korean -겠- and -(으)ㄹ 거예요 forms. [In British English, the future is sometimes used in this Korean way.] In such sentences with a future form, there often appears the adverb 아마, or 아마도, which means probably or likely and strengthens the connotation of the future verb form.

14.7.3. A Reminder about 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd Person with -겠-

In first-person statements, the meaning will most frequently be on the lines of uses (a) and (b) above. In second-person questions, the meaning will usually be along the lines of (b) or (c). However, when the sentence is in the third person, the meaning will more commonly correspond to usage (d). This is because Koreans are reluctant to express the intentions of others with any certainty. When speakers want to refer to what others will do, they are therefore more likely to use the Probably Future with -(으)ㄹ 거예요. These are different in that -겠어요 expresses a definite future intention, or a probable/likely present. The future with -(으)ㄹ 거예요 represents a greater degree of uncertainty.

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