Korean grammar patterns › Level 3
-구나
Oh, so …! (casual exclamation on realizing something)
Level 3 · TOPIK II · intermediate
How to use it
Casual/plain ending that shows the speaker has just noticed or learned something. Verbs take -는구나 in the present; adjectives, nouns and past forms take -구나. -군 is a shorter variant.
Forming it
| 오다 | → 오는구나 |
| 춥다 | → 춥구나 |
| 학생 | → 학생이구나 |
| 크다 | → 컸구나 |
Present verbs need 는: ✗ 비가 오구나 → 오는구나. Used to friends, juniors or to oneself, not to elders.
Examples
벌써 밖에 눈이 오는구나!
Oh, it's already snowing outside!
너 그동안 키가 정말 많이 컸구나.
Wow, you've grown so much taller in the meantime.
Compared with similar patterns
-군요 is the polite form of -구나. -네요 reacts to something experienced right now; -구나/-군요 stresses newly learning a fact (even one heard from others).