한지 / 는지 / 인지 Conjugation in Korean

Warm Up Your Brain

한지, 는지 no matter what it looks like, if a word has ㄴ지. Then it’s all same. So, you don’t have to memorize all of them, just find ‘ㄴ지’.

ㄴ지 / 한지 / 인지 Meaning in Korean

인지

[inji]
Not sure

Dictionaries define ㄴ지 conjugation connects 2 phrases with an uncertain guess, a question or a doubt. But that’s complicated and unclear to understand easily. But we got some hint from it. Guess, question, doubt. So, let’s check how we can use them.

Guess What?

Guess what is the nuance that ㄴ지 has. You can use it when you guess or ask someone to guess something.

무슨 숫자인지 맞춰봐요
[museun sujja-inji machwo-bwayo]
Guess what the number is

I’m Not Sure

인지 for when you are talking about something that you’re not sure or you don’t know. In this case, it’s alright to translate it as ‘if’ like ‘I’m not so sure if I’m going to heaven or hell when I die’

좋은지 잘 모르겠어요
[joeunji jal moreugesseoyo]
I’m not sure it’s good / if it’s good

Knoooledge

This is the one that dictionaries never tell even though it’s super important. It is the most common way to use ㄴ지 in casual conversations. For this, you can find the hint from ‘guess’ or ‘uncertain’. Yes, it’s related to ‘understanding’ or ‘knowing’. We use it when we need ‘understand’ or ‘knowledge’.

무슨 말인지 알겠어요
[musen marinji algesseoyo]
I understand what you’re talking
= understanding + And It’s a great phrase when you actually don’t listen at all

거기 어떻게 가는지 알아요
[geogi eoddeoke ganeunji arayo]
I know how to get there
= knowledge + And It’s a great phrase when you’re actually lost

How To Use

제가 무슨일인지 보고올게요
I’m going to see what’s going on

이게 뭔지 알아요?
Do you know what this is?

A: 이거 먹는건지 모르겠네요
I’m not sure if it’s something to eat
B: 네? 이거 흙이에요
What? It’s dirt
A: 저 흙 잘 먹어요
I can eat dirt