-가
Busan: Checking a Noun Predicate
The -가 question family checks a noun predicate in casual Busan speech.
How It Works
Compare 학생이가? with 어느 학교 학생이고?. The first checks whether someone is a student; the second requests information about which school.
This sentence-final -가 is not the subject particle 이/가. Read the whole predicate: a subject marker inside a sentence does not turn the sentence into this question.
The bare present noun predicate uses -가. With past-tense material between the copula and the ending, use the -나 family instead: 학생이었나?. This is a familiar-speech ending, not a shortcut for polite Korean. Respectful questions can keep the shared standard constructions.
Examples (3)
- 저 사람 네 친구가?
Is that person your friend?
- 네가 새 학생이가?
Are you the new student?
- 그거 내 책이가?
Is that my book?
Learn This First
A noun predicate needs the copula, including its short shape after a vowel, before it can take this familiar question ending.
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.