-(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다
-(eu)n/neun geot gatda
Fogging a window you can see through perfectly
The picture Looking outside through a misted window. The shape is there; you simply decline to state it flatly. 것 같다 lays a layer of fog on the glass; -겠다 leaves the glass clear and says what it sees. Fogged versus sharp.
Where the picture shows up in -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다
-
the view really is hazy
밖에 비가 오는 것 같아요.
ba-kke bi-ga o-neun geot ga-ta-yo
Sounds like it's raining outside.
You cannot see out, so you read the rain from the sound of it hitting the glass.
-
someone else's business stays hazy
부장님이 지금 바쁘신 것 같아요.
bu-jang-nim-i ji-geum ba-ppeu-sin geot ga-ta-yo
The manager looks busy right now.
The fog on the manager's office window — you leave it there instead of wiping it clear.
Declaring another person's state or feelings flatly sounds rude.
-
guessing about the past
제가 길을 잘못 온 것 같아요.
je-ga gi-reul jal-mot on geot ga-ta-yo
I think I came the wrong way.
The road you already came down, sitting blurred in the rear window.
The -ㄴ form (온 것) points at something already done.
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softening a verdict
이 옷은 저한테 좀 큰 것 같아요.
i o-seun jeo-han-te jom keun geot ga-ta-yo
This one's a bit big on me.
Your reflection in the mirror is sharp; only the sentence gets a layer of fog laid over it.
In a shop this is what you say instead of a flat 'I won't take it.'
-
fogging your own plans
저는 못 갈 것 같아요.
jeo-neun mot gal geot ga-ta-yo
I don't think I'll make it.
Your own calendar is perfectly clear; only the window you show the other person stays misted.
You know your own schedule perfectly well. Saying it this way is basic Korean politeness for turning something down.
All of it in one picture
것 같다 is one layer of fog laid over a window. When you genuinely cannot see out, it reads the rain by its sound; when the window is someone else's office, leaving it unwiped is courtesy; when the road behind you sits blurred in the rear glass, it guesses at the past; and even in front of a sharp mirror, one layer of fog softens the verdict. The decisive case is your own calendar — you can fog a window you see through completely. So 것 같다 does not mark a lack of information; it marks a refusal to state things flatly.