-아/어 보다
a/eo boda
A hand testing the doorknob: -아/어 보다
The picture A hand turning a doorknob once, not knowing yet whether it is locked. -아/어 보다 is the hand that gives the knob one turn; -아/어 버리다 is the hand that finishes it off and leaves nothing.
Where the picture shows up in -아/어 보다
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an invitation to try
이거 한번 먹어 보세요.
i-geo han-beon meo-geo bo-se-yo
Here, give this a taste.
Nudging the plate a little closer to them and laying a fork on top of it
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trying without promising
제가 전화해 볼게요.
je-ga jeon-hwa-hae bol-ge-yo
I'll try calling them.
Dialling the number and lifting the phone to your ear, not knowing if anyone picks up
Softer than 전화할게요, because you are not guaranteeing the outcome.
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turning it over in your head
다시 한번 생각해 보세요.
da-si han-beon saeng-ga-kae bo-se-yo
Please think it over once more.
Picking the paper back up after setting it down, and turning it over one more time
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testing before you commit
이 옷 입어 봐도 돼요?
i ot i-beo bwa-do dwae-yo
Can I try this on?
Lifting the shirt off the hanger, draping it over your shoulders, turning once in front of the mirror
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a door you once opened
제주도에 가 봤어요?
je-ju-do-e ga bwa-sseo-yo
Have you ever been to Jeju?
Among all the doors you have passed, a footprint left in front of the one marked Jeju
In the past tense, -어 봤다 means experience, not attempt: not 'tried to', but 'has ever'.
All of it in one picture
-아/어 보다 is a doorknob you turn once without knowing the result. Push the plate forward and it becomes an offer; dial the number and it becomes trying without promising. Turn the paper over again and it becomes think it over; drape the shirt on and it becomes testing before you commit; leave a footprint at that door and it becomes have you been. So -아/어 보다 never feels like a commitment — it feels like one light touch.