아/어/ 보다 means I have done, I tried, I have experience and 으니까 is used to show the reason.
아/어/해 보니까 is mainly used in three cases.
- To discover the truth behind the previous action.
- To talk about new things that you have learned through past actions or experiences.
- To explain the background of knowing that fact.
‘아/어/해 보니까’ attaches after a verb stem. This expression is a combination of the expression ‘아/어/해 보다’ which means ‘try to do something.’ and the connective ending ‘으니까/니까’ which indicates ‘find something/discovery’.
So, as one expression, ‘-아/어/해 보니까’ is an expression used to connect the preceding sentence with the following sentence.
It is used when you ‘discover’ something later by ‘trying’ the action of the preceding sentence.
So, in the preceding sentence, it talks about the actions or experiences you tried.
The following sentence talks about the facts or experiences that you have found through the previous actions.
It is a similar expression to ‘으니까/니까.’
But, you can think of it as an additional meaning of ‘try.’
한국에 와서 혼자 살아 보니까 어때요? How about living alone in Korea?
한국에 와서 혼자 살아 보니까 생각보다 힘든 부분이 있어요. Living alone in Korea is more difficult than I thought.
한국에서 혼자 살아 봤어요. 힘들어요. I’ve tried to live alone in Korea. It’s hard.
‘한국에서 혼자 살아 봤어요.’ – this is what that person tried to do.
And then, ‘힘들어요.’ – that person realized that it’s hard.
You can connect these two sentences by using ‘-아 보니까.
Then you can say, ‘한국에서 혼자 살아 보니까 힘들어요.’
‘살아 보니까’ is a combination of the verb ‘살다’ and ‘-아 보니까.’
‘한국에서 혼자 살아 보니까’ – This is an action she tried.
‘힘들어요’ – This is a fact that she found out.
When you talk about what you learned after trying something like this, you can use ‘-아 보니까’ after the ‘verb stem’.
김치를 먹어 봤어요. 맛있었어요. I tried to eat Kimchi. It was delicious.
김치를 먹어 봤어요. – this is what Nana tried to do.
Then ‘맛있었어요.’ – she realized that it was delicious.
You can connect these two sentences by using ‘-어 보니까.
Then, you can say – 김치를 먹어보니까 맛있었어요.
‘먹어 보니까’ is a combination of the verb ‘먹다’ and ‘-어 보니까’
‘김치를 먹어 보니까’ – this is an action she tried.
‘맛있었어요.’ – it’s talking about what she learned from that experience.
When you talk about what you learned after trying something like this, you can use ‘-어 보니까’ after the ‘verb stem’.
김치를 먹어 보니까 맛있었어요.
아/어/해 보니까 grammar Conjugation
Now let’s look at the combination information.
When a vowel in a verb stem is ‘ㅏ’ or ‘ㅗ’, ‘-아 보니까’ is used. For example,
when you look at the verb 앉다, remove ‘다’. The vowel before ‘다’ is ‘ㅏ’.
‘-아 보니까’ is used after that.
So you can say ‘앉아 보니까.’
Let’s look at the verb 오다.
Remove ‘다.’
The vowel before ‘다’ is ‘ㅗ’.
‘-아 보니까’ is used after that.
So you can say ‘와 보니까.’
when the vowel before ‘다’ is other vowels other than ‘ㅏ’ or ‘ㅗ’, then ‘어 보니까’ is used after that.
For example, when you look at the verb 먹다, remove ‘다.’ The vowel before ‘다’ is ‘ㅓ,’
‘-어 보니까’ is used after that. So you can say ‘먹어 보니까.’
Let’s look at the verb 만들다. Remove ‘다.’ The vowel before ‘다’ is ‘ㅡ’. ‘-어 보니까’ is used after that. So you can say ‘만들어 보니까.’
when a verb ends in ‘하다‘, change ‘하다’ to ‘해 보니까.’
‘-해 보니까’ is a combination of the verb ‘하다’ and ‘-여 보니까.’
When you look at the verb 공부하다, it ends with ‘하다’
Then remove ‘하다’, and use ‘-해 보니까.’
So you can say ‘공부해 보니까.’
Let’s look at the verb 운동하다. It ends with ‘하다’
Then remove ‘하다’, and use ‘-해 보니까.’ So you can say ‘운동해 보니까.’
아/어/해 보니까 grammar Summary
when the vowel in front of ‘다’ is ‘ㅏ’ or ‘ㅗ,’ ‘-아 보니가’ is used. So ‘앉다’ becomes ‘앉아 보니까.’
when a vowel in verb stem’ is ‘other vowels’ other than ‘ㅏ’ or ‘ㅗ,’ ‘어 보니까’ is used. So ‘먹다’ becomes ‘먹어 보니까.’
when a verb ends in ‘하다’, change ‘하다’ to ‘-해 보니까.’ So ‘공부하다’ becomes ‘공부해 보니까.’
한국어를 배워 보니까 생각보다 재미있어요. Learning Korean is more fun than I thought.
‘배워 보니까’ is a combination of the verb ‘배우다’ and ‘-어 보니까’
제주도에 가 보니까 바다가 너무 예뻤어요. When I went to Jeju Island, the sea was so beautiful.
‘가 보니까’ is a combination of the verb ‘가다’ and ‘-아 보니까’
서리따 씨와 이야기해 보니까 좋은 사람 같았어요. When I talked to Sawretwa, she seemed like a nice person.
‘이야기해 보니까’ is a combination of the verb ‘이야기하다’ and ‘-해 보니까’.
