쟤 너 좋아하나 봐

The line, explained

The boy at the back keeps glancing over, and the best friend leans in with a grin: 쟤 너 좋아하나 봐. 'I think he likes you.' It is a tiny, delicious line, and it uses -나 봐, the pattern for guessing based on what you can see. It is not a fact and not a question. It is a conclusion drawn from clues, which is exactly the tone gossip needs.

쟤 means 'that person over there'. It is a squeezed form of 저 아이, 'that kid', and it is very casual, used for friends, classmates and people your age or younger. Its partners are 얘 (this person here) and 걔 (that person you know about). 너 is 'you'. Here it is the object, the person being liked, so strictly it would be 너를, but the marker is dropped in quick casual speech.

좋아하나 봐 is built on 좋아하다, to like. Take the stem 좋아하 and attach -나 봐. 봐 comes from 보다, 'to see', which also means 'to seem' in this pattern. So the line almost literally says 'he likes you, it looks like'. The same ending works for any action verb: 오나 봐, it looks like it's coming; 자나 봐, he seems to be asleep. For the past, add the past marker: 갔나 봐, I guess she left.

Adjectives use a slightly different shape: -(으)ㄴ가 봐. So 'you seem busy' is 바쁜가 봐, and 'it seems good' is 좋은가 봐. Stems ending in ㄹ drop it before -나: 알다 becomes 아나 봐, 'it seems he knows'. To be polite, add 요: 좋아하나 봐요. And watch the context: 'I think he likes you' and 'he seems to like you' are both fair translations, since the speaker is guessing, not reporting.

Whisper it with a teasing smile: jyae neo jo-a-ha-na bwa. The 봐 is short and light, almost a laugh. Now change the clue: 쟤 너 기다리나 봐, he seems to be waiting for you; 쟤 너 찾나 봐, I think he's looking for you. Then use it for the weather: 밖에 비 오나 봐, looks like it's raining. From romance to rain, -나 봐 is how Korean says 'judging by what I see…'.