Lesson 67: Like: ~처럼, As if: ~는 듯이, ~듯이

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Vocabulary
Introduction

Like (a noun): (명사)처럼
As if…: ~듯(이)
마치

 

Vocabulary

Click on the English word to see information and examples of that word in use. Use these sentences to give yourself a feel for how each word can be used, and maybe even to expose yourself to the grammar that you will be learning shortly.

A PDF file neatly presenting these words and extra information can be found here.

Nouns:
상식 = common sense

마감일 = deadline

구멍 = hole, pit

경력 = career/work experience

체력 = physical strength

검진 = physical checkup/health screening

자녀 = children/sons and daughters

자동 = automatic

크기 = size

폭포 = waterfall

바보 = an idiot (often used as a cute way to say a silly person)

시련 = some kind of hardship

머릿속 = the inside of one’s head

Verbs:
Conjugate 담당하다 = to take responsibility, to be in charge of

Conjugate 삭제하다 = to delete (files, names, etc…)

Conjugate 겪다 = to experience, to undergo

Conjugate 잔소리하다 = to nag

Conjugate 생산하다 = to produce

Conjugate 협의하다 = to discuss, to consult

Conjugate 퇴장하다 = to leave

Conjugate 당기다 = to pull

Conjugate 밀다 = to push

Conjugate 비비다 = to mix

Conjugate 파다 = to dig

Conjugate 소지하다 = to possess

Conjugate 가입하다 = to become a member/join a club

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There are 625 vocabulary entries in Unit 3. All entries are linked to an audio file.
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Introduction

In this lesson, you will learn the meanings of ~처럼 and ~듯(이). These are often used to indicate that an action is done “like” something else. We will go over the meanings of both of them, and describe the differences in this lesson. Let’s get started.

 

Like (a noun): (명사)처럼

When ~처럼 is attached to a noun, it often indicates that an action is done “like” the way the specified noun does it. Let’s look at a simple example:

아빠가 밥을 먹고 있어요 = Dad is eating (rice)

By using ~처럼, I can indicate that my father is eating rice “like” the way a pig eats. For example:

돼지처럼 = like a pig
아빠가 돼지처럼 먹고 있어요 = Dad is eating (rice) like a pig

Here are some other examples of ~처럼 being attached to nouns:

나처럼 = like me
예전처럼 = like old times
평소처럼 = like (as) usual
원숭이처럼 = like a monkey
그 전처럼 = like before

These constructions can then be placed in sentences similar to adverbs to say that something is done “like” something. For example:

저는 그 전처럼 하고 싶어요 = I want to do it like before
재료를 비빔밥처럼 비벼야 돼요 = Mix the ingredients like 비빔밥
강아지처럼 구멍을 파고 있어요 = I am digging a hole like a dog/puppy
그 사람은 나처럼 돈이 별로 없어 = That person, like me, doesn’t have much money
저는 오늘 평소처럼 공부해야 돼요 = I have to study today, as usual
바보처럼 왜 이렇게 상식이 없어요? = Why, like an idiot, do you not have any common sense?
우리 아들은 밥을 원숭이처럼 먹어요 = Our son eats (rice) like a monkey
저의 형처럼 그 동아리에 가입하고 싶어요 = Like my brother, I want to enter that club
우리는 예전처럼 그냥 집에서 영화를 봤어요 = We watched movies at our house like old times

부장님처럼 그렇게 일찍 나가도 되었으면 좋겠어요
= I wish I was able to leave (go out) early (like that) like the boss

체육선생님이 되고 싶으면 체력은 경력처럼 중요해요
= If you want to become a P.E. teacher, your physical strength, like your experience, is important

우리 아버지처럼 돈을 자동적으로 벌 수 있었으면 좋겠어요
= I wish I could earn money automatically like my dad

제가 보안을 담당하는 사람이라서 다른 직원처럼 일찍 못 나가요
= I am the person in charge of security, so I can’t leave early like most other workers

If you are indicating that something happens in a place, and you want to describe the similarities with that action happening in another place, ~처럼 can be attached to ~에서. For example:

유럽에서처럼 매일 아침에 빵을 먹고 싶어요
= Like in Europe, I want to eat bread every morning

그 극장에서 공연을 보고 싶으면 영화관에서처럼 표를 사야 돼요
= If you want to see a performance at that theatre, like (at) a movie, you need to buy a ticket

~처럼 can also be attached to nouns described by phrases using the ~는 것 construction. By describing a noun with an entire clause, you are able to make more complicated and descriptive sentences. For example, the following two sentences are similar, but included in the meaning of the second example is the context that comes along with ~았/었던 (you might want to check out Lesson 27 to see my discussion about this meaning):

우리가 예전처럼 이것을 하고 싶어요 = I want to do it like old times
우리가 예전에 자주 했던 것처럼 이것을 하고 싶어요 = I want to do it like we used to do it a long time ago

In Lesson 36 you learned how to say a person looks like something else. For example:

저의 여자친구는 연예인 같이 보여요 = My girlfriend looks like a celebrity

You can use ~처럼 to describe that a particular scenario “looks like” something. In these sentences as well, you can see how the noun that ~처럼 is attached to is being described by a clause. For example:

네가 넘어질 것처럼 보였어 = It looked like you were going to fall
그렇게 하면 문제가 생길 것처럼 보여요 = It looks like a problem will come up if we do it like that

~듯(이) is similar to ~처럼. I will cover this in the next section.

As if…: ~듯(이)

By describing ~듯(이) with a clause using ~는 것, you can create the meaning of “as if…” For example:

그를 알아보지 못하는 듯이… = As if he didn’t recognize him…
그가 이해하지 못하는 듯이… = As if he didn’t understand…
그는 떠나기 싫다는 듯이… = As if he didn’t want to leave…
그가 죽은 듯이… = As if he were dead
가고 싶지 않은 듯이… = As if one doesn’t want to go…

These constructions can then be put in sentences similar to adverbs:

그는 떠나기 싫다는 듯이 울었어요 = He cried as if he didn’t want to leave
그는 이해하지 못하는 듯이 행동했어요 = He acted as if he didn’t understand
그는 죽은 듯이 바닥에 누워 있었어요 = He lay on the ground as if he were dead

마감일까지 숙제를 다 하려고 미친 듯이 공부를 했다
= In order to finish all of my homework by the deadline, he studied as if he was crazy

그 사람이 무기를 소지한 듯이 움직이기 시작했어요
= That person started moving as if he possessed a weapon

‘미세요’라는 스티커를 못 보는 듯이 문을 당겨 봤어요
= He tried pulling on the door as if he didn’t see the “push” sticker

제가 무슨 잘못을 한 듯이 우리 엄마가 저에게 잔소리를 했어요
= My mom scolded/nagged at me as if I had done some sort of mistake

아버지는 자녀를 보고 그들을 알아보지 못하는 듯이 그냥 지나갔어요
= The father looked at his children and just walked past them as if he didn’t recognize them

건강검진결과를 모르는 듯이 오빠가 아직 건강에 나쁘게 먹고 있어요
= My brother keeps eating unhealthy food as if he doesn’t know about his health check results

제가 가자고 했지만 애기는 가고 싶지 않은 듯이 계속 자고 일어나지 않았어요
= I said “let’s go,” but the baby kept sleeping as if he didn’t want to go

그 아이가 어려운 시련을 겪고 있는 듯이 수업 시간 동안 집중을 안 하고 울기만 해요
= During class, that boy doesn’t concentrate and only cries as if he is undergoing a difficult hardship

~듯이 can also be placed directly to the stem of a verb/adjective to have a very similar meaning to the sentences above. However, there is a difference between using 듯이 after a descriptive word (as shown above) and adding ~듯이 directly to a verb/adjective. Assuming the verb is “하다” the different forms would look like this:

~하는 듯이
~하듯이

In general, the translation of both is “as if…” which makes distinguishing the two very difficult for foreigners.

In the sentences above (where 듯이 is not attached directly to the stem), the nuance is that the clause before 듯이 is somewhat of a guess. For example:

그는 이해하지 못하는 듯이 행동했어요
= He acted as if he didn’t understand
(I guess/it looked like he didn’t understand)

그는 떠나기 싫다는 듯이 울었어요
= He cried as if he didn’t want to leave
(I guess/it looked like he didn’t want to leave)

‘미세요’라는 스티커를 못 보는 듯이 문을 당겨 봤어요
= He tried pulling on the door as if he didn’t see the “push” sticker
(I guess he didn’t see the “push” sticker”)

아버지는 자녀를 보고 그들을 알아보지 못하는 듯이 그냥 지나갔어요
= The father looked at his children and just walked past them as if he didn’t recognize them
(I guess/it looks he didn’t recognize his children)

제가 가자고 했지만 애기는 가고 싶지 않은 듯이 계속 자고 일어나지 않았어요
= I said “let’s go,” but the baby kept sleeping as if he didn’t want to go
(I guess/it looked like the baby didn’t want to go)

그 아이가 어려운 시련을 겪고 있는 듯이 수업 시간 동안 집중을 안 하고 울기만 해요
= During class, that boy doesn’t concentrate and only cries as if he is undergoing a difficult hardship
(He doesn’t concentrate in class, and just cries. I guess he is undergoing a difficult hardship)

When used like this, the two clauses (the clause before 듯이, and the clause after) have a direct relationship with each other. For example, in the first example above, the way that the person acted was a result of him not understanding.

However, when adding ~듯이 directly to a stem of a verb or adjective, one is indicating that the two clauses (the one before ~듯이, and the one after) are exactly the same (there is no guessing involved). However, the clause before ~듯이 is usually some ridiculous metaphor that (although “describing the situation”) is completely unrelated to the situation in the second clause. For example:

그는 물을 쓰듯이 돈을 썼다
= He used money as if it was water

말이 날뛰듯이 그의 심장이 뛰었다
= His heart was racing, as if a horse were bucking

폭포가 떨어지듯이 그는 눈물을 흘렸다
= He cried (water flowed from his eyes) as if it was a waterfall

누가 나의 심장에 구멍을 내듯이 아주 아파
= I am sore as if somebody is digging a hole in my heart

시간이 지나면서 머릿속에서 어린 시절의 기억이 삭제되듯이 하나도 없다
= As time goes by, as if is (being) deleted, I don’t have any memory of my childhood days

(Notice that adding something that starts with “ㄷ” causes no irregulars to come into play, so it is very easy to add this to stems).

(Also notice that I deliberately used the plain form conjugation in these five examples because the most common place you would find these sentences would be in novels. In novels (in Korean and in English), authors often create these metaphors to create imagery for the reader. Very rarely would one use these ridiculous metaphors in everyday conversation).

As you can see from the five examples above – there is no real connection between the first and second clauses. Their only relation is that they are linked by the feeling of the metaphor being described in the first clause. For example, in the first example above, the waterfall has no relation to the actual situation, and is only used to create a feeling inside the listener/reader.

However, in the examples discussed previously:

아버지는 자녀를 보고 그들을 알아보지 못하는 듯이 그냥 지나갔어요 = The father looked at his children and just walked past them as if he didn’t recognize them

(I guess/it looks he didn’t recognize him)

… there is no metaphor that is being described. The speaker is simply saying that the ‘person looked at his father and walked past him’ and it appeared/seemed like ‘he didn’t recognize him.’

In all cases above, the “이” can be removed from “듯이” and the sentence will have the same meaning. However, I personally always say it as “듯이,” so I presented it that way in this lesson. I feel that it is hard to end the clause with “ㅅ” and it flows off my tongue better when I say“ 듯이.”

There is also a word “듯하다” which can be placed at the end of a sentence to mean “it seems like.” 듯하다 is usually placed immediately after a descriptive clause that is describing “듯하다.” For example:

선생님은 이것을 잘 모르는 듯해요 = The teacher seems if he doesn’t understand this
그가 안 간 듯해요 = It seems as though he didn’t go

 

 

마치

The word “마치” is another one of those words that is put in sentences to allow the listener to expect what the speaker will say and provide feeling. In Lesson 43, you learned that 만약 is used in sentences where there is a supposition or assumption being made. For example:

만약 네가 안 가면 나도 안 가 = If you are not going, I am not going

In Lesson 48, you learned that 아무리 is used in sentences with ~아/어도. For example:

아무리 그 여자가 예뻐도 저는 그녀가 싫어요 = Regardless of how pretty that girl is, I don’t like her

In similar function of 만약 and 아무리, 마치 is often used in sentences to give the listener the expectation or feeling that one situation will be likened to another. Therefore, it is common to see 마치 used in sentences with ~처럼 or ~듯이. For example:

마치 말처럼 달렸어요 = He ran like a horse
마치 그는 죽은 듯이 바닥에 누워 있었어요 = He lay on the floor as if he were dead

That’s it for this lesson!

There are 1200 example sentences in Unit 3.
All entries are linked to an audio file. You can download all of these files in one package here.

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