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~답다: Taking the Qualities of a Noun
Vocabulary
Nouns:
계기 = opportunity
무죄 = innocence
유죄 = guilty
서민 = common people
상기 = the above, the aforementioned
판결 = ruling, judgement
법정 = courtroom
산악 = mountains
절정 = peak
자치 = autonomy
자치권 = right of autonomy
분석력 = analytical ability
조직적 = systematic, organized
서민층 = working class
Verbs:
달하다 = to reach a point, goal
Adjectives:
사람답다 = to be like a person
남자답다 = to be manly
여자답다 = to be feminine
당당하다 = to be dignified
검소하다 = to be modest
Introduction
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to turn certain nouns into adjectives using ~답다, a pattern that adds the qualities of a noun to a description. Let’s get started.
~답다: Taking the Qualities of a Noun
You can attach ~답다 to certain nouns. Doing so allows you to turn the noun into an adjective. Specifically, one that takes on the qualities of the noun that it is attached to. The following are three common nouns that ~답다 can attach to in order to create an adjective:
남자답다 = to be masculine, to be manly
여자답다 = to be feminine
사람답다 = to be humane, to be human-like
The three examples above are actually words on their own. That is, you can actually find those three as actual words in the dictionary. Here is a list of other nouns that ~답다 commonly attaches to:
어른 = adult
어른답다 = to be mature, like an adult
아이 = child
아이답다 = to be childish, like a child
학생 = student
학생답다 = to act like a student
군인 = soldier
군인답다 = to act like a soldier (to be disciplined and brave)
친구 = friend
친구답다 = to be a good friend, act like a friend
신사 = gentleman
신사답다 = to be gentlemanly
천사 = angel
천사답다 = to be angelic, kind and pure
학자 = scholar
학자답다 to be scholarly
Only certain nouns, like the ones above, can have ~답다 attached to it. Specifically, only nouns referring to the identity of an individual, or qualities of an individual can naturally pair with ~답다.
You might be thinking that ~답다 is similar to adding ~스럽다. While similar in form, ~스럽다 is more specifically added to feelings or emotions that are more subjective. Indeed, when adding ~스럽다, creates an adjective that expresses a feeling or emotional quality. Whereas the addition of ~답다 creates an adjective that indicates a particular noun is like some other noun.
Below are many examples showing ~답다 in use. Notice that the construction with~답다 creates an adjective, which means that you can use ~다운 to describe an upcoming noun, and ~답게 as an adverb.
이번 일을 계기로 어른답게 행동하려고 해요
= I’m going to use this opportunity to act like an adult
상기 내용을 보면 학생다운 질문이 하나도 없어요
= Looking at the above, there isn’t a single question that sounds like it came from a student
그는 항상 서민답게 검소하고 성실하게 살아왔어요
= He has always lived modestly and diligently, like a common person
제삼자의 입장에서 봐도 친구다운 행동은 아니었어요
= Even from a third party’s perspective, that wasn’t something a real friend would do
이 작품은 감동의 절정에 달하며 천사다운 순수함을 보여줘요
= This piece reaches the height of emotion and reveals an angelic purity
그는 끝까지 무죄를 주장하며 군인답게 당당한 태도를 보였어요
= He firmly maintained his innocence and showed a soldier-like, dignified attitude
자치 단체라면 군인답게 조직적이고 질서 있게 운영되어야 해요
= If it’s a self-governing body, it should be run in an organized and disciplined way, like a soldier would
산악 구조대는 신속하고 학자다운 분석력으로 실종자를 수색했어요
= The mountain rescue team searched for the missing person swiftly and with scholarly analysis
유죄 판결을 받았지만 마지막까지 신사답게 말 한마디 없이 법정을 떠났어요
= Even after being found guilty, he left the courtroom without a word, like a true gentleman
One interesting thing to note is that the word 아름답다 is not a combination of the word 아름 and ~답다 being added to it. Rather, the word 아름답다 is a word in itself that simply means “to be beautiful,” and it should not be thought of two separate things.
That’s it for this lesson!