Korean Grammar Bank

HOW TO USE 듯

Welcome to this quick fire lesson on how to use 듯 in a sentence to express seem to / look like in Korean.

Make sure to also check our other lessons in our Korean Grammar Bank.

LOOKS LIKE WITH ADJECTIVE + 듯

The use of 듯 in a sentence will help express ‘as if,as though’ or ‘seem like/look like’ in Korean.

Let’s first see how it used with an adjective:

PATTERN

Subject + adjective + ᄂ 듯 + verb

그녀는 (= subject)
바쁜 (= adjective + ᄂ)
듯 빨리 걸었다 (= verb)

She was walking fast as though she was busy.

그녀는 행복한 하다.

She seems to be happy

동생은 피곤한 하다.

My brother looks tired.
View More Examples:
그의 표정을 보니 그가기쁜 하다.Looking at his reaction, it seems he is glad.
아주머니는 슬픈 하다.The lady looks to be sad.
그는 오늘 출근하지 않았어. 그가 아픈 해.He didn’t come to work today. It seems he is sick.

LOOKS LIKE WITH VERB + 듯

When replacling the adjective with a verb, a sentence would look like this:

PATTERN

Subject + verb + 는 + 듯 + verb

그녀는 (= subject)
공부하는 (= verb + 는)
듯 조용했다 (= verb)

She is quiet, it seems she is studying.

그녀는책을읽는듯하다.

It seems she is reading a book.

그가지금밥먹는듯하다.

It seems he is eating at the moment.
View More Examples:
조용한 것을 보니 그녀가 공부하는 듯 하다.It is quiet. It seems she is studying.
밖에는 지금 비가오는 듯 하다.It looks like it is raining outside.
기차가 도착하는 듯 하다.It seems the train is arriving.

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FAQs

How to use 듯 to express looks like / seem to?

The use of 듯 in a sentence will help express ‘as if,as though’ or ‘seem like/look like’ in Korean.

Subject + adjective + ᄂ 듯 + verb

Example: 동생은 피곤한  하다. My brother looks tired.

Subject + verb + 는 + 듯 + verb

Example: 그가지금밥먹는듯하다. It seems he is eating at the moment.

How to express looks like with 것같다?

In Korean, the following expression can be used to express “might be/seem to”, it is usually used in the future tense.

Verb + ᄅ것 같다

내일비가올것같다. It seems it will rain tomorrow.

그가학교에결석할것같다. It seems he will miss the school.

Learn more about this sentence structure in this free lesson.

How to say and in Korean?

‘랑/이랑’ is the least formal way of saying ‘and’ in Korean.

It is mostly used in a casually spoken language.

‘랑’ is added after a syllable ending with a vowel and ‘이랑’ is added after a syllable ending with consonant.

Examples:

나는 제인이랑 샘이랑 체육관에 갔어요. I went to the gym with Jane and Sam 

‘하고/고’ is most frequently used form of ‘and’ in Korean.

It is generally used in a spoken language and can be used to link two actions or two nouns/objects.

‘고’ is added after action, while ‘하고’ is added after objects or nouns.

‘하고’ can be used after action, if the action is formed from ‘하다’ verb.

Examples:

너는 운동하고 사탕을 덜 먹어야해.  You should exercise and eat less candies. 


Learn more about and in Korean in this lesson.

What is the Korean negative form?

Expressing ‘not’. For verbs and adjectives. Add ‘안’ or ‘-지 않아요’ in front of them.

Example: 지수는 초콜릿을 좋아하지 않아요.

Expressing ‘cannot’. For verbs only. Add 못’or ‘-지 못해요’ in front of the verb.

Example: 저는 수영을 못 해요.

Expressing ‘do not know’. The word ‘to know’ in Korean is ‘알다’. However, we rarely apply the methods of case 1 and case 2 for this word. Instead, we use the word ‘몰라요’

Example: 나는 그녀의 연락처를 몰라요.

Expressing ‘not have’. When we make a sentence to talk about the absence of something, we would use ‘없어요’.

Example: 공원에 사람들이 거의 없어요.

Learn more about the Korean negative form here.

Where to get more free Korean lessons?

You can get more free Korean lessons on our Korean Grammar Bank.

We regularly add more lessons, so make sure to bookmark this page and come back to see what’s new.

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