haru Korean › Grammar › Level 4A › A-(으)ㄴ 듯하다 · V-는 듯하다 · -(으)ㄹ 듯하다
A-(으)ㄴ 듯하다 · V-는 듯하다 · -(으)ㄹ 듯하다 — it seems … · as if … — the most careful way to judge from what you see
It seems … · as if … — the most careful way to judge from what you see. Korean grammar for upper intermediate learners — Level 4A, lesson 9: 웃는 듯한 얼굴 (A face that seems to smile — looks, impressions and careful judgements).
What it means
-듯하다 makes a careful judgement from what you see, hear or know: 유나는 많이 긴장한 듯했다 'Yuna seemed very nervous'. It works like -(으)ㄴ 것 같다 (Lesson 2A-4) and takes the same modifier endings in front of it. With an adjective use -(으)ㄴ: 피곤한 듯해요, 많은 듯해요; with a noun, N인 듯해요. With a verb, -는 describes what seems to be going on now (웃는 듯해요 'she seems to be smiling'), -(으)ㄴ what seems to have happened already (긴장한 듯해요, 끝난 듯해요) and -(으)ㄹ what you expect or guess about later (비가 올 듯해요 'it looks like rain', 면접에 붙을 듯해요). Before a noun it becomes -는 듯한 N, the usual way to describe a face or a look in Korean: 웃는 듯한 얼굴 'a face that seems to smile' — today's title — or 화가 난 듯한 표정 'a look that seems angry'. -는 듯싶다 means the same, with a slightly more personal 'it seems to me'. Compared with the other guesses you know, -(으)ㄴ 것 같다 is the everyday choice; -나 보다 · -(으)ㄴ가 보다 (Lessons 3A-3, 3A-4) and -(으)ㄴ 모양이다 (Lesson 3B-3) guess from something you have noticed; -듯하다 is the softest and the most written of all. You meet it in diaries, essays, reviews, reports and polite e-mails (확인이 필요한 듯합니다 'it seems that this needs checking'), and in careful speech, especially about other people, when you don't want to sound too sure. The tense of the judgement itself goes on 하다 at the end: 긴장한 듯했어요 'she seemed nervous'.
Forms
| Pattern | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A-(으)ㄴ 듯하다 | 형용사 · N이다 — 받침 O 은 · 받침 X ㄴ · 명사는 인 | 많다 + 은 듯하다 → 많은 듯해요 |
| V-는 듯하다 | 동사 · 지금 — 받침 O · X 모두 는 (ㄹ 받침은 빠져요) | 웃다 + 는 듯하다 → 웃는 듯해요 |
| V-(으)ㄴ · -(으)ㄹ 듯하다 | 동사 — 이미 일어난 일은 (으)ㄴ · 앞으로의 일이나 추측은 (으)ㄹ | 긴장하다 + ㄴ 듯하다 → 긴장한 듯했어요 |
Key points
- Adjective → -(으)ㄴ 듯하다 (피곤한 듯해요) · noun → N인 듯하다 · verb, now → -는 듯하다 (웃는 듯해요) · verb, already happened → -(으)ㄴ 듯하다 (긴장한 듯했어요) · verb, later or a guess → -(으)ㄹ 듯하다 (비가 올 듯해요). -는 듯싶다 means the same, a little more personal.
- Before a noun: -는 듯한 N — 웃는 듯한 얼굴 (today's title). It means much what -(으)ㄴ 것 같다 (Lesson 2A-4) means, but it sounds softer and more written: the careful choice for diaries, reports, e-mails and polite talk about other people.
Examples
- 보고 들은 것으로 조심스럽게 판단할 때 써요: 유나는 많이 긴장한 듯했어요.
- 형용사는 -(으)ㄴ 듯하다(피곤한 듯해요 · 많은 듯해요), 명사는 N인 듯하다(학생인 듯해요).
- 동사는 지금 -는 듯하다(웃는 듯해요), 이미 일어난 일 -(으)ㄴ 듯하다(긴장한 듯해요), 앞으로의 일 -(으)ㄹ 듯하다(비가 올 듯해요).
- 명사 앞에서는 -는 듯한 N: 웃는 듯한 얼굴 · 화가 난 듯한 표정. -는 듯싶다도 같은 뜻이에요.
- -(으)ㄴ 것 같다(2A 4과)와 뜻은 비슷해요. 그런데 더 조심스럽게 들리고 일기 · 보고서 · 메일에서 많이 써요.
Where university textbooks teach it
This point also appears in: Seoul National University Korean 4A, lesson 9; Yonsei University Korean 4-1, lesson 10; Hongik University Korean 4A, lesson 6.