3 · Prepositions and fixed patterns
Pretending: -(으)ㄴ/는 척하다
acting as if something were so
-는 척하다 and -(으)ㄴ 척하다 say that somebody acts as if something were true when it is not.
At a glance
- Remember
- Cheok hada: a modifier for what is pretended, and the tense on the pretence.
- Form
- 자다 → 자는 척하다action going on
- Signal words
- -는 척하다
- -(으)ㄴ 척하다
- 척
- 체하다
- Trap
- Wrong:저는 피곤했지만 괜찮는 척했어요.Right:저는 피곤했지만 괜찮은 척했어요.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
From the base form to the new form
Each row first says what the form expresses, then shows it in Korean: the base form before the arrow, the result after it.
| action going on | 자다 → 자는 척하다 |
| action already done | 보다 → 못 본 척하다 |
| adjective | 괜찮다 → 괜찮은 척하다 |
| noun | 학생 → 학생인 척하다 |
| 알다 | 아는 척하다 |
| without 하다 | 모르는 척 지나가다 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
For an action, -는 척하다 pretends that it is going on.
동생은 엄마가 들어오자 자는 척했어요.When Mum came in, my little brother pretended to be asleep.
For something already done, the modifier is -(으)ㄴ.
그 사람을 봤지만 못 본 척했어요.I saw him, but I pretended I hadn't.
An adjective takes -(으)ㄴ 척하다.
너무 아팠지만 괜찮은 척했어요.It hurt a lot, but I pretended to be fine.
The tense goes on 척하다, not on the modifier.
친구가 제 말을 듣는 척했어요.My friend pretended to listen to me.
Example sentences
바쁘지 않으면서 바쁜 척하지 마세요.Don't pretend to be busy when you're not.
그 사람은 항상 아는 척해요.He always acts as if he knows everything.
숙제를 다 한 척했지만 엄마가 알았어요.I pretended I had done all my homework, but Mum found out.
친구의 비밀을 모르는 척했어요.I pretended not to know my friend's secret.
아이가 아픈 척하면서 학교에 안 갔어요.The child pretended to be ill and did not go to school.
그는 부자인 척했지만 사실은 빚이 많았어요.He acted as if he were rich, but in fact he had a lot of debt.
7 more example sentences
선생님이 질문하셨을 때 생각하는 척했어요.When the teacher asked a question, I pretended to be thinking.
그 사람은 저를 모르는 척하고 지나갔어요.He walked past as if he did not know me.
맛없었지만 맛있는 척하고 다 먹었어요.It was not nice, but I pretended it was and ate it all.
못 들은 척할게요.I'll pretend I didn't hear that.
강아지가 죽은 척하는 게 너무 귀여워요.It is so cute when the puppy plays dead.
그 아이는 어른인 척해요.That child acts as if she were a grown-up.
잘 모르면서 아는 체하지 마세요.Don't act as if you know when you don't.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
괜찮다 is an adjective, so it takes the adjective modifier: 괜찮은. -는 is for action verbs and for 있다 and 없다 — exactly as before any other noun.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
척 is a bound noun meaning “a show, a pretence”, and it follows a modifier: 자는 척하다, “to pretend to be asleep”, 바쁜 척하다, “to pretend to be busy”. 척하다 is written as one word, but it stands apart from the modifier before it.
The modifier is chosen as before any noun. An action going on takes -는: 자는 척, 듣는 척, 모르는 척. An action already done takes -(으)ㄴ: 못 본 척, “pretending not to have seen”, 먹은 척. An adjective takes -(으)ㄴ: 괜찮은 척, 아픈 척. A noun takes 인: 학생인 척.
The pretence itself carries the tense: 자는 척했어요, “I pretended to be asleep”. Without 하다, 척 can stand in the middle of a sentence: 모르는 척 지나갔어요, “I walked past as if I didn't know him”.
알다 loses its rieul before the n, as always: 아는 척하다, “to show off what one knows, to act as if one knew”. 체하다 means the same as 척하다 and is a little more formal: 모르는 체했어요.
A closer look
Pretending and not pretending
Korean often uses the pattern for polite silence rather than for deceit: 못 들은 척할게요, “I'll pretend I didn't hear that”, is a kind way to let somebody off.
The negative of the pretence goes on 척하다: 아는 척하지 마세요, “don't pretend to know”. The negative inside the modifier changes what is pretended: 모르는 척, “pretending not to know”.
Worth knowing (1)
-
Spelling: two words, then one
The modifier and 척 are separate words, but 척하다 itself is written together: 자는 척하다. Without 하다, 척 stands alone: 자는 척 눈을 감았어요.
자는 척 눈을 감고 있었어요.I kept my eyes shut, pretending to be asleep.
How well do you know this topic?
This is filled in automatically after you practise. You can change it here at any time.
Next on the path: 148 · I'd better: -아/어야겠다Back to the learning path