4 · Prepositions and fixed patterns
Practically, in effect: -(으)ㄴ/는 셈이다
what something amounts to
-(으)ㄴ/는 셈이다 says what something amounts to when you add it up — “it is as good as”, “that means”.
At a glance
- Remember
- Sem ida: add it up, and this is what it comes to.
- Form
- 끝나다 → 끝난 셈이에요finished
- Signal words
- -(으)ㄴ 셈이다
- -는 셈이다
- 셈 치다
- -(으)니까
- 거의
- Trap
- Wrong:오늘 일은 거의 다 끝나는 셈이에요.Right:오늘 일은 거의 다 끝난 셈이에요.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| finished | 끝나다 → 끝난 셈이에요 |
| regular or now | 만나다 → 만나는 셈이에요 |
| adjective | 싸다 → 싼 셈이에요 |
| noun | 공짜 → 공짜인 셈이에요 |
| treat it as if | 잃어버린 셈 치다 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
-(으)ㄴ/는 셈이다 gives what something amounts to.
이제 거의 다 끝난 셈이에요.It is as good as finished now.
A calculation often comes first.
일주일에 세 번 가니까 이틀에 한 번 가는 셈이에요.I go three times a week, so that is about every other day.
With a noun, it is 인 셈이다.
이 가격이면 거의 공짜인 셈이에요.At this price it is practically free.
With 치다, it says “treat it as if”.
그 돈은 잃어버린 셈 치세요.Just think of that money as lost.
Example sentences
세 명 중에 두 명이 찬성했으니까 결정된 셈이에요.Two out of three agreed, so it is as good as decided.
하루에 두 시간씩 걸으니까 한 달에 육십 시간 걷는 셈이에요.I walk two hours a day, which makes sixty hours a month.
월급의 반을 월세로 내니까 정말 비싼 셈이에요.I pay half my salary in rent, so it works out really expensive.
우리 집에 매일 오니까 그 사람은 가족인 셈이에요.He comes to our house every day, so he is practically family.
첫 번째 시험에 붙었으니까 반은 성공한 셈이에요.I passed the first exam, so I am halfway there.
좋은 경험을 한 셈 치세요.Just think of it as a good experience.
7 more example sentences
일 년 중에 반을 해외에서 살았으니까 반은 외국인인 셈이에요.I spent half the year abroad, so I am half a foreigner by now.
이 정도면 꽤 잘한 셈이에요.All things considered, that is pretty good.
밥값을 제가 냈으니까 커피는 그쪽이 사는 셈이에요.I paid for the meal, so the coffee is on you.
두 시간 늦게 출발했으니까 거의 하루를 잃은 셈이에요.We left two hours late, so we have practically lost the day.
매일 연락하니까 같이 사는 셈이에요.We are in touch every day, so it is as if we lived together.
속는 셈 치고 한번 해 볼게요.I'll give it a go, even if it turns out to be a trick.
이번 일은 좋은 공부를 한 셈 칠게요.I will think of this as a good lesson.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Being as good as finished is a result: the work has nearly all been done. A result takes the past modifier -(으)ㄴ. -는 셈이다 is for something that keeps happening: 매일 가는 셈이에요.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
셈 is a bound noun meaning “a calculation”, and the pattern says what something works out as: 거의 다 끝난 셈이에요, “it is as good as finished”. The speaker has done a little sum, sometimes out loud, and gives the result.
The modifier follows the usual rules. Something finished takes -(으)ㄴ: 끝난 셈. Something that happens regularly or now takes -는: 매일 만나는 셈. An adjective takes -(으)ㄴ: 싼 셈. A noun takes 인: 공짜인 셈, “practically free”.
Often the sum is stated first: 한 달에 두 번 가니까 일 년에 스물네 번 가는 셈이에요, “I go twice a month, so that makes twenty-four times a year”. The pattern also rounds a situation off: 이 정도면 성공한 셈이에요, “at this rate, you could call it a success”.
With 치다, the noun says “treat it as if”: 잃어버린 셈 치세요, “just think of it as lost”, 속는 셈 치고 한번 믿어 볼게요, “I'll believe you, even at the risk of being fooled”. It is how Korean writes something off.
A closer look
Rounding a story off
The pattern often ends a conversation about how something went: 결과적으로 잘된 셈이에요, “all in all, it turned out well”. It admits that the result is not exact, and still gives a verdict.
Next to -(으)ㄴ 것과 마찬가지예요, “it is the same as”, 셈 keeps the sense of a calculation: something has been counted, weighed or compared before the conclusion.
Worth knowing (1)
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The question form: 어떻게 된 셈이에요?
그러니까 어떻게 된 셈이에요? asks somebody to sum up a complicated story: “so, what does it all come to?”.
그러니까 결국 어떻게 된 셈이에요?So what does it all come to in the end?
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