[Korean grammar] -(느)ㄴ다는 듯이 Expressing Supposition and Possibility

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가: 소피아씨와여양 씨가또싸웠다면서요?
Is it true that Sophia and Yeoyang fought again?
나: 네, 이번에는 심하게 싸웠나 봐요. 둘이 언제 연인이었냐는 듯이 서로 쳐다보지도 않더라고요.
Yes, and this time it seems like it was a serious fight. They don’t even look at each other now to the extent that you wonder when they were ever dating.
가: 그래도 며칠 지나면 아무 일도 없었다는 듯이 둘이 다시 다정하게 다닐걸요.
But after a few days have passed, I bet they’ll be affectionate toward each other once again, just as if nothing had happened.
나: 하긴 이렇게 싸우고 화해한 적이 한두 번이 아니긴 하죠.
Yeah, they’ve fought and reconciled like this many times before.

This expression is used to indicate that the behavior being described in the following clause is just like that described in the preceding clause even though the subject never actually said the content of the preceding clause. It is also used in the form -(느)ㄴ다는 듯 with 이 deleted.
*동사의 현재형과 의문형의 경우 ‘-느-’를 넣어도 되고 빼도 됩니다. 형용사의 의문형 역시 ‘-으냐는 듯이’와 ‘-냐는 듯이’ 둘 다 가능합니다.



• 콘서트장의 문이 열리자 관객들은 기다렸다는 듯이 몰려 들어왔다.
As soon as the doors opened at the concert venue, the audience poured in as if to express (how much) they had been waiting.

• 걱정하지 말라는 듯이 오빠는 엄지손가락을 치켜 올렸다.
My older brother gave the thumbs-up sign as if to say not to worry.

• 대학에 떨어져 마음이 많이 안 좋을 텐데 걱정하는 친구들을 생각해 수진이는 아무렇지도 않다는 듯 행동했다.

Though she surely felt horrible after failing to enter a university, Sujin acted as if (to say that) nothing was wrong out of concern for her friends who were worried about her.

The expression ‘보란 듯이’, the shortened form of ‘보라는 듯이’ used when proudly or boldly doing some behavior. It is also used idiomatically when doing something as a way of proving or demonstrating something.
• 그동안 실력이 부족하다는 이야기를 듣던 김 선수는 보란 듯이 두 골이나 넣었다.
• 준호에게 차였던 수지는 동창회에 보란 듯이 멋진 남자 친구를 데리고 나타났다.

While this expression is similar in form to -는 듯이，it is different in meaning in the following ways.

>> You can click on the title of each grammar below to see other grammars which also express 'Supposition and Possibility'

1. -는 듯이 
2. -(느)ㄴ다는 듯이
3. -는 듯하다
4. -(으)ㄹ 게 뻔하다
5. -(으)ㄹ 법하다
6. -(으)ㄹ 리가없다
7. -기 십상이다

>> Full of 'Korean grammar in use - Advanced': Click here
>> Full of 'Korean grammar in use - Intermediate': Click here

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