Grammar Advanced TOPIK II · Level 5–6 Advanced Korean 1 · expression

-는 듯하다

-는 듯하다: Seems To… — Soft Guess From Appearance

Auxiliary 듯하다 「001」 after an adnominal: guess/speculate about the named event or state.

Before this, make sure you know: -을 것 같다 , -아요 / -어요

How to form it

When	Form	Example
Verb + -는 듯하다	-는 듯하다	오는 듯하다 / 자는 듯하다
Adjective / past + -(으)ㄴ 듯하다	-(으)ㄴ 듯하다	아픈 듯하다 / 간 듯하다
Future colour + -(으)ㄹ 듯하다	-(으)ㄹ 듯하다	올 듯하다 / 비쌀 듯하다

-는 듯하다 means seems to… — a soft guess from appearance.

Why this is hard

It sits near -을 것 같다 and appearance talk. Learners over-claim with it as hard fact, or invent wrong adnominal shapes. Softness is the point: you are reading signs, not swearing proof.

What it does

You offer a tentative reading of how things look or feel.

비가 오는 듯해요.
화난 듯했어요.
알고 있는 듯해요.
바쁜 듯해서 나중에 연락했어요.

Forms

Adnominal + 듯하다 — -는 듯하다, -(으)ㄴ 듯하다, past shapes as taught.

When not to use it

Do not use it as a hard assertion. Do not confuse it with pretending -는 척하다. Do not skip the adnominal.

Neighbours — and why they differ

Form	Why it is not this slot
-을 것 같다	Seems / I think — broader guess family.
-는 척하다	Pretend to — acting, not seeming.
-는가 보다	It seems that — another soft reading.

Drama and diaries love this softness. Upgrade to a clear statement when you actually know.

Classroom examples should keep the meaning concrete: one clear scene beats three vague glosses. If a neighbour form already says the same thing more lightly, prefer the lighter tool unless register demands this one.

Ask: am I softly guessing from signs? If yes, -는 듯하다. If someone is faking, use -는 척하다.

Do not confuse it with

-을 것 같다

I think, it seems — the hedge Koreans put on almost everything

-는가 보다 / -(으)ㄴ가 보다

it seems that / I guess / judging by appearances... (inferential deduction from signs)

-을까 보다

thinking I might — a plan you are still weighing

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 표현 (expression) — Advanced Korean 1, Unit 4, on the theme of expression. These come with it:

-는다니1 what are they telling me to…? — asking what the order was -었던 that had been… — past modifier with a lingering sense 에 관하여 regarding, about — the written 에 관하여 / 관한 -자기에 because one decides to… — contracted -자고 하기에 (청유 인용 + 이유), pair of -는다기에 -게 마련이다 bound to be — naturally so (-기/게 마련이다) -게 생겼다 have ended up (badly)… — negative predicament with -게 생기다 -기 나름이다 depends on how you… — the outcome varies with the method -기가 바쁘게 as soon as — barely finishing one thing before the next -기가 쉽다 easy to… / prone to — a tendency that comes naturally -기만 하다 only does… — limiting the action to just that -기에 따라 depending on… — outcomes that change with the condition -기에 앞서(서) before doing… — prior to the step you name -은 나머지 as a result of… — the outcome that follows from that act -는 데다가 and on top of that — stacking one fact onto another -는 동시에 at the same time as — two things in the same moment -는 법이다 it is natural that… — a general rule of how things go -는 이상 now that / given that — already being in that state -은 채로 while still… — leaving it in the state it already has -는 척하다 pretend to… — acting as if -는 가운데 in the midst of — while that situation continues 는 말할 것도 없고 not to mention — A goes without saying, and B too (는/은 말할 것도 없고) -을 만하다 worth doing / decent enough — worth the effort or acceptable -을 법하다 likely to… — a reasonable prediction -을 테다 will (for sure) — a strong expectation about what follows -을 테면 if you are going to… — setting a condition for a plan -을 테지만 will, but… — expecting one thing and contrasting another -으려나 보다 I guess they mean to… — reading someone's likely intention 를 가지고 with, using — taking that as the means or topic -으면 몰라도 only if… — the following holds only under that (unreal / opposite) condition 에도 불구하고 despite — in spite of that noun situation -는데도 even though — contrast after a clause, softer than 지만 -어 내다 manage to… — pushing through until it is done -는다기에 because they say… — the reported claim is the reason -는다는 것이 meant to…, but — intention (-는다고 하는 것이) whose result diverged -는데도 불구하고 even so — despite the whole preceding clause

Words used above

Tap the speaker to hear it read aloud by your browser.

-는 듯하다-neun deuthadaseems to…

듯하다deuthadato seem / appear

아프다apeudato hurt / be sick

자다jadato sleep

오다odato come

Quick check

No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.

1. You only have looks to go on — pale face, slow steps — and you want a soft appearance-led guess, not a hard claim. Which line?

2. Someone looks mid-arrival — which line uses the present verb shape 오는 듯하다 from the forms table?

3. Same stem 아프다 — which softly guesses from signs, rather than saying someone is putting on an act?

Common questions

Dictionary?

우리말샘 듯하다 「001」: after verb/adjective/이다 adnominal — guess or speculate about that event or state.

Vs -는 것 같다?

Same soft-guess family. 듯하다 often rides on looks/feel; 것 같다 is broader.

Short forms?

Spoken: -는 듯해 / -는 듯. Teach full -듯하다 first.

Vs -나 보다?

-나 보다 is another soft infer. Pick by habit and scene.

Seen in the wild

Lessons where this pattern showed up in real Korean — news, slang, drama lines.

Culture Notes Advanced

Korean Fiction and Essays: -더라, -는 법이다, -은 나머지

Sep 27, 2026