Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 9 - Advanced Korean #2 (Lessons 241 to 270) ᚛ Lesson 245 - Under the pretext of in Korean [-(느)ㄴ답시고]
Under the pretext of in Korean [-(느)ㄴ답시고]
The ending -(느)ㄴ답시고 reports the purpose or reason someone puts forward, "under the pretext of", "claiming to", while making it clear that the speaker doesn’t buy it, or that the result fell short: "under the pretext of studying, he went to the library and only read novels there". It is a colloquial, critical, even mocking form; it is used to talk about others, or about oneself with self-deprecation.
"Under the pretext of" with -(느)ㄴ답시고
[Verb]-ㄴ답시고 after a vowel (하다 → 한답시고), [Verb]-는답시고 after a consonant (먹다 → 먹는답시고)
The form is built on the indirect speech -(느)ㄴ다고, "saying that", with an ironic suffix: the person "says" they are doing this, and the rest of the sentence shows what they are really doing, or what comes of it. The main clause therefore generally describes a disappointing, absurd or counterproductive result, often with -더니, "and then", -았/었는데, "but", or -는 바람에, "so that".
공부한답시고 도서관에 가서는 소설책만 잔뜩 읽고 왔어요.
→ Supposedly to study, I went to the library, and all I did there was read a pile of novels.
옷장 정리한답시고 봄, 여름, 가을, 겨울 옷을 다 꺼냈는데 도저히 정리되지 않아서 방이 더 지저분해졌어.
→ Supposedly to tidy the wardrobe, I took out all my spring, summer, fall and winter clothes, but there was no way to sort them, so the room got even messier.
올해에는 영어 공부한답시고 학원까지 등록했는데 첫날부터 늦잠 자는 바람에 지각했지 뭐야.
→ This year, supposedly to learn English, I even signed up at an academy, and would you believe it, I was late on the very first day because I overslept.
부업을 한답시고 새로운 일자리를 구했는데 같이 일하는 직원이랑 너무 안 맞아서 힘들어요.
→ I took a new job, supposedly as a side gig, but I get along so badly with my coworker that it’s a struggle.
오빠가 되지도 않는 예술 한답시고 유학만 가지 않았어도 우리 집이 이렇게 어려워지지는 않았어!
→ If you hadn’t gone off to study abroad under the pretext of doing art, with no talent for it, our family wouldn’t be in this mess!
With a noun: -(이)랍시고
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When it goes wrong: -(느)ㄴ답시고 … -더니
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Exercises
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Podcasts in Korean specially designed for beginners, to learn Korean by really listening to it from the very beginning.
You’re starting to learn Korean (or you already know the basics), but as soon as you listen to spoken Korean, everything suddenly feels too fast?
The words blend together, the pronunciation escapes you, and you feel like “real Korean” is very different from what you learned in textbooks.
That’s normal!
Listening comprehension is the most difficult part for all beginners.
