-(으)ㄴ/는 척하다

Shows that someone deliberately acts as if something were true when it is not: 'pretend to / act as if'.

경험·시도Trying & experience

Han: 바쁘다 is an adjective, so it takes -(으)ㄴ before 척하다, not -는; -는 is for verbs and 있다/없다 words.

Examples

잘 모르면 아는 척하지 말고 물어보세요.If you don't really know, ask instead of pretending to know.

길에서 전 남자 친구를 봤지만 못 본 척했어요.I saw my ex-boyfriend on the street, but I pretended I hadn't seen him.

친구가 만든 음식이 좀 짰지만 맛있는 척하면서 다 먹었어요.The food my friend made was a bit salty, but I ate it all, acting as if it were delicious.

엄마가 방에 들어오자 동생은 자는 척했어요.When Mom came into the room, my younger brother pretended to be asleep.

-(으)ㄴ/는 척하다vs-(으)ㄴ/는 체하다Same meaning and same conjugation; 척하다 is far more common in speech, 체하다 sounds a bit more bookish: 모르는 체했어요 = 모르는 척했어요.

V+는 척하다 (doing now)

V+(으)ㄴ 척하다 (already done)

A+(으)ㄴ 척하다

있다/없다+는 척하다

N+인 척하다

자다 → 자는 척하다, 보다 → 본 척하다, 바쁘다 → 바쁜 척하다, 학생 → 학생인 척하다

With verbs, use -는 to pretend you are doing something now (자는 척) and -(으)ㄴ to pretend it already happened (먹은 척, 못 본 척). The tense of the whole sentence goes on 척하다: 자는 척했어요.
Adjectives take -(으)ㄴ (바쁜 척, 아픈 척), but 있다/없다 and words ending in them take -는 (돈 있는 척, 재미있는 척). Nouns take 인 (의사인 척).
Stems ending in ㄹ drop the ㄹ: 알다 → 아는 척, 만들다 → 만든 척 (not 알는 척).
It describes a conscious act by the subject. If you are only guessing how things look, use -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다 instead.

Wrong: ~~그 사람은 일이 없으면서 바쁘는 척해요.~~

Right: 그 사람은 일이 없으면서 바쁜 척해요.

바쁘다 is an adjective, so it takes -(으)ㄴ before 척하다, not -는; -는 is for verbs and 있다/없다 words.

Hannim plans each day up to your exam date: questions on this pattern, reviews, full mock papers and graded writing. 7 days free, no card.