TOPIK II · LEVEL 6
-다시피 하다
Says that someone really did something so much or so intensely that it was nearly the same as doing X, often with a bit of exaggeration.
인용·전달Quoting & reportingHan: Being hit by a car nearly happened once but did not happen; -다시피 하다 is for something you actually did to a degree close to X, so a near-miss needs -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다.
Examples
시험 기간에는 도서관에서 살다시피 했어요.During the exam period I practically lived in the library.
늦을까 봐 역까지 뛰다시피 걸어갔어요.Worried I'd be late, I walked to the station so fast it was almost running.
입맛이 없어서 일주일 동안 굶다시피 했어요.I had no appetite, so I went almost without food for a week.
부모님이 바쁘셔서 할머니께서 저를 키우다시피 하셨어요.My parents were busy, so my grandmother practically raised me.
Don’t mix up
-다시피 하다vs-(으)ㄹ 뻔하다뻔하다 = something nearly happened but did not; 다시피 하다 = something really happened to a degree close to X. 차에 치일 뻔했어요 (I almost got hit, but wasn't).-다시피 하다vs-(으)ㄴ/는 셈이다셈이다 is a conclusion drawn from facts or numbers ("it amounts to"); 다시피 하다 vividly describes how the action was done. 한 달에 하루만 쉬었으니 매일 일한 셈이에요.-다시피 하다vs알다/보다/듣다 + -다시피With perception verbs and no 하다 it means "as you know/see" and refers to shared knowledge, not degree. 보시다시피 방이 좀 좁아요.
How to build it
V+다시피 하다 (하다 may be replaced by another verb: V1 + 다시피 V2)
살다 → 살다시피 했어요; 뛰다 → 뛰다시피 걸었어요
- Attach it to action verbs; it does not combine with adjectives or 이다 (✗ 바쁘다시피 해요).
- It describes a real, usually repeated or lasting situation that came close to X; for a single event that almost happened but did not, use -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다 instead.
- It is mostly used in the past (했다) or for a current habit (해요), often together with 거의 or 매일.
- Do not mix it up with 알다/보다/듣다 + -다시피 ("as you know/see"), which has no 하다 and a completely different meaning.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 어제 길을 건너다가 차에 치이다시피 했어요.
Right: 어제 길을 건너다가 차에 치일 뻔했어요.
Being hit by a car nearly happened once but did not happen; -다시피 하다 is for something you actually did to a degree close to X, so a near-miss needs -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다.
Practise -다시피 하다 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)래서야Short for -(으)라고 해서야: 'if (someone) tells people to V like this, (how can that be right?)'. It objects to an unreasonable order or demand and is followed by a rhetorical question or criticism.
- -(느)ㄴ다던가Short for -(느)ㄴ다고 하던가: asks to confirm what someone said that the listener heard — 'did he say …?', 'what did they tell us to …?'. A 하게체 question from an older speaker to an adult junior, or a question to oneself while trying to recall.
- -(느)ㄴ다고나 할까Used when you are searching for the right words and offer your description tentatively: 'you could say ~ / how should I put it, ~'.
- -자면 (-자고 하면)Short for -자고 하면: 'if (someone) suggests doing V / says "let's V"'. A reported suggestion used as a condition; the main clause gives the speaker's response. Conversational.
- -(느)ㄴ단/-(이)란 + NSpoken contractions of -(느)ㄴ다는/-다는/-(이)라는: -(느)ㄴ단, -단, -(이)란 + N ('the news that…'), and the emphatic -(느)ㄴ단 말이다 ('I'm telling you…', or in a question 'you mean…?!').
- -(으)매-(으)매 is a bookish, literary way to say 'because' or 'as', linking a cause to its natural result in formal writing.
- -(으)나 -(으)나Two paired or opposite verbs/adjectives, each with -(으)나, mean 'whichever of these is the case, the following stays the same', which often amounts to 'regardless' or 'all the time'.
- -(으)락 -(으)락Joins two opposite actions or states to show that they keep switching back and forth.
- -(으)랴 -(으)랴Lists two (or more) tasks a person is juggling at the same time to stress that they are extremely busy or worn out.