Korean grammar · Level 4 · 4급
-는 셈이다
It comes to…, practically
-는 셈이다 sums up what something amounts to, even if it isn't exactly that: “it comes to…”, “it's as good as…”. Verbs take -는 in the present and -(으)ㄴ in the past; adjectives take -(으)ㄴ; nouns take 인 셈이다.
| When | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| verb (present) | -는 셈이다 | 매일 가는 셈이에요 |
| verb (past) | -(으)ㄴ 셈이다 | 거의 다 끝난 셈이에요 |
| adjective | -(으)ㄴ 셈이다 | 싼 셈이에요 |
| noun | 인 셈이다 | 공짜인 셈이에요 |
Examples
일주일에 여섯 번 가니까 매일 가는 셈이에요.
I go six times a week, so it's practically every day.
만 원짜리를 오천 원에 샀으니까 반값에 산 셈이에요.
I paid five thousand won for a ten-thousand-won item, so I basically got it half price.
우산을 십 분 쓰고 버렸으니까 삼천 원을 버린 셈이에요.
I used the umbrella for ten minutes and threw it away, so I basically threw away three thousand won.
Practise it in context · Level 4, Unit 2
Spending and saving
A dialogue with audio, practice that checks itself, Hoya’s mistakes, a reading and a writing task.
Open the unit →