Learn Korean: 인 척하고 + Verb

Let’s take a look at the Korean sentence pattern 인 척하고 + Verb. We use this to express that we pretend something to be something else so we could at least enjoy what we do. For example, I went to Korea to meet a Facebook friend in person. He took me to a restaurant that serves dog meat soup. It’s called boshintang. I really found it gross, but I made myself eat it by pretending it was chicken. After the trip, I told my friend about that experience and said I ate the dog meat soup thinking it was chicken. They keyword (noun) is 치킨 (chicken). We attach 인 척하다 which means to pretend something to be something else. 치킨인 척하다 means to pretend that (the dog meat soup) was chicken. We get rid of 다 and replace it with 고. Then, we add the keyword (verb) which is the acting of eating. In Korean, it is 먹다. Its past tense form is 먹었다. The actual sentence is 치킨인 척하고 먹었어(요). 

기차인 척하고 탔어.

I (rode a plane) pretending it was a train.

인우 오빠인 척하고 춤 췄어.

I just pretended that Hyunbin was Inwoo the whole time we were dancing.

한국인 척하고 놀았어.

I spent my time (in China) thinking I was in Korea. We were supposed to travel to Korea, but my visa was denied. We went to China instead. I just thought I was in Korea to cheer myself up.