-(으)ㄴ/는 셈이다

Build it

When to use it

The form follows the modifier system: verbs take -는 셈이다, completed actions -(으)ㄴ 셈이다, adjectives -(으)ㄴ 셈이다. Stems in ㄹ drop it, and 셈 takes a space.

It draws a conclusion from a calculation, literal or figurative: 이제 다 끝난 셈이에요 — a little remains, but effectively it’s done.

The key is that the statement is not literally exact. If something is simply finished, you say 끝났어요. 셈이다 is for when you are rounding.

It often follows a reckoning of numbers or conditions: 하루에 두 시간이면 일주일에 열네 시간을 공부하는 셈이에요.

How to attach it

In use

1. 조금만 남았으니까 이제 다 끝난 셈이에요.

   Only a little is left, so it’s effectively finished.

2. 하루에 두 시간이면 일주일에 열네 시간을 공부하는 셈이에요.

   Two hours a day works out to fourteen hours a week.

3. 배송비까지 생각하면 싼 셈이에요.

   Counting delivery, it’s cheap enough.

4. 거의 매일 만드니까 직접 만드는 셈이죠.

   I make it almost every day, so I do effectively make it myself.

5. 두 명이 빠졌지만 다 모인 셈이에요.

   Two are missing, but as good as everyone’s here.

6. 그 정도면 성공한 셈입니다.

   At that level, it counts as a success.

Compared with

• 거의

  거의 says nearly; 셈이다 says near enough to count. The second draws a conclusion rather than measuring a gap.

  거의 끝났어요. (nearly done)  /  끝난 셈이에요. (effectively done)

• -(으)ㄴ/는 것 같다

  것 같다 hedges because you are unsure; 셈이다 is confident but approximate. You know the facts and are rounding them.

  끝난 것 같아요. (I think it’s done)  /  끝난 셈이에요. (it amounts to done)

• -(으)ㄴ/는 것과 같다

  A more explicit way to say the same thing, and rather heavier. 셈이다 is the idiomatic choice.

  끝난 셈이에요.  /  끝난 것과 같습니다.

Watch out

• 숙제를 다 했어요. 끝난 셈이에요.

  숙제를 다 했어요. 끝났어요.

  셈이다 is for approximations. If something is literally complete, the plain statement is correct.

• 거의 매일 만들는 셈이에요.

  거의 매일 만드는 셈이에요.

  Stems ending in ㄹ drop it before -는, as everywhere in the modifier system.

• 배송비까지 생각하면 싼셈이에요.

  배송비까지 생각하면 싼 셈이에요.

  셈 is a noun and takes a space after the modifier.

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