-(느)ㄴ다기보다는
rather than saying that, it is more that
Corrects a description without contradicting it. You accept that someone might put it that way, then offer a truer wording.
Build it
Pick a form
When to use it
The ending is built on the quotative plus 기보다는. Verbs take -(느)ㄴ다기보다는, adjectives -다기보다는, nouns -(이)라기보다는.
The second clause supplies the better description, usually with 그냥, 오히려, or -(으)ㄴ 것에 가깝다: 싫다기보다는 그냥 관심이 없어요.
The value of it is social. You are softening a correction — not calling the other person wrong, only reaching for a more accurate word.
The shorter -기보다는 attaches straight to a stem and compares two actions; this one, with the quotative inside, corrects a characterisation.
How to attach it
| Word type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | -(느)ㄴ다기보다는 | 싸우다 → 싸운다기보다는 |
| Adjective | -다기보다는 | 싫다 → 싫다기보다는 |
| Noun | -(이)라기보다는 | 취미라기보다는 |
| Second clause | the better wording | 그냥 관심이 없어요 |
| Common partners | 그냥, 오히려 | … 오히려 반대에 가깝다 |
| Comparing actions | -기보다는 | 말하기보다는 듣는 편이다 |
In use
싫다기보다는 그냥 관심이 없는 쪽입니다.
It’s not that I dislike it — more that I’m simply not interested.
반대한다기보다는 조금 더 검토하자는 뜻이었다.
It was less an objection than a wish to look at it further.
취미라기보다는 생활에 가깝습니다.
It is less a hobby than a way of living.
화가 났다기보다는 실망한 쪽에 가까웠다.
It was not so much anger as disappointment.
직접 만든다기보다는 조립한다고 하는 편이 맞다.
Rather than making it, it would be truer to say they assemble it.
어렵다기보다는 익숙하지 않을 뿐이에요.
It’s not so much difficult as unfamiliar.
Compared with
-기보다는
The shorter form attaches to a stem and compares two actions. This one has the quotative inside and corrects how something was described.
말하기보다는 듣는 편이다. (I listen more than I speak) / 싫다기보다는 관심이 없다. (not dislike — indifference)
-답시고
Both quote a characterisation. 답시고 rejects it with contempt; 다기보다는 refines it politely.
돕는답시고 망쳤다. (“helping,” he says) / 돕는다기보다는 함께하는 것이다. (more like joining in)
-(으)ㄴ/는 감이 있다
Both soften. 감이 있다 hedges a criticism; 다기보다는 hedges a correction. Two ways of being careful in a meeting.
이른 감이 있습니다. (feels early) / 반대한다기보다는 (not objection, exactly)
Watch out
싫다기보다는 정말 싫어요.
싫다기보다는 그냥 관심이 없어요.
The second clause must offer a different, truer description. Repeating the first defeats the correction.
취미다기보다는 생활에 가깝습니다.
취미라기보다는 생활에 가깝습니다.
After a noun the quotative form is -(이)라기보다는.
말한다기보다는 듣는 편이다.
말하기보다는 듣는 편이다.
To compare two actions, the plain -기보다는 is right. The quotative form corrects a characterisation instead.
Next
koreangrammarmap.com