日本語道場

Nihongo Dojo — N3 → N2

Grammar

N2

～かのようだ

ka no yō da

as if

When to use it

Use ～かのようだ when you want to say something looks or is presented as if it were the case, with a strong implication that it is not. In formal writing and reports it is the standard way to flag a misleading impression — a glossed-over figure, a strategically feigned attitude — and it pairs naturally with まるで／あたかも／さも. Compare plain ようだ, which is a neutral guess; かのようだ carries the counterfactual nuance.

Formation

  • Verb: plain form (any tense) + かのようだ 〜 例:進んでいるかのようだ／決まったかのようだ
  • i-adjective: plain form + かのようだ 〜 例:何も問題がないかのようだ
  • na-adjective: stem + である + かのようだ 〜 例:順調であるかのようだ(×順調な~)
  • Noun: noun + である + かのようだ 〜 例:自分の功績であるかのようだ(口語では名詞+かのようだ も可)
  • Inflections: 〜かのように(adverbial)、〜かのような+noun、〜かのようだった、〜かのようでもある

Examples

  • The director carried on as if he hadn't heard a thing.

  • The figures in the report make it look as though all is going smoothly.

  • The other side acted as if the talks had broken down.

  • It's worded as if the fault lay with our company.

  • He spoke as if closing the deal had been his own achievement.