This pattern indicates that one is pretending or making a false show of something.

- used with any verb
- tense and/or negation are expressed in the final 하다 portion of this pattern, not to the verb that it is attached
- 는 척하다 indicates present tense
- ㄴ 척하다 indicates past tense when attached to a verb ending in a vowel
- 은 척하다 indicates past tense when attached to a verb ending in a consonant
- is interchangeable with -ㄴ(은) 체하다/-는 체하다 with no difference in meaning


Examples:
바보인 척했어요./He pretended to be a fool.
소위가 일하는 체해요./The second lieutenant is pretending to be working.
딸은 자는 척하지 않았어요./My daughter didn't pretend to be asleep.
친구가 참회하는 척했어요./My friend pretended to be repenting.
친구가 참회한 척했어요./My friend pretended he had repented.