како да

As if

Level 4Sounds Like kako da

Како да = as if: Зборува како да знае сѐ. (He talks as if he knew everything.) Ме гледаше како да ме нема. (She looked at me as if I were not there.)

How It Works

Comparing with a picture. The main clause says what really happens, and the како да clause says what it looks like: Зборува како да знае сѐ. The speaker usually suggests that the picture is not true, or is not sure.

Verb forms after да.

Present, the most common choice, also in past stories: Се однесува како да е газда. (He behaves as if he were the boss.) Ме гледаше како да ме нема.
L-form, for something imagined as having happened earlier: Се исплаши како да видел дух. Зборуваше за Рим како самиот да бил таму. (He talked about Rome as if he had been there himself.) For I and you, add the forms of сум: Изгледаш како да не си спиел цела ноќ.
Imperfect, mostly in writing, for an unreal picture: Истрелот се изгуби, како да не постоеше. (The shot faded away as if it had never existed.)

Do not use the aorist after како да. See the l-form and the perfect with сум.

Word order. A subject can stand between како and да: како самиот да бил таму. Не and short pronouns come after да, right before the verb: како да ме нема, како да не знае.

Како да at the start. On its own, како да means "it seems" or "I feel like": Како да ќе врне. (It looks like it is going to rain.) Како да те знам од некаде. (I feel like I know you from somewhere.) Compare изгледа and се чини.

Not the same as како што. Како што compares with something real: Направи како што ти кажав. (Do as I told you.) After verbs like знае, како да means "how to": Не знам како да го направам ова. (I do not know how to do this.) See што да правам.

Examples (6)

Зборува како да знае сѐ.
He talks as if he knew everything.
Word by Word: Talks as to knows everything.
Ме гледаше како да ме нема.
She looked at me as if I were not there.
Word by Word: Me looked as to me there-is-not.
Се исплаши како да видел дух.
He got scared as if he had seen a ghost.
Word by Word: Himself scared as to seen ghost.
The l-form видел places the imagined event before the fright.
Изгледаш како да не си спиел цела ноќ.
You look as if you had not slept all night.
Word by Word: You-look as to not you-are slept whole night.
Се однесува како да е газда.
He behaves as if he were the boss.
Word by Word: Himself behaves as to is boss.
Како да ќе врне.
It looks like it is going to rain.
Word by Word: As to will rain.
At the start of a sentence, како да means "it seems".

Common Mistakes

Using the aorist after како да.
Се исплаши како да виде дух.
Се исплаши како да видел дух.
Виде is the aorist, which is not used after како да. For an imagined earlier event, use the l-form: видел.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

како даLevel 4As if

Learn This First

As if combines manner words and да clauses.

Words in This Pattern