仿佛…似的
as if; as though
Structure
主语 仿佛 比喻／想象的情况 （似的）
What it means
'As if; as though': gives an image or an impression, never a plain fact.
How it is built
Subject + 仿佛 + imagined situation + (似的): 水一干，字就消失了，仿佛从来没有写过似的 (once the water dries, the characters vanish as if never written).
When to use it
The written, slightly literary cousin of 好像; 似的 closes the comparison and can be left out. In speech: 好像…似的 or 跟…似的. 仿佛 also means 'seemingly, vaguely': 我仿佛听见有人叫我.
Watch out
Read 似的 as shì de, not sì de. It is for an image, not a fact or a sensible guess: for 'he is probably a teacher' say 他可能是老师, not 仿佛.
Examples
水一干，字就消失了，仿佛从来没有写过似的。
Once the water dries the characters vanish, as if they had never been written.
他俩一见面就聊个不停，仿佛是多年的老朋友似的。
The moment they met the two of them talked non-stop, as if they were old friends.
走进这个小公园，仿佛离开了城市。
Step into this little park and it is as if you had left the city.
Learn this in Lesson 13 · HSK 5: 公园里的中国 (A morning in a Chinese park)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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