〜かのようだ: meaning and usage

How to form it

• verb (plain form)/い-adjective+かのようだ
• noun/な-adjective (stem)+である+かのようだ
• verb (plain form)+かのように+verb
• verb (plain form)+かのような+noun

How it is used

Something looks as if it were so, although it is not: 'as if…'. More literary than 「まるで〜ようだ」, and often used together with 「まるで」. Nouns and な-adjectives usually take 「である」 before it.

Examples

1. 雨が止んでから空が微笑むかのように虹が現れた。

   After the rain stopped, a rainbow appeared, like the sky was smiling.

2. 彼はまるで何も知らないかのように笑っていた。

   He was smiling as if he knew nothing at all.

3. 三月なのに、真冬に戻ったかのような寒さだ。

   It's March, yet it's as cold as if we'd gone back to midwinter.