I really feel sorry for my self and for those who have been looking forward to new post that I cannot update more frequently. I have been constantly reading the new handbook I got authored by Samuel Martin called Practical Korean. It’s another book I just got from Powerbooks three weeks ago.
Since the creation of Elementary Korean is actually inspired by the the first edition of this book, the approach in explaining is somehow similar except that Practical Korean is using romanization heavily as opposed to Elementary Korean which uses romanization for pronunciation simulation purposes.
I found this lesson on the use of of the particle -도. Previously I learned that this is attached to a word (usually a noun) which gives meaning ‘too’ or ‘also’. Like when you say 나도 (nado), it means me too or me also. Previously this particle has been compared with it’s brother 또 (Ddo) which means the same but the difference is, its a stand alone word. It does not have to be connected to a noun.
Now I learned a practical application of the particle -도 in combination with the verbs 좋아요 (choayo) and 괜잖아요 (gwaenchanayo). 좋아요 means ‘is good’ or ‘to like’ while 괜잖아요 means ‘is okay’ or ‘to be alright’ or ‘makes no difference’. The particle is actually attached to the infinitive form of the verb, in present tense.
The use of -도 in combination with 좋아요 or 괜잖아요 gives the same meaning as the English statements that asks or gives permission in this thought flow:
- ‘is it okay if I…?
- ‘can i…?
- it is okay for you to…
- you can…
He are some examples:
내일 공부해도 좋아요? (Naeil kongbuhado choayo?) – Is it okay to study tomorrow?
여기 앉아도 괜잖아요 (Yogi anjado gwaenchanayo) – I don’t mind if you sit here. You can sit here
연필로 써도 좋아요 (Yeonpilro sseodeo chuayo) – You can write using pencil.
이 방에 계셔도 괜잖아요 (I bange kyesyeodo gwaenchanayo) – It’s okay for you to stay in this room.
It Started with Hangul 