I think many learners misunderstand this particle. So, let’s skip the theory and jump right into examples.
Try translating this into Korean: “I bought bananas. And I bought apples, too.”
You might think, “바나나를 샀어요. 그리고 사과도 샀어요.” or “바나나 샀어요. 그리고 사과도 샀어요.” But to a native Korean, that sounds a bit off.
More natural? “바나나도 샀어요. 그리고 사과도 샀어요.” Even better, if you link them together to list things. “바나나도 사고, 사과도 샀어요.”
In English, you use your intonation when connecting things. In Korean, we rely more on particles.
Now, try this one: “I went to Seoul, Boston, and New York last year.”
In Korean, you say : “작년에 서울에도 가고, 보스턴에도 가고, 뉴욕에도 갔어요.”
Notice how “-도” is attached to every place you went? That’s how you keep your listener following you, from start to the finish. And even though the stress changes, the meaning stays the same.
The connective ending “-고” and the particle “-도” together do a lot of what intonation does in English.
Now, let’s have a short dialogue:
Steven says, “저는 한국어 공부 좋아해요.”
Nina replies, “저도요!”
Here, “-도” includes the whole meaning of what Steven just said. So Nina doesn’t need to repeat it. It’s like recycling what’s already been said.
Another example. Let’s say you tell your friend: “제가 요즘 너무 바빠요. 그래서 집에서도 일해요.” That implies, “I work in many places, not just at home.”
Then your friend says, “저도요!” It actually means, “I’m busy these days too. So I work everywhere too.”
Even without saying everything out loud, you both understand perfectly, because that’s how Korean works.
But here’s something interesting. “저도요” actually hides a lot of meaning underneath.
If you want to be more specific, you could say:
- 저도 요즘 바빠요. – I’m busy these days too.
- 저도 집에서 일해요. – I also work at home.
- 저도 집에서도 일해요. – I work at home too, just like you.
- 저도 그래요. – I’m the same way.
So, “저도요” is like a shortcut that carries the whole meaning, depending on what was just said.
That’s why Koreans can communicate so naturally even with just one single syllable. It’s tiny, but it carries the whole story.
Reference
- 케빈 강 & 해나 변(2022), 영어 발음 향상 훈련, 사람인.