18.2.3. Asking and Giving Permission with -어도
To ask for permission in Korean you use a construction with the literal meaning even though I [do it], is it all right? or even if I [do it], does it matter or make any difference? This corresponds to English may or can I [do it] or, much more closely, is it all right if I [do it]? You may use any of three verbs for the final one in the sentences, as the examples show. The three verbs are 돼요, 좋아요 and 괜찮아요.
| 26. | 오늘 새 옷을 입어도 좋아요? Is it all right for me to [= May I] wear my new clothes today? |
| 27. | 새 신을 신어도 괜찮아요? May I wear my new shoes? [Even though I wear . . . does it make a difference?] |
| 28. | 오늘 밤에 집에 늦게 들어와도 돼요? Is it all right for me to [ = Do you mind if I] come home late tonight? |
18.2.4. Doesn’t have to . . . with -지 않아도
To say I have to . . . in Korean, you use the construction -어야 해요 (Section 18.1.). The negative of this — I don’t have to . . . — is a permission construction, meaning literally even though I don’t [do it], it’s all right or it doesn’t matter if I don’t [do it]. You may use either the long or short negative for this pattern, either 안 가도 or 가지 않아도. For the it doesn’t matter, it’s all right, etc., you can use 괜찮아요，돼요 or 좋아요. Here are some examples.
| 29. | 일찍 돌아오시지 않아도 괜찮아요. You don’t have to come back early. [= Even though you don’t come back early, it doesn’t matter.] |
| 30. | 운전면허증을 안 보여 주셔도 좋아요. You don’t have to show me your driver’s license. |
| 31. | 차를 빌리지 않아도 괜찮아요. You don’t need to rent a car. |
| 32. | 오늘 모임에 가도 좋고 안 가도 좋아요. It doesn’t matter whether I go to the meeting today or not. [= If I go to the meeting today it’s all right, and if I don’t go it’s all right.] |
| 33. | 그 서류는 지금 쓰지 않아도 되지만，이 편지는 당장 써야겠어요. I don’t have to write that document now, but this letter I’ll have to write immediately. |
18.3. Some Idiomatic -어도 Expressions
There are a few descriptive verb infinitives with the particle 도 that have a special maximum- minimum meaning (alongside their usual meaning, in other contexts, of even though it’s . . .) like these.
| 늦어도 | at the latest [even though it’s late] |
| 적어도 | at least [even though it’s few or small] |
Here are some examples of these in sentences.
| 34. | 여기서부터 학교까지 적어도 1 시간은 걸리겠어요. From here to the school it must take at least one hour. | |
| 35. | 오빠 자동차는 빨라도 1 시간에 80킬로 밖에 못 가요. At the fastest, my older brother’s car won’t do over eighty kilometers an hour. | |
| 36. | A. | 지금 몇 시예요? What time is it now? |
| B. | 왜요? Why? | |
| A. | 늦어도 10시까지는 집에 들어가야 하거든요. We have to return home by 10 o’clock at the latest. |
18.4. Infinitive -어 + 져요(지-): Get/Become
The auxiliary verb 져요 (an abbreviation of 지어요 from the base 지-) means begins to be . . . or gets (to be). It follows the infinitives of descriptive verbs (adjectives) to form processive verb compounds, like these.
| 추워요 | is cold | → | 추워져요 | gets cold, cools off |
| 더워요 | is hot | → | 더워져요 | gets hot, warms up |
| 좋아요 | is good | → | 좋아져요 | gets better |
| 나빠요 | is bad | → | 나빠져요 | gets worse |
| 흐려요 | is cloudy | → | 흐려져요 | gets cloudy, clouds up |
| 피곤해요 | is tired | → | 피곤해져요 | gets tired |
(Notice that natural English often uses a phrase to translate such compounds: warms up, cools off, etc.).
주의!
Note that Korean spelling requires that the auxiliary verb 지 - be written flush with the preceding