There are many subtles uses of 도, which we will explore in today’s lesson.

One of the uses of 도 is to use it to mean “also” or “too”

한국어도 공부했어요 (한국어 = Korean language. 도 = also. 공부했어요 = past tense of 공부하다 = to study)

In English, this would mean, “I also studied Korean”.

도 can also be used to mean, “even” like in this example :

그건 어린애도 알아요! (그건 = that. 어린애 = child. 도 = even. 알아요 = know)

Which would mean, “Even a child knows that!”

Then there’s 도 used in the sense of “indeed” like in this sentence :

그 여자는 복도 많아요.

(그 = that. 여자 = woman. 는 = topic marking particle. 복 = luck. 도 = indeed. 많아요 = a lot.)

Which means, “That woman has a lot of luck indeed”

Then there’s the 도 that can be used to mean, “not only…but also”

앤디는 한국어도 영어도 알아요

(앤디 = Andy. 는 = topic marking particle. 한국어 = Korean language. 도 = not only. 영어 = English. 도 = but also. 알아요 = know.)

In English this would mean, “Andy not only knows Korean, but also English.”

Lastly, 도 can be used to mean, “neither…nor” :

저는 동원 씨도 상우 씨도 좋아하지 않아요.

(저 = I. 는 = topic marking particle. 동원 = Dong Won. 씨 = honorific suffix. 도 = neither. 상우 = Sang Woo. 씨 = honorific suffix. 도 = nor. 좋아하지 않아요 = don’t like.)

In English, this would mean, “I like neither Dong Won nor Sang Woo.”