Continuing Korean. Ross King

저는 못 가겠으니까，유진 씨라도 갔다 오십시오. As I won’t be able to go, at least you go (without me),Yujin. Here are some more examples of -어도. 21. 할아버지는 돈이 많으셔도 나한테는 안 주세요. Even though granddad has lots of money, he doesn’t give me any. 22. 나는 나이는 많아도 마음은 젊어요. Even though I am old in age, I am young at heart. 23. 나는 매일 공항에서 일을 해도 비행기를 한 번도 타 보지 못했어요. Even though I work at the airport everyday, I haven’t even once flown on an airplane. 24. 어젯밤에 비가 그렇게 왔어도 파티에는 300명이나 왔어요. Even though it was raining last night, some [“as many as”] 300 people came to the party. 25. 나는 아무리 아파도 병원에 한번도 가 보지 않았어요. No matter how sick I might be, I’ve never gone to the hospital.

      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