Middle School - Grade 8
Lesson 9: "Even if..."
-아/어도
Expressing Concession
This grammar point is used to show "concession." This means that the second part of the sentence happens **regardless of** or **in spite of** the first part.
You can think of it as "**Even if**..." or "**Even though**...". The conjugation rules will be very easy for you, as they follow the exact same vowel harmony as `아요/어요`!
The Conjugation Rules
Stem vowel is 아 or 오
... + 아도
바쁘다 바빠도
"Even if busy..."
Stem vowel is anything else
... + 어도
먹다 먹어도
"Even if (I) eat..."
All 하다 verbs
... + 해도
공부하다 공부해도
"Even if (I) study..."
Examples in Action
CONCESSION + RESULT
바빠도 아침은 꼭 먹어요.
Even if I'm busy, I always eat breakfast.
CONCESSION + RESULT
매일 운동해도 살이 안 빠져요.
Even though I exercise every day, I'm not losing weight.
CONCESSION + RESULT
돈이 없어도 행복해요.
Even if I don't have money, I'm happy.
ASKING PERMISSION
질문해도 돼요?
Is it okay even if I ask a question? (i.e., "May I ask a question?")
(You learned this in Lesson M7-3! It's the same grammar.)
Coming Up Next...
You can talk about what you can do (`-(으)ㄹ 수 있다`). Now let's learn how to talk about *knowing how* to do something, which is a subtle but important difference!