Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 8 - Advanced Korean #1 (Lessons 211 to 240) ᚛ Lesson 238 - Compounds of -고 #2: concession in Korean [-고도]
After -고서 and -아/어 가지고, here is another compound of the connector -고: -고도, formed with the particle 도, "also, even". It links two successive actions where the second contradicts what the first led you to expect: "even after drinking all night, he went to work fresh as a daisy". It is concession applied to a completed action, alongside -아/어도 and -(으)ㄴ/는데도. The lesson ends with the expression -고도 남다, "to have more than enough to".
[Verb]-고도 [Unexpected action or state]
-고도 assumes the first action was indeed carried out (like -고, it carries no tense marker: 마시고도, not 마셨고도) and presents the second as surprising in light of the first: you paid a lot and got nothing, you heard and pretended not to. The main clause is often negative or describes an inappropriate attitude (못 들은 척했어요, 사과 한마디 하지 않았어요). Two related uses: with a negation, -지 않고도 means "without even needing to…" (강의실에 가지 않고도, "without going to the lecture room"); between two adjectives, -고도 marks the coexistence of opposite qualities (넓고도 좁다, "both wide and small").
재현이는 친구들과 밤새 술을 마시고도 다음날 멀쩡한 모습으로 회사에 출근했어요.
→ Even after drinking all night with his friends, Jaehyun went to the office the next day looking perfectly fine.
재현이는 게임 좀 그만하고 공부하라는 엄마의 잔소리를 듣고도 못 들은 척했어요.
→ Jaehyun heard his mother nagging him to quit gaming and study, yet he pretended not to hear.
아이들이 좀 전에 점심을 먹고도 또 배가 고프다고 칭얼거렸어요.
→ The children had just had lunch, and yet they whined that they were hungry again.
재현이는 잘못하고도 미안하다는 사과 한마디 하지 않아서 사람들에게 미움을 샀어요.
→ Jaehyun was in the wrong, yet he didn't say a single word of apology, which made people resent him.
회사는 몇 년간 신상품 개발을 위해서 많은 돈을 쓰고도 좋은 결과를 내지 못했습니다.
→ The company spent a lot of money over several years developing new products, yet failed to get good results.
지금까지 의심했던 일들이 사실임을 확인하고도 전혀 믿을 수 없었어요.
→ Even after confirming that what I had suspected all along was true, I couldn't believe it at all.
의외의 장소에서 예전에 알던 지인을 만나게 되면 세상은 넓고도 좁다는 생각이 정말 많이 들어요.
→ When I run into an old acquaintance in an unexpected place, I really feel that the world is both wide and small.
지난 학기는 방역 지침으로 인해서 학생들이 강의실에 가지 않고도 화상으로 수업을 들을 수 있었어요.
→ Last semester, due to the health guidelines, students were able to take classes by video without going to the lecture room.
어머니는 이번에 무릎 관절 수술을 받고도 여전히 통증 때문에 걷기 힘들어하셨어요.
→ Even after her knee surgery, my mother still had trouble walking because of the pain.
재현이와 민지 커플은 어제 싸우고도 오늘은 또 아무 일 없다는 듯이 웃으면서 모임에 나왔어요.
→ Jaehyun and Minji fought yesterday, yet today they showed up at the get-together all smiles, as if nothing had happened.
Podcasts in Korean specially designed for beginners, to learn Korean by really listening to it from the very beginning.
You’re starting to learn Korean (or you already know the basics), but as soon as you listen to spoken Korean, everything suddenly feels too fast?
The words blend together, the pronunciation escapes you, and you feel like “real Korean” is very different from what you learned in textbooks.
That’s normal!
Listening comprehension is the most difficult part for all beginners.