Particle 도 : also, too (vs 또)

-도 means ‘also’ or ‘too’. It is not an adverb, it is a particle which is attached to a noun(no space between noun and -도). And -도 cannot be with Topic particle(-은/는), Subject particle(-이/가) and Object particle(-을/를), which -도 substitute those particles. For example,

A: 저는 한국 사람이에요. (I am Korean.)
B: 저도 한국 사람이에요. (I am also Korean.)
C: 저도요! (Me too!)

A : 저는 사과를 좋아해요. 배도 좋아해요. (I like apples. I also like pears.)

A: 저는 사과를 좋아해요. 동생도 사과를 좋아해요. (I like apples. My sister/brother also likes apples)

A: 저는 기타를 쳐요. 그리고 피아노도 쳐요. (I play guitar. And I also play piano.)

 

*A lot of my students get confused by -도 and 또 because they have similar pronunciation and meaning. But they are different.

-도 is a particle while 또 is an adverb which -도 is attached to a noun but 또 is used independently. And -도 means ‘also’ or ‘too’, 또 means ‘again’, ‘and’ or ‘in addition’.  For example,
저도 사과를 먹었어요. (I also ate an apple. -> no space between 저and 도)
저 또 사과를 먹었어요. (I ate an apple again. -> a space between 저 and 또)

민수는 한국 사람이에요. 수지도 한국 사람이에요. (Minsu is Korean. Suji is also Korean.)
민수는 자전거를 탈 수 있어요. 또 운전도 할 수 있어요. (Minsu can ride a bike. And he can also drive a car.)

 

Particle: Noun+도 also, too, even

-도 means ‘also’ or ‘even’, however it is different from English. It is a particle, so -도 is attached to a noun. -도 cannot be used with subject particles -이/가 and object particles -을/를 at the same time. For example, 

저는 미국 사람이에요. 제 아내가 미국 사람이에요. I am American. My wife is American.
-> 저는 미국 사람이에요. 제 아내도 미국 사람이에요. I am American. My wife is also American.

저는 사과를 좋아해요. (저는) 바나나를 좋아해요. I like apples. I like bananas.
-> 저는 사과를 좋아해요. (저는) 바나나도 좋아해요. I like apples. I also like bananas.

A : 제가 사과를 안 좋아해요. I don’t like apples.
B: 저도 사과를 안 좋아해요.  I don’t like them either.

However when -도 comes with other particles, it takes a place after other particles. For example,

저는 도서관에서 한국어를 공부해요. (저는) 집에서 (한국어를) 공부해요.   I study Korean at the library. I study Korean at home.
-> 저는 도서관에서 한국어를 공부해요. (저는) 집에서도 (한국어를) 공부해요. I study Korean at the library. I also study Korean at home.

월요일에 커피를 안 마셨어요. 수요일에 커피를 안 마셨어요. I didn’t drink coffee on Monday. I didn’t drink coffee on Wednesday.
-> 월요일에 커피를 안 마셨어요. 수요일에도 커피를 안 마셨어요. I didn’t drink coffee on Monday. I didn’t drink coffee on Wednesday either.

Q: 저는 강남에 살아요.  I live in Gangnam.
A: 저도요. Me too.
** A lot of students ask me how to say ‘me too’, it is very simple. It is ‘저도요(polite)‘ or ‘나도(casual)‘.

-도 can express ‘even‘ which emphasize the previous noun. In this case, we use negative expression in the sentence. For example,
하나도 안 먹었어요. Even one, I didn’t eat. (I didn’t eat anything)
아무것도 못 봤어요. Even anything, I didn’t see.
사람이 한 명도 안 왔어요. Even one person didn’t come.

Lastly, particle 도 and adverb 또 can be very confusing. If you want to learn the difference, please click here.

Practice> Let’s translate these sentences in Korean.

1. I am a teacher, my younger sister is also a teacher.
2. A: I don’t like watermelon. B: I don’t like it either.
3. I can speak Korean and I can also speak English.
4. I don’t work on Monday, I don’t work on weekend either.

You can listen to audio files by clicking here.