A2
아/어도 되다 — may, and may not
How Korean grants permission with 아/어도 되다 and forbids with (으)면 안 되다, and how to ask politely.
The 아/어 form plus 도 되다 — literally even doing it, it works out.
여기 앉아도 돼요?
Yeogi anjado dwaeyo?
May I sit here?
집에 가도 돼요.
Jibe gado dwaeyo.
You may go home.
되다 can be replaced by 괜찮다 or 좋다 with no change of meaning: 앉아도 괜찮아요.
Asking rather than granting
Stated flatly it grants permission, which assumes you are the one entitled to grant it. As a question it asks, and that is how it is usually used.
사진을 찍어도 돼요?
Sajineul jjigeodo dwaeyo?
Is it all right if I take a photo?
Prohibition
(으)면 안 되다 — if you do, it won’t do. Built on (으)면 rather than on 도.
여기서 담배를 피우면 안 돼요.
Yeogiseo dambaereul piumyeon an dwaeyo.
You must not smoke here.
It is strong — signs, rules, telling children off. Between adults a refusal is usually softened instead, with 좀 or a sentence left hanging on 는데.
죄송하지만 피우면 안 돼요.
죄송하지만 여기서는 좀…
Grammatical and heavy. Refusing a stranger with 안 돼요 sounds like invoking a rule at them; the unfinished version is how it is normally done.
The four together
| 가도 돼요 | you may go |
| 가면 안 돼요 | you must not go |
| 가야 돼요 | you must go |
| 안 가도 돼요 | you needn’t go |
One verb, four endings, and the pairs sit diagonally opposite each other.