Toggle Panel

Level 5 Lesson 15 / At least, Instead, It might not be the best but… / -(이)라도

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Welcome to another episode of TalkToMeInKorean! In this lesson, we take a look at another Korean particle that can have various translations: -(이)라도. If this is the first time you’ve seen -(이)라도 being used, don’t worry – you will find it very easy to use and quite useful as well!

Thank you so much for studying with us and as usual, be sure to leave us comments and practice making your own sample sentences!

Lesson PDF in other languages (Participate in the translation!)

Download All the Lessons in Level 5 Here

Discussion( leave a comment )

  1. Taliana says: May 16, 2011

    Oh, wow! ㅋㅋㅋ In the textbook that we’re using at school, this grammar point’s in our current chapter XD

  2. Caddie says: May 16, 2011

    It’s so great I learnt something new about korean today!

    가르쳐주셔서 감사합니다. ^^
    선생님들,즐거운 하루 보내세요!

  3. melika says: May 16, 2011

    ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh mr hyunwoo sun im very happy today Because I could finish the first level.
    really tank you.

  4. Lily says: May 16, 2011

    Very useful lesson…..learn some new vocabularies in this lesson as well.
    고마워요!

  5. Florian says: May 17, 2011

    Hi,
    there is a small mistake with the spelling in the example sentence:

    2. 과자라도 먹을래요? [haem-beo-geo-ra-do meo-geul-lae-yo?

    Someone was really hungry :-)
    Regards Florian

    • Ben says: May 17, 2011

      Haha! I saw that too.
      하 하! 저거 봤어요.

  6. raminsu says: May 17, 2011

    안녕하세요

    정말 배고파요 아무라도 먹고 싶을께요 :-) 감사합니다

  7. sujin378 says: May 17, 2011

    수고하셨습니다 ^^

  8. Samier says: May 17, 2011

    안녕하세요!

    1. 모든 망고가 만료. 하지만 망고 하나라고 샀아요.

    감사합니다
    사미르

  9. Lèzéj Hcöìtnå says: May 17, 2011

    I love Talk to me in Korean, I learned so Many Words and How to use it.
    감사합니다 선생님들..!!! :)

  10. Roger says: May 17, 2011

    안녕하세요,

    Regarding useage number 2 as outlined in the pdf, “…나” 하고 “…라도” 어떻게 달라요? Par exemple, “anywhere” = 아무데나 or 어디라도,

    “아무데나 괜찮아요 / 갈 수 있어요”,

    “어디라도 괜찮아요 / 갈 수 있어요.”

    Do these two sentences mean the same? What is the difference in nuance?

    Similarly for 누구라도 하고 아무나 etc.

    여러분 수고하셔습니다.

  11. AlexG says: May 18, 2011

    고맙습니다!

    문장을 썼어요. 수정 해 주새요.

    1. 혹시, 어제 밤에 술라도 먹었어? (Did you perchance have some drinks last night?)
    2. 캐익은, 나한테 조근라도 주기 못해? (You can’t give me even a little bit of cake?)
    3. 아무라도 쓸 수 있어요 (You can write whatever.)
    4. 비 오니까 골프 못하지만 스그린 골프라도 어때? (It’s raining, so we can’t play golf, but how about screen golf at least?)

    수고하세요!

  12. Franco Ooi says: May 19, 2011

    선생님들 미국에 오시면 저러도 연락해 주세요.

  13. kat says: May 20, 2011

    Hi! I am concerned about hangeul. You see, I can read it, however I am very, very slow. Do you have any suggestions on how I can improve? It’s just that, I can see that almost everyone in this site is good at it. Thanks=)

    • jinseokjin says: May 23, 2011

      I think it will be good if you as many media as you can. You know, songs, drama, movies and so on can be the one and you can also share your opinion on TalkToMeInKorean facebook page and chat on http://learnkorean.ning.com/.

  14. 乨奕 says: May 21, 2011

    한 책이라도 읽어, 알았지?
    ^^
    수고많으셨습니다

  15. Brian says: May 23, 2011

    맛 보기라도 하세요. At least taste it.
    가기 전에 작별 인사라도 해세요. At least say goodbye before you go.
    생일 카드라도 보내세요. At least send a birthday card.
    전화번호만이라도 알려 주세요? Will you at least give me your phone number?
    오래 동안 머물지 않아도 오기라도 해요. You don’t have to stay a long time but at least show up.
    최소한 일 주일만이라도 나올 수 없어? Can’t you stay at least one week?

    • Karla says: June 4, 2011

      머물지 않아도
      –>I think it’s 머무르지 않아도

  16. Peter says: May 30, 2011

    What does Kyeong-eun-shi answer at 1:42; when Hyeonno-shi says, “Are you ready to do this with me?”

    Sounded like: “Tang-eun a’jyo.” “탕-은 아-죠.” “Oh! It is soup; is it not.”
    Kyeong-eun-shi says it again at 1:57.

    당, “tang: faction, justice, at issue”
    탕, tang: “soup, slam, bath-house”
    아, ah: “Oh!”

    • Karla says: June 4, 2011

      경은씨는 “당연하죠-of course” 라고 말했어요
      아니면 “당근이죠-of course or it’s a carrot”라고 말했어요

  17. Peter says: May 30, 2011

    Is the “yo” in “man-yo” an added politeness?
    At 5:07; Hyeonno-shi says, “When you say, “Wait a second”; you say…”
    I believe, Kyeong-eun-shi answers, “Chamshi man-yo.” “Only a moment”
    “담시 만-요.” “Chamshi (moment / second) man (only / just) -yo (politeness)”.
    The word “wait” was not in Kyeong-eun-shi’s answer, but is implied by: “Just a second.”
    I thought we could only add “yo” for politeness to verbs. It appears, we can add “yo” to any word at the end of a sentence for politeness. Shiweonhan-yo.

    • Karla says: June 4, 2011

      “It appears, we can add “yo” to any word at the end of a sentence for politeness”.-맞아요!
      ex. 할머니: 이름이 뭐니?
      수진(a child): 네? 수진요
      Correct me if I’m wrong

  18. Peter says: May 30, 2011

    At 5:27; Does Kyeong-eun-shi say, 좀 볼썽 해요. “Chom polsseong haeyo.”
    “Do just an outward appearance for Hyeonno-shi (for a moment).” ???

    Polsseong, 볼썽, outward-appearance.
    Chom (just / please) polsseong (outward-appearance) haeyo (do).

    Or could translate: “Please do an outward-appearance for Hyeonno-shi for a moment.”

    • wintergreen says: June 4, 2011

      안녕하세요, Peter 씨.

      I think what 최경은선생님 says at 5:27 is “좀 불쌍해요.” [It's a little bit pitiful/pathetic.]
      불쌍하다 = pitiful, pathetic, poor, pitiable, piteous

  19. Peter says: May 30, 2011

    What did Kyeong-eun-shi say at 7:46? It was not what Hyeonno-shi translated. Sounded like:
    “Yeoreobun (everyone) chigeum (now) TTMIK aneul (likely “oneul”)
    Tiko (?) -gesseumnida (?)”
    Hyeonno-shi translated this: “We hope you enjoy studying with us.”
    We = uri. Hope = weon-hada. Enjoy = cheulgida. Study = Kongbu-haeyo. None of these words are in the sentence.
    What is “tiko-gesseumnida”??
    Is “gesseumnida” a conjugation of kyeshida, 계시다, “stay”; pronounced: “keshida” ??? If so; the sentence reads: “Everyone now TTMIK today ___ staying.” I am so confused.

    • wintergreen says: June 4, 2011

      I think it is “여러분은 지금 Talk To Me In Korean을 듣고 계십니다.” [Now you are listening to Talk To Me In Korean.]

  20. Peter says: May 30, 2011

    What did Kyeong-eun-shi say at 11:00 ??
    Hyeonno-shi did not translate the sentence.
    Sounded like:
    “Cheon naeda ke bara meunyo an bollaeyo.”

    This makes me suspect, TTMIK is a North-Korean website to frustrate American military officers trying to learn to speak the Korean-language.

  21. Peter says: May 30, 2011

    What does Kyeong-eun-shi say at 11:11?
    Sounds like:
    Yeonse (age, petty, forever) ____ _____ _____ de talayo (sweet) or tallayo (gallop).

  22. Peter says: May 30, 2011

    Sample-sentence:

    번역-해요-라도 뭐 경-은-씨-라고 물-했어요.

    Peonyeok-haeyo-rado mweo Kyeong-eun-shi-rago mur-haesseoyo.

  23. Peter says: May 30, 2011

    What did Kyeong-eun-shi say at 13:18?
    Sounded like:
    “Hanguk-saram (Korean-people) -deur (object-marker) ina (?) chinchja (really) manhi (much) si-neun (?) gatayo (It seems).”

    Is “si-neun” from “sida”, “sour (or) unseemly, unpleasant, intolerable” ??

    아무도 알아요 뭐 경-은-씨-라고 물-했어요.
    Amudo arayo mweo Kyeong-eun-shi-rago mur-haesseoyo.

    논구나 알아고-싶어요 뭐 경-은-씨-라고 물-했어요.
    Nuguna arago-shipeoyo mweo Kyeong-eun-shi-rago mur-haesseoyo.

    석진-도 몰라요 뭐 경-은-씨-라고 물-했어요.
    Seokjin-do mollayo mweo Kyeong-eun-shi-rago mur-haesseoyo.

    논구나 부끄러워하는 이-에-요.
    Nuguna pukkeureoweohaneun i-e-yo.

  24. Peter says: May 30, 2011

    Kyeoguk; che-ga arayo Kyeong-eun-shi-rago mur-haesseoyo eseo 14:47.
    Kyeong-eun-shi said,
    “마지막 문장 이-에-요.”
    “Majimak munjang i-e-yo.”
    “(This) is the last sentence.”
    “Majimak (last) munjang (sentence) i-e-yo (is).”

  25. Daniel Krieg says: September 4, 2011

    The third example sentence, “내일 영화라도 볼래요?”, I noticed that one of the translations for it was “Do you want to see a movie or something tomorrow?”

    As far as I know, when you want to add that “NOUN or something (similar)”, shouldn’t one use NOUN(이)나 instead? So it would be 내일 영화나 볼래요? Or is 이라도 just similar to 이나 in this case?

  26. RifQa Kamil says: September 29, 2011

    절 한번이라도 용서하주세요 ㅠ.ㅠ

  27. Hee Lee says: October 24, 2011

    안녕하세요
    이 레슨 믄들어 주셔서 감사합니다
    선상님들 , 봐주세요
    고마워요

    Because its so late you can’t come home ,at least sleep on my bed /at least would you like to sleep on my bed?
    뒤늦으니까 집에 갈수없는데 , 제 침대라도 위에서 자세요/ 잘래요 ?

    we are late , so just pick anything ,its ok
    뒤늦은데 아무거나라도 고르세요

    i dont love you even in one day

    하루라도 안 사랑해요

    he seems so happy after the blind date, maybe she’s pretty

    소대팅후 즐거운 것같은데 , 그녀라도 예뻐요 ?

  28. zenn says: January 22, 2012

    점점 늦어서, 시작 할께라도?

    It’s getting late, shall we at least start?

  29. Arlan Rodrigo says: January 26, 2012

    감사합니다. 우유를 마시고 싶어요

  30. Rachel R says: February 25, 2012

    Thanks for this lesson! I really enjoy TTMIK and have found it very helpful so far in my effort to learn Korean. :) I have a question about using -(이)라도. I really like the song 바가 축축 by 아마도 이자람밴드, and one of the lines is “비가 내려 비가 축축 /
    하늘에 구멍이라도 뚫린걸까.” A friend translated this for me as “It’s raining, is there a hole in the sky?” or “it’s raining, as such there is a hole in the sky.” Would this fall under example 4, with the speaker showing some suspicion about a certain possibility?

    (By the way, thanks to your lesson on 아마도, etc., I now understand the name of the band I like so much! Many thanks!)

  31. Rachel R says: February 25, 2012

    Thanks for this lesson! I really enjoy TTMIK and have found it very helpful so far in my effort to learn Korean. :) I have a question about using -(이)라도. I really like the song 바가 축축 by 아마도 이자람밴드, and one of the lines is “비가 내려 비가 축축 /
    하늘에 구멍이라도 뚫린걸까.” A friend translated this for me as “It’s raining, is there a hole in the sky?” or “it’s raining, as such there is a hole in the sky.” Would this fall under example 4, with the speaker showing some suspicion about a certain possibility?

  32. Rachel R. says: February 25, 2012

    I’m sorry for accidentally posting my comment twice! And also, I just realized I read something wrong and mixed up 아마도 and 아무도. Oh, well, I learn better when I make mistakes, so I suppose I shouldn’t be so embarrassed about messing up. :)

  33. Rafael Rodrigues says: February 28, 2012

    If I say ‘그거라도 주세요.’, is it possible to someone think that I was rude? Or is it totally normal?

  34. Michael Maloney says: March 8, 2012

    조용이라도 해요. To my students who are being noisy and don’t want to pay attention during class, I could tell them “At least be quiet” (even if they aren’t going to focus on the class).

  35. Vchet V Valiantino says: March 25, 2012

    늦게 밤이라도 TTMIK를 들어요.

Leave a Comment

Questions or feedback on this lesson?

If you have any questions about what you learned in this lesson, please feel free to leave your comments here. If you see a question unanswered and if you'd like to share your knowledge with other learners, please feel free to participate in the conversation. Thank you!

If you have lesson ideas or requests, please talk to us through the Talk To The Teachers page.