BTS’ latest hit, Blood Sweat & Tears has reached top spots in charts worldwide, even scoring a place in the UK’s iTunes chart! So let’s figure out what the song means.
Objective: Learn some useful grammar tips
In this song, we often hear the repetition of ‘-도 돼 do dwae‘, which can be broken down into two parts.
도 do – this has two meanings, but the one we’re interested in now is the meaning of ‘even if’, or ‘even though’.
돼 dwae also has a few meanings, but in this case, it means ‘to work’ or ‘to be possible’.
–도 돼 do dwae is always put after a verb and it literally means, ‘even if you (verb), it’s okay’.
Now let’s apply this to the lyrics of BTS’ Blood, Sweat & Tears.
아파도 돼 apa-do dwae (아파 apa = hurt)
Even if it hurts, it’s okay/it doesn’t matter if it hurts
취해도 돼 chwihae-do dwae (취해 chwihae = drunk)
Even if I’m drunk, it’s okay/it doesn’t matter if I’m drunk
If you want to say the opposite, and say ‘you shouldn’t’, or ‘it’s not okay to…’ then all you have to do is slip 안 an in before 돼 dwae!
E.g. 아파도 안돼 apa-do an-dwae
It is not okay to be hurting (a slightly weird sentence, I know!)
취해도 안돼 chwihae-do an-dwae
You shouldn’t be drunk/it’s not okay to be drunk
This is an extremely common grammar rule which you’ll hear coming up in songs and dramas all the time, so listen out for it!
