May/Is Allowed (-아/어도 되다)

-아/어도 되다 is used to ask for or grant permission. It literally means 'even if you do X, it's fine'. The choice between -아도 and -어도 follows vowel harmony, and 하다 verbs become 해도. 가도 돼요 means 'You may go' or 'It's okay to go'.

This pattern is commonly used in question form to ask permission: 여기 앉아도 돼요? (May I sit here?). The response can use the same pattern for 'yes' (네, 앉아도 돼요) or -면 안 되다 for 'no' (아니요, 앉으면 안 돼요 — No, you may not sit).

되다 conjugates normally: 돼요 (present polite), 됐어요 (past), 될 거예요 (future). In very polite situations, you might hear 괜찮다 (it's fine) used instead of 되다, but the grammar structure remains the same.