하고 (Hago) vs 그리고 (Geurigo): Why Korean Has Two Words for ‘And’

Why Korean Has Two Words for ‘And’ — And Which One to Use

Ordering at a café should feel simple. Coffee. Juice. Two items, one order.

Part of the Korean Grammar — Make Sense of It, Not Just Memorize series — start there if you’re new.

But if 그리고 geu-ri-go is the only Korean “and” you know, that order might come out: 그리고 커피 keo-pi 그리고 주스 ju-seu 주세요 ju-se-yo. Nothing is technically wrong. You just sound like you’re reading bullet points off a slide deck. The barista understands you, but it feels stiff.

This is usually the first correction a beginner needs. Learners who already know 그리고 reach for it everywhere, and the grocery list starts sounding like a formal speech.

The fix is one word: 하고 ha-go. To use it right, you need to know why Korean splits “and” into two separate jobs. English never made this split.

Two Words, Two Jobs

하고 ha-go connects nouns. Café orders, shopping lists, names placed side by side. It’s everyday spoken Korean — not too formal, not too casual — and it attaches right to the noun before it.

그리고 geu-ri-go is a different tool. It’s a transition word, not a particle. Use it to open a new sentence once the previous thought is done. Think “and then” or “and so,” not “apple and banana.” English covers both with one word. Korean gives them separate tools — that’s the whole distinction.

Quick test: listing things? Reach for 하고. Starting a new sentence? That’s 그리고.

See Both Words in Action

Four examples. Two words, two situations.

Noun list — 하고

Sentence bridge — 그리고

Three items in a row

With three or more items, 하고 goes after each noun except the last. No commas needed. The particle handles all the connecting.

The common mix-up

Quick Practice

Fill in each blank with 하고 ha-go or 그리고 geu-ri-go.

1. “I want 치킨 chi-kin ___ 피자 pi-ja.”

2. “I went to Seoul. ___ I took lots of photos.”

The Rule in One Line

하고 ha-go is for listing nouns. 그리고 geu-ri-go is for connecting sentences. Get that split clear and the “PowerPoint” problem disappears from your Korean.

For a deeper look at how particles work, the Korean Grammar hub is the right place to start. Particles like 은/는 eun/neun and 이/가 i/ga follow the same logic: small words, big jobs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can 하고 connect verbs too, or only nouns?

하고 works between nouns only. For verbs, Korean uses a completely different connector: -고 -go, which attaches directly to the verb stem. 먹고 자다 meok-go ja-da (eat and sleep) uses -고, not 하고. The two look similar on paper but fill completely different grammar slots — swap them and it sounds broken to a native ear.

Is 그리고 formal, casual, or somewhere in between?

그리고 is neutral in register and works in both conversation and writing. The issue isn’t formality — it’s frequency. Stringing 그리고 between every sentence in speech starts to sound like narrating a storybook. Native speakers break up long chains with verb-ending connectors instead, which keeps the conversation moving.

What is the difference between 하고 and 와/과?

The grammar is identical: both connect nouns. The difference is register. 와/과 wa/gwa belongs to formal written Korean — academic papers, news broadcasts, official announcements. 하고 is the spoken, everyday version. In a text message or a café order, 하고 is the right call. As for the form: 와 wa follows vowel-final nouns (친구와 chin-gu-wa), 과 gwa follows consonant-final ones (책과 chaek-gwa).