마저 is the particle of the last straw. It also translates as "even," but where 조차 marks the item you would least expect to fail, 마저 marks the last item still standing — the final person, the final resource, the one thing you had left to count on — and includes it in whatever is going wrong. There is almost always a sense of loss: everything else has already gone, and now even this is gone too. If you can feel the difference between "even a child knows that" (least expected) and "and now even you have left me" (the last one), you already feel the difference between 조차 and 마저.
The core idea: the final one, included in the loss
The mental image behind 마저 is a set that has been shrinking. People leave, resources dwindle, hopes fade — and then the last member of the set gets swept up too. 마저 lands on that last member.
이제 너마저 나를 떠났어요.
ije neomajeo nareul tteonasseoyo
Now even you have left me. (you were the last one)
마지막 희망마저 사라졌어요.
majimak huimangmajeo sarajeosseoyo
Even my last hope vanished.
하나 남은 빵마저 뺏겼어요.
hana nameun ppangmajeo ppaetgyeosseoyo
They took even the one piece of bread I had left.
The words 마지막 ("last"), 하나 남은 ("the one that remained"), and 하나뿐인 ("the only") turn up around 마저 constantly, and for good reason — they name the very "last-remaining" quality that 마저 encodes. When you see them, 마저 (not 조차, not 도) is usually the natural companion.
하나뿐인 친구마저 멀리 이사를 갔어요.
hanappunin chingumajeo meolli isareul gasseoyo
Even my one and only friend moved far away.
No allomorphy, and it replaces 이/가·을/를
Like its neighbours, 마저 has a single form — always 마저, after any sound — and it replaces the subject/object markers 이/가 and 을/를 rather than stacking on them. 너를 becomes 너마저 (never ×너를마저); the subject 희망이 becomes 희망마저 (never ×희망이마저).
막차마저 끊겨서 택시를 탔어요.
makchamajeo kkeunkyeoseo taeksireul tasseoyo
Even the last bus stopped running, so I took a taxi.
Here 막차(가) 끊기다 has 막차 as its subject, and 마저 takes the 가 slot. Note the pronunciation of 끊겨서: the ㄶ batchim meets ㄱ and the ㅎ aspirates it to ㅋ, so it surfaces as [끈켜서] (kkeunkyeoseo) — a good reminder that romanization tracks the spoken form. On a meaning-bearing particle, 마저 stacks instead:
가족에게마저 외면당하니 정말 외로웠어요.
gajogegemajeo oemyeondanghani jeongmal oerowosseoyo
Being shut out by even my own family, I felt truly alone. (에게 + 마저)
The distinguishing tone: things going from bad to worse
Because 마저 sweeps up the last item, it carries an unmistakable downhill momentum — you had one thing left, and now that too is included in the disaster. It thrives in sentences about betrayal, exhaustion, and things piling up.
비도 오는데 바람마저 부네요.
bido oneunde barammajeo buneyo
It's raining, and now even the wind is picking up.
야근에 지쳤는데 주말 근무마저 하래요.
yageune jicheonneunde jumal geunmumajeo haraeyo
I'm worn out from overtime, and now they want me to work weekends too.
The 도 in 비도 오는데 sets up "on top of the rain," and 마저 delivers the finishing blow. This is the particle you want when the emotional note is "as if that weren't enough, even this."
Four "evens" in one view
Set 마저 beside its relatives and the system snaps into focus:
| Particle | Job | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| 도 | simply adds another item | neutral "also, too" |
| 까지 | reaches the far endpoint of a scale | neutral "even, all the way to" |
| 조차 | the least expected item, in a negative frame | adverse "not even the bare minimum" |
| 마저 | the last remaining item you counted on | adverse "even the final one, gone too" |
The contrast that trips people up most is 조차 vs 마저, because both are adverse. Keep the anchor words straight: 조차 goes with "bare minimum, least expected"; 마저 goes with "last, final, the one I had left." When 너마저 appears, it means "everyone else already, and now even you, the final one" — the sting is that you were the last person still on their side.
세상 사람들이 다 등을 돌려도 너마저 그러면 안 되지.
sesang saramdeuri da deung-eul dollyeodo neomajeo geureomyeon an doeji
Even if the whole world turns its back, you of all people [the last one] can't do that to me.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating 마저, 조차, and 까지 as interchangeable. They translate the same English word but frame the item differently. For "even a child knows this," the point is least expected, so it must be 조차 (or neutral 까지), not 마저.
❌ 아이마저 그건 알아요.
Wrong — a child isn't the 'last remaining' item; this needs the least-expected 조차.
✅ 아이조차 그건 알아요.
aijocha geugeon arayo
Even a child knows that.
2. Keeping the case marker. 마저 replaces 이/가·을/를; it never rides on top of them.
❌ 너를마저 잃고 싶지 않아요.
Wrong — the object marker 를 must drop before 마저.
✅ 너마저 잃고 싶지 않아요.
neomajeo ilko sipji anayo
I don't want to lose even you.
3. Using 마저 for a neutral or happy addition. 마저 carries loss. For "I even got a bonus" (welcome news), you want 까지.
❌ 이번 달에는 보너스마저 받았어요.
Wrong for happy news — 마저 injects a sense of loss that clashes with a bonus.
✅ 이번 달에는 보너스까지 받았어요.
ibeon dareneun boneoseukkaji badasseoyo
This month I even got a bonus. (welcome addition → 까지)
4. Using 마저 with no sense of a shrinking set. If nothing has been lost and you are just listing an extra item, 도 is the honest choice — 마저 would read as melodramatic.
✅ 커피도 주문했어요.
keopido jumunhaesseoyo
I ordered coffee too. (plain addition → 도, not 마저)
Key Takeaways
- 마저 marks the last remaining item you were counting on and includes it in a loss: 너마저 떠났어요, 마지막 희망마저 사라졌어요.
- It has no allomorphy (always 마저) and replaces 이/가·을/를 (너마저, 막차마저), while stacking on 에게/에서.
- Its tone is a final loss — everything else gone, and now even this. It clusters with 마지막, 하나 남은, 하나뿐인.
- Distinguish it from 조차 (the least expected), 까지 (neutral endpoint), and 도 (plain "also").
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- 조차: Even (the Least Expected)TOPIK 4 — 조차 is the adverse 'even' — it singles out the item you would LEAST expect to fall short, almost always with a negative predicate: 물조차 마실 수 없었어요 ('I couldn't even drink water').
- 까지: Up To, Until, As Far As — and Emphatic 'Even'TOPIK 1 — 까지 marks a boundary you reach — 'up to, until, as far as' in time and space — and, by extension, the emphatic 'even' at the far end of a scale. It has no allomorphy and stacks on other particles.
- 도: Also, Too, EvenTOPIK 1 — 도 is the additive particle 'also, too, as well' (and, on a scale, 'even'). It has no allomorphy, it REPLACES the subject/object markers 이/가 and 을/를, and it STACKS on top of every other particle.
- 은/는커녕: Far From, Let Alone (Not Even)TOPIK 5 — The concessive-contrast particle 은/는커녕 — 'far from X, let alone X' — which dismisses a larger, expected thing and then reveals that even a smaller, more basic thing failed too, almost always with a 도 + negative in the second clause.