와/과, 하고, (이)랑: And, with

와, 과, 하고, (이)랑: four ways to say "and"

Korean gives you four particles for joining two nouns. They mean the same thing. The choice is register, plus one spelling rule.

Which one to use

과 / 와 is the formal pair, and its form depends on the 받침 batchim:

• 과 after a consonant: 책과 chaek-gwa, "and a book"
• 와 after a vowel: 사과와 sagwa-wa, "and an apple"

하고 is the everyday one. No spelling rule, works after anything, fine in speech and in most writing.

• 책하고 chaek-hago

(이)랑 (i)rang is the casual one, for friends:

• 이랑 after a consonant: 책이랑 chaeg-irang
• 랑 rang after a vowel: 사과랑 sagwa-rang

Same sentence, three registers:

• 커피와 빵을 샀어요 keopiwa ppangeul sasseoyo. — formal, written
• 커피하고 빵을 샀어요 keopihago ppangeul sasseoyo. — neutral, spoken or written
• 커피랑 빵을 샀어요 keopirang ppangeul sasseoyo. — casual

All three mean "I bought coffee and bread."

They also mean "with"

This is the part that surprises people. The same particles do double duty as "with", and the verb tells you which reading applies.

• 친구하고 갔어요. chingu-hago gasseoyo — "I went with a friend."
• 친구하고 저는 학생이에요. chingu-hago jeoneun haksaeng-ieyo — "My friend and I are students."

Joining two nouns in a list gives you "and". Attaching to a person before an action verb gives you "with". You'll often see 같이 gachi · "together" added to make the "with" reading explicit:

• 친구하고 같이 갔어요. chingu-hago gachi gasseoyo — "I went together with a friend."

The mistake: 그리고 geurigo

This is the one worth flagging, because English hides the distinction entirely.

In speech, put a particle (와/과/하고/랑) between two nouns. 그리고 (*geurigo*) mainly joins clauses and sentences, and only shows up in noun lists in writing (A, B, 그리고 C).

• 커피하고 빵을 샀어요 keopihago ppangeul sasseoyo. ✓ — "I bought coffee and bread."
• 커피 그리고 빵을 샀어요 keopi geurigo ppangeul sasseoyo. (sounds stiff in speech)

• 밥을 먹었어요 babeul meogeosseoyo. 그리고 커피를 마셨어요 geurigo keopireul masyeosseoyo. ✓ — "I ate. And then I drank coffee."

If the "and" sits between two things, you need a particle. If it sits between two clauses, you need 그리고 geurigo. English uses one word for both jobs, so this mistake is close to universal among beginners and it's an easy one to stop making.

Same, different, similar

Words that compare two things need a partner, and that partner takes one of these particles. English says "the same as" or "different from", but Korean uses the same "and/with" particles for all of them:

• 제 생각은 선생님과 달라요. je saenggageun seonsaengnimgwa dallayo "My opinion is different from yours." Said to a teacher.
• 이거랑 똑같은 거 있어요? igeorang ttokgateun geo isseoyo "Do you have one exactly like this?"
• 저는 아빠하고 성격이 비슷해요. jeoneun appahago seonggyeogi biseutaeyo "My personality is a lot like my dad's."

So if you're reaching for "as" or "from" next to 같다 gatda, 다르다 dareuda or 비슷하다 biseutada, the answer is 와/과, 하고 or (이)랑.

Don't mix them in one list

Pick one register and stay with it through the whole list. Switching halfway sounds odd:

• ✗커피와 빵이랑 우유 keopiwa ppangirang uyu
• ✓커피랑 빵이랑 우유 keopirang ppangirang uyu "coffee, bread and milk"

In casual speech, 하고 and (이)랑 can repeat on every item like that. 와/과 usually goes between items only.