잘 가, 내일 또 봐

The line, explained

It is the end of the day, two friends reach the corner where their paths split, and one of them walks backward a few steps, waving: 잘 가, 내일 또 봐! Bye, see you again tomorrow! It is one of the most ordinary lines in Korean, and in youth dramas one of the most nostalgic. It also teaches something English does not have: goodbyes that depend on who is leaving.

잘 means well, and 가 is 가다, to go, in casual form. So 잘 가 is literally go well. You say it to the person who is walking away. If instead you are the one leaving and they are staying, you say 잘 있어, stay well. Korean speakers choose without thinking, and getting it right is a quiet sign you understand the scene.

안녕 is the other word to know. It means peace or wellbeing, and between friends it works as both hello and goodbye. You will hear 안녕! when friends meet and 안녕! when they part, often paired: 안녕, 잘 가. With strangers, shop staff or anyone older, switch to polite forms: 안녕히 가세요 to someone leaving, 안녕히 계세요 to someone staying.

내일 means tomorrow. 또 means again, and adds warmth: not just see you tomorrow, but see you again tomorrow, as if every day together is something to repeat. 봐 is 보다, to see, in casual form. The 보 and the ending 아 merge into 봐, pronounced bwa. 또 봐 alone is a perfectly good goodbye, like see ya. You can also stretch it to 또 보자, let's see each other again.

Dramas love to play with these. A character who says 잘 가 a little too softly, or who stops and turns before saying 내일 봐, is telling you more than goodbye. Try swapping the time word in this line: 잘 가, 다음에 또 봐 means bye, see you next time, and 잘 가, 주말에 또 봐 means bye, see you again on the weekend.