정말로? 진짜로? What's with the 로?
So i've been hearing 정말로 and 진짜로 a lot. I'm confused about this 로 part. Is it the (으)로 particle? If it is, i can't get my head around it. I somewhat know how (으)로 works, but in my head it makes no sense when you connect it to 정말 and 진짜. So, is it something else? And most importantly, what is the difference between 진짜 and 진짜로?

:)

Question

정말로? 진짜로? What's with the 로?
So i've been hearing 정말로 and 진짜로 a lot. I'm confused about this 로 part. Is it the (으)로 particle? If it is, i can't get my head around it. I somewhat know how (으)로 works, but in my head it makes no sense when you connect it to 정말 and 진짜. So, is it something else? And most importantly, what is the difference between 진짜 and 진짜로?

:)

Answer

In 정말로 and 진짜로, 로 is like "as". 

In 정말, 정 means "right", 말 means "word". So 정말로 is a bit like "as a matter of fact" in English. 
In 진짜, 진 means "true", 짜s origin is unknown. My theory is that it comes from 자(字), which means "letter/character". 

진짜로 is just more emphatic than 진짜. 

A : I saw God. 
B : 진짜? 
A : Yes. 
B : 진짜로? 
A : 뻥이에요. I'm lying.

Answer

The '-(으)로' makes the expression adverbial, like English '-ly' in 'truly' or 'really'.

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