LEARN KOREAN (한국어) [GRAMMAR] #1

KOREAN PARTICLE ~(으)로

The Korean particle ~(으)로 can be added to nouns with a few different meanings. One of the main meanings is to indicate with what tool/device/method/material something is carried out. The English equivalent varies depending on the usage:

Write with a pen
Go to the store by car
Go to school on foot
Make a house out of wood

This meaning of ~(으)로 can be used in so many situations it would be impossible to list them all. As you get comfortable with the basic examples of this usage, you will slowly be able to grasp when it should be used in all situations.

~로 is added to words ending in a vowel, whereas ~으로 is added to words ending in a consonant. ~로 is also added to words ending in ㄹ. The only reason for this difference is for ease of pronunciation. If you say "것로" there is a split second where your tongue cannot go directly from 것 to ~로 – so it is changed to 것으로.

나는 우리 집을 나무로 지었어 - I built our house out of wood
배로 제주에 갈 거야 - I will go to Je-ju by boat
저는 그것을 손으로 만들었어요 - I built that with my hands

In this same respect, ~(으)로 can be used to indicate the language which something is spoken. Here, just like in some of the examples above, the language acts as the "tool" in which something was communicated. For example:

저는 그 문장을 한국어로 말했어요 - I said that sentence (using) in Korean
저는 그것을 영어로 할 거예요 - I will say that (using) in English

It is also used to indicate what you ate for a specific meal:

저는 아침식사로 밥을 먹었어요 - I ate rice for breakfast
저는 보통 점심식사로 과일만 먹었어요 - I usually only ate fruit for lunch

If somebody does an action in line with a bunch of other people, you can use ~(으)로 to indicate the order something is done by attaching it to a number + 번째. For example:

저는 그것을 두 번째로 했어요 - I did that second (I was the second person to do that)
저는 학교에 두 번째로 왔어요 - I came to school second (I was the second person to come to school)
저는 그것을 첫 번째로 할 거예요 - I will go (do it) first

The other main meaning of ~(으)로 is to indicate the direction that something is happening in. This sometimes has the same meaning as "에."For example:

저는 집으로 갈 거예요 - I will go in the direction of home (simply 'I will go home'), which would be the same as:
저는 집에 갈 거예요 - I will go home

~(으)로 is often added after ~쪽 to make "~쪽으로". ~쪽 can be added after some nouns and some direction words (above/below/East/West/etc) to mean "the direction of ___."

그쪽 - that way/direction
위쪽 - upper direction
사람 쪽 - the direction of the people, etc..

To make sentences like:

저의 친구는 저 쪽으로 갔어요 - My friend went that way
학생들은 교실 쪽으로 걸어요 - Students walk towards/in the direction of their class

Notice the difference between these two:

저는 집 안 쪽으로 달렸어요 - I ran inside the house
저는 집 안에서 달렸어요 - I ran inside the house

In the first example, you are running into the house/in the direction of 'inside the house.' In the second example, you are running inside the house.