-을/를 뒤로하고
leaving it behind
Departure with something left at your back. It works for places and for feelings alike, and it always carries a note of reluctance.
Build it
Pick what is left behind
When to use it
The particle follows the usual rule: consonant-final nouns take 을, vowel-final ones 를. 뒤로하다 is written as one word.
Two kinds of noun work. Places you are physically leaving: 고향, 학교, 무대. And feelings you are setting aside to move on: 아쉬움, 미련, 슬픔.
The second use is the more distinctive: 아쉬움을 뒤로하고 발길을 돌렸다 — leaving the regret behind, she turned away.
The tone is reluctant. You are leaving something you would rather not, which is why it belongs to narrative and elegiac writing.
How to attach it
| Situation | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ends in a consonant | 을 뒤로하고 | 고향을 뒤로하고 |
| Ends in a vowel | 를 뒤로하고 | 무대를 뒤로하고 |
| A place | physical departure | 고향, 학교, 무대 |
| A feeling | setting it aside | 아쉬움, 미련, 슬픔 |
| Before a noun | -을/를 뒤로한 | 고향을 뒤로한 발걸음 |
| Spelling | 뒤로하다 is one word | not 뒤로 하고 |
In use
그는 고향을 뒤로하고 서울로 떠났다.
He left his home town behind and set out for Seoul.
아쉬움을 뒤로하고 발길을 돌렸습니다.
Setting her regret aside, she turned away.
오랜 무대를 뒤로하고 은퇴를 선언했다.
He announced his retirement, leaving a long career on stage behind.
미련을 뒤로한 채 문을 닫았다.
Leaving his lingering attachment behind, he closed the door.
손수 만들던 공방을 뒤로하고 도시로 나왔다.
He left behind the workshop where he had made things by hand and came to the city.
환호를 뒤로하고 선수들이 경기장을 빠져나갔다.
To the cheers behind them, the players left the field.
Compared with
-을/를 떠나
떠나 simply reports leaving; 뒤로하고 puts what you left at your back and adds the reluctance.
고향을 떠났다. (he left home) / 고향을 뒤로하고 떠났다. (he left it behind him)
-을/를 무릅쓰고
Same shape, opposite direction. 무릅쓰고 faces a hardship head-on; 뒤로하고 turns away from something and goes.
위험을 무릅쓰고 뛰어들었다. (faced it) / 아쉬움을 뒤로하고 떠났다. (left it behind)
-을/를 비롯하여
Worth grouping: 비롯하여, 위시하여, 겸하여, 무릅쓰고, 뒤로하고 all attach to a noun with 을/를 and shape the sentence around it.
서울을 비롯한 대도시 / 고향을 뒤로한 발걸음
Watch out
고향을 뒤로 하고 떠났다.
고향을 뒤로하고 떠났다.
뒤로하다 is a single word and is written joined.
기쁨을 뒤로하고 축하를 받았다.
아쉬움을 뒤로하고 자리를 떠났다.
The construction is reluctant: what you leave behind is a place or a feeling you would rather keep. Joy being left behind makes no sense here.
고향을 뒤로하고 발걸음이었다.
고향을 뒤로한 발걸음이었다.
Modifying a following noun requires 뒤로한.
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