(으)로
by, with, toward, as — means, direction, material
One particle covering several English prepositions. The form follows the usual consonant rule, with one exception that catches everybody: nouns ending in ㄹ.
Build it
Pick a noun
When to use it
The thread running through every use is the means by which. A tool: 젓가락으로 먹어요. A vehicle: 버스로 가요. A language: 한국어로 말해요. A material: 나무로 만들었어요.
It also gives direction, which is where it brushes against 에. 에 names the endpoint; (으)로 names the way you are heading. With 가다 both work, and the difference is small — but on signs and directions, (으)로 is what you see: 오른쪽으로 가세요.
Two more uses worth knowing early: choice, as in 저는 커피로 할게요 (I’ll have the coffee), and capacity, as in 선생님으로 일해요 (I work as a teacher).
How to attach it
| Noun type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ends in a vowel | 로 | 버스로 가요 |
| Ends in a consonant | 으로 | 젓가락으로 먹어요 |
| Ends in ㄹ | 로 — not 으로 | 지하철로 가요 |
| Material | — | 나무로 만들었어요 |
| Role, capacity | — | 선생님으로 일해요 |
| Choice | — | 커피로 할게요 |
In use
지하철로 삼십 분 걸려요.
It takes thirty minutes by subway.
한국어로 말해 주세요.
Please speak in Korean.
이쪽으로 오세요.
Come this way, please.
나무로 만든 의자예요.
It’s a chair made of wood.
감기로 학교를 쉬었어요.
I stayed home from school with a cold.
볼펜으로 쓰지 마세요.
Please don’t write in ballpoint pen.
Compared with
에
에 marks the destination as a fixed endpoint; (으)로 marks the direction of travel. For a plain “I’m going to school” use 에; for turning, heading, or pointing, use (으)로.
학교에 가요. (going to school) / 오른쪽으로 가세요. (go to the right)
와/과, 하고
English “with” splits here. A person you did it with takes 하고; a tool you used takes (으)로.
친구하고 만들었어요. (with a friend) / 손으로 만들었어요. (with my hands)
에서
에서 gives the place an action happens; (으)로 gives the instrument or route. A vehicle takes (으)로 when it is how you travel, and 에서 when something happens inside it.
버스로 왔어요. (came by bus) / 버스에서 잤어요. (slept on the bus)
Watch out
지하철으로 갔어요.
지하철로 갔어요.
Nouns ending in ㄹ take the short 로, breaking the usual consonant rule. The same goes for 서울로, 연필로, 술로.
버스에 왔어요.
버스로 왔어요.
A vehicle used as transport takes (으)로. 에 would make the bus a destination, which is not what you mean.
손에 먹지 마세요.
손으로 먹지 마세요.
A body part used as a tool takes (으)로. 손에 would mean “in the hand” as a location.
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