Grammar
-(으)로
Meaning
Beginner-(eu)ro
-(으)로 is a versatile particle attached to nouns. Its core meanings are: (1) the means or tool used to do something ('with/using ~'), (2) the material something is made of or used from ('out of ~'), (3) the direction or destination of movement ('toward ~'), (4) a role, capacity, or resulting state ('as ~' or 'into ~'), and (5) the cause of something, on its own and with no extra word — 폭우로 늦었습니다 is 'I was late because of the heavy rain'. The exact meaning depends on context and the verb it's paired with.
Form
Attach 로 after a noun ending in a vowel or in ㄹ, and 으로 after a noun ending in any other consonant: 버스로 (by bus), 지하철로 (by subway — ㄹ-final counts as the '로' case), 손으로 (with the hand).
Examples
곡식과 과일로 차례를 지냅니다.
We hold the ancestral rite with grains and fruit.
저는 버스로 학교에 다녀요.
I commute to school by bus.
다음 신호에서 왼쪽으로 도세요.
Turn left at the next light.
그는 요리사로 일하고 있어요.
He is working as a chef.
Common mistakes & nuance
The choice between 로 and 으로 depends only on the sound of the noun's last syllable (vowel/ㄹ vs. other consonant), not on its meaning — this trips up beginners more than the meaning of the particle itself does.
Similar grammar
- -(으)로 알려져 있다
-(으)로 알려져 있다 builds directly on the 'as/role' meaning of -(으)로 shown here (e.g. 의사로 알려져 있다 = 'known as a doctor'). Combined with 알려지다 ('to be known'), it becomes a fixed expression specifically about reputation, rather than a general preposition + verb combination.