Grammar
N별로
Meaning
IntermediateN byeollo
The suffix -별 turns a noun into the axis a set of figures is sorted along, and 로 says the sorting is being done along it: 지역별로 'by region', 연령별로 'by age group', 사업 부문별로 'by business division'. A sentence carrying it is announcing that a total is about to be broken apart, so a breakdown normally follows straight after.
Form
Noun + 별 + 로, attached directly with no batchim distinction (지역별로, 학년별로). -별 also appears without 로 in front of another noun (지역별 편차 'regional variation', 항목별 예산 'the budget by item'). It needs a noun naming a category, not a counted amount — 'ten at a time' is 열 개씩, never 열 개별로.
Examples
나이별로 응답이 달랐습니다.
Responses differed by age.
나이별로 응답이 크게 달랐습니다.
Responses differed greatly by age.
Common mistakes & nuance
별로 is also a completely separate everyday adverb meaning 'not particularly', used with a negative predicate (별로 안 좋아요 'I don't like it much'). Tell the two apart by what sits in front: the suffix is glued to a noun (지역별로), while the adverb stands on its own inside the clause. Nothing links the two beyond the spelling.
Similar grammar
- 마다
마다 attaches to a noun to mean every single instance without exception (해마다 'every year'). N별로 does not count instances — it names the axis one total is split along, so 연도별로 presents the same years as a breakdown of a single figure rather than as a repetition.
- N 기준
Both turn up in the same statistics sentence. N 기준 fixes the reference point the figures are counted from or as of (8월 기준 'as of August'), while N별로 fixes the axis they are broken down along (지역별로 'by region').