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Grammar / Level 3 / Lesson 91

(으)로서 and (으)로써: as, and by means of

By Daniel Buckley · 10 minute read · TOPIK 4

Vocabulary

  1. 의사 - doctor
  2. 작가 - writer
  3. 책임 - responsibility
  4. 사과하다 - to apologise
  5. 대화 - conversation, dialogue
  6. 해결하다 - to solve
  7. 노력 - effort
  8. 설득하다 - to persuade
  9. 오해 - misunderstanding
  10. 지키다 - to keep, protect

의사로 일해요 says what you are. 칼로 잘라요 says what you use. Both run on the (으)로 from Place and time, and in conversation that one particle copes with both jobs.

Formal Korean likes to keep the two apart, so it adds a single syllable. (으)로서 marks the role you're acting in, and (으)로써 marks the means you're using. They differ by one consonant.

(으)로서: in the role of

(으)로서 goes on a noun and names the role or position you're speaking from. English says "as". The rest of the sentence is usually about what comes with that position: what a parent feels, what a company head owes the public.

Adding (으)로서

  • After a vowel or ㄹ: 로서, the same split as (으)로.친구 → 친구로서딸 → 딸로서
  • After any other consonant: 으로서.학생 → 학생으로서사람 → 사람으로서

  1. 부모로서 아이에게 미안해요.

    As a parent, I feel bad for my child.

  2. 회사 대표로서 사과드립니다.

    As head of the company, I apologise.

  3. 외국인으로서 한국에 사는 건 쉽지 않아요.

    Living in Korea as a foreigner isn't easy.

  4. 친구로서 하는 말인데, 그 사람은 조심하는 게 좋겠어요.

    I'm saying this as a friend: you'd better be careful around him.

  5. 그분은 의사로서도 유명하고 작가로서도 유명해요.

    She's famous both as a doctor and as a writer.

Example 4 is the one you're most likely to say out loud. Elsewhere (으)로서 leans formal, and it suits a speech or a public apology. In everyday talk plain (으)로 usually does the job, so 의사로 일해요 is far more likely than 의사로서 일해요.

저로서는 and 교사로서의

(으)로서 can take another particle. With 는 it means "from this person's position". 저로서는 is a polite way to mark the limit of what you can do or say.

With 의 it sits in front of a noun, and you'll see that a lot in writing.

  1. 저로서는 더 이상 할 수 있는 일이 없어요.

    There's nothing more I can do from my side.

  2. 그 사람으로서는 최선을 다한 거예요.

    For him, that was his best.

  3. 부모로서의 책임을 잊으면 안 돼요.

    You mustn't forget your responsibility as a parent.

  4. 교사로서의 경험을 책으로 썼어요.

    She wrote a book about her experience as a teacher.

(으)로써: by means of

(으)로써 names what you use to get a result. It's the means from (으)로 with more weight on it, and it mostly goes with abstract things like talk, effort and persistence. With a concrete tool such as chopsticks or a bus, people usually just say (으)로.

Adding (으)로써

  • After a vowel or ㄹ: 로써.대화 → 대화로써말 → 말로써
  • After any other consonant: 으로써.노력 → 노력으로써

  1. 대화로써 문제를 해결했습니다.

    We solved the problem through dialogue.

  2. 그는 말로써 사람들을 설득했습니다.

    He won people over with words.

  3. 오랜 노력으로써 꿈을 이루었습니다.

    She achieved her dream through years of effort.

  4. 이로써 오늘 회의를 마치겠습니다.

    With that, I'll close today's meeting.

이로써 in example 4 is a set phrase: 이, this, is the means. You'll hear it at the end of meetings and ceremonies.

※ Dictionaries list one more job: marking the point a count has reached. 올해로써 십 년이 됐습니다 means "as of this year it's been ten years". Plain 올해로 says the same thing and is more common.

ㅁ/음으로써: by doing something

(으)로써 goes on nouns, so a verb has to become a noun first. ㅁ/음 does that, and 운동하다 becomes 운동함. Add 으로써 and you have "by exercising". You'll meet this a lot in essays and formal speech.

Making ㅁ/음으로써

  • Stem ends in a vowel: ㅁ으로써.운동하다 → 운동함으로써배우다 → 배움으로써
  • Stem ends in a consonant: 음으로써.읽다 → 읽음으로써듣다 → 들음으로써
  • Stem ends in ㄹ: the ㅁ joins the ㄹ.만들다 → 만듦으로써

  1. 매일 운동함으로써 건강을 지킬 수 있습니다.

    You can stay healthy by exercising every day.

  2. 책을 많이 읽음으로써 생각을 넓힐 수 있습니다.

    You can broaden your thinking by reading widely.

  3. 서로 대화함으로써 오해를 풀 수 있었습니다.

    We cleared up the misunderstanding by talking to each other.

Keep this apart from (으)므로, which gives a reason. (으)므로 sounds the same as ㅁ/음으로, which is how the two get confused.

  1. 그는 매일 운동하므로 건강합니다.

    He's healthy because he exercises every day.

  2. 그는 매일 운동함으로써 건강을 지킵니다.

    He stays healthy by exercising every day.

서 or 써?

Here's the trick I'd use. 써 is also the 아/어 form of 쓰다, to use, so 로써 is the one with something you use. For 서, think of 서다, to stand, because 의사로서 is where you stand. Treat that as a memory aid, not as where the words come from.

  1. 교사___ 학생들에게 미안해요.

    As a teacher, I feel bad for my students.

  2. 대화___ 문제를 해결합시다.

    Let's solve this through dialogue.

  3. 저는 학생___ 이 글을 씁니다.

    I'm writing this as a student.

  4. 꾸준히 ___ 실력이 좋아졌습니다.

    My skills improved through steady practice.

  5. 이___ 오늘 수업을 마치겠습니다.

    With that, I'll finish today's class.

In speech (으)로 does both jobs, so you read the job from the sentence. Which one is each of these doing?

  1. 그분은 가수로 유명해요.

  2. 사진으로 보여 주세요.

  3. 저는 이 회사에서 디자이너로 일해요.

  4. 왜 말로 설명하지 않았어요?

  5. 우리 그냥 친구로 지내요.

  6. 한국어로 써 주세요.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

In a conversation

A

요즘 팀장 일이 너무 힘들어요. 그만둘까 해요.

These days team leader work too hard. Thinking of quitting.

B

친구로서 하는 말인데, 조금 더 생각해 보세요.

Friend as saying words, a little more think.

A

저로서는 할 만큼 했어요.

Me from the position of did as much as could do.

B

그래도 팀장으로서의 책임이 있잖아요.

Still, team leader as responsibility exists, you know.

A

그건 그래요. 사장님하고 대화로 풀어 볼게요.

That is so. With boss by conversation will try untangling.

Look at the last line. It's 대화로, with no 써, because most people wouldn't add it in a chat like this.

Common mistakes

  1. 학생으로써 열심히 공부해야 해요.

    학생으로서 열심히 공부해야 해요.

    Student is a role, so it takes 서. This is the slip Koreans make too.

  2. 매일 운동하므로써 건강을 지켜요.

    매일 운동함으로써 건강을 지켜요.

    (으)로써 needs a noun in front of it, and 운동함 is one. 므로 is an ending and takes no 써.

  3. 딸으로서 부모님을 도와드려요.

    딸로서 부모님을 도와드려요.

    As with (으)로, a noun ending in ㄹ takes 로.

One sentence in each group is wrong. Tap it.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

___ 아이에게 미안해요. (부모, use (으)로서) As a parent, I feel bad for my child.

부모 ends in a vowel.

Summary

서 and 써

  • (으)로서: the role or position you act from. English "as".부모로서저로서는교사로서의 책임
  • (으)로써: the means you use. English "by", "with", "through".대화로써이로써
  • ㅁ/음으로써: by doing something.운동함으로써읽음으로써
  • (으)로: does both jobs, and it's what people usually say in conversation.

Now you can say

  1. 친구로서 하는 말인데, 조금 더 생각해 보세요.

    I'm saying this as a friend: give it a bit more thought.

  2. 저로서는 더 이상 할 수 있는 일이 없어요.

    There's nothing more I can do from my side.

  3. 대화로써 문제를 해결합시다.

    Let's solve this through dialogue.

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