Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 9 - Advanced Korean #2 (Lessons 241 to 270) ᚛ Lesson 241 - Formal provenance in Korean [(으)로부터]

Formal provenance in Korean [(으)로부터]

In this course: 로부터 / 으로부터 / provenance

In the lesson on the particles 한테서 and 에게서, we saw how to say who an action comes from: "from", "on the part of". The particle (으)로부터 expresses the same provenance, "from", "on the part of", "starting from", but in a more formal register, and with one major difference: it is also used when the source is not a person (a company, an institution, a date, a danger). It is the particle of contracts, official notices, newspapers and written narratives.

The source of an action with [Noun](으)로부터

[Noun]로부터 after a vowel or ㄹ, [Noun]으로부터 after a consonant

The particle comes directly after the noun that names the origin of the action: the person or body that gives, sends, lends, calls, watches. The verb of the sentence is generally a verb of receiving or transfer: 받다, "to receive", 연락이 오다, "to get a call", 빌리다, "to borrow", 듣다, "to hear", 배우다, "to learn".

민지는 남자친구로부터 그동안 갖고 싶었던 가방을 선물 받고는 기뻐서 어쩔 줄 몰라 했다.
→ When her boyfriend gave her the bag she had wanted for so long, Minji was so happy she didn’t know what to do with herself.

재현 씨, 오늘 은행 대출 상담사로부터 연락이 왔는데 혹시 사기는 아니겠죠?
→ Jaehyun, I got a call today from a bank loan advisor; it wouldn’t be a scam, would it?

교도소에 수감된 범죄자들은 교도관으로부터 24시간 감시를 받는다고 합니다.
→ They say that criminals held in prison are watched by the guards 24 hours a day.

민지는 얼마 전 유치원생 조카로부터 손수 쓴 생일 축하 편지를 받고 감동했다.
→ Not long ago, Minji was moved to receive a handwritten birthday letter from her nephew, who is still in kindergarten.

전쟁터에 있는 남편으로부터 온 편지에는 '곧 돌아가겠다'는 말과 함께 결혼반지가 들어 있었다.
→ In the letter that came from her husband at the front, there was his wedding ring, along with the words "I’ll be back soon".

Differences between (으)로부터 and 한테 / 에게

The starting point in time: [Date]로부터

Protecting from, breaking free from with (으)로부터

Exercises

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