Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 7 - Upper-Intermediate Korean #2 (Lessons 181 to 210) ᚛ Lesson 197 - The means in Korean [-(으)ㅁ으로써] [(으)로써] [을/를 통해서]

The means in Korean [-(으)ㅁ으로써] [(으)로써] [을/를 통해서]

In this course: ㅁ으로써 / 음으로써 / 으로써 / 로써 / 을 통해서 / 를 통해서 / 통해 / 통한

You already know how to express the means with the particle (으)로: 버스로, "by bus", 한국어로, "in Korean". This lesson presents three more elaborate constructions, typical of writing and careful speech, to say "by doing…", "by means of…", "through…": -(으)ㅁ으로써 after a verb, (으)로써 after a noun, and 을/를 통해(서), "through, via".

By doing with -(으)ㅁ으로써

To indicate the means by which a result is obtained, we can nominalize the verb with the -(으)ㅁ nominalization and attach (으)로써 to it:
[Means: … Stem](으)ㅁ으로써 [Result]

-ㅁ after a vowel or ㄹ, -음 after a consonant. The second part very often describes what this means made possible: -(으)ㄹ 수 있었다, -게 되다, -아/어지다. This form belongs to the written and formal register; it is found in articles, reports and speeches. In everyday speech, -아/어서 or -(으)면서 are preferred.

현민이는 신문 배달을 함으로써 학비를 벌 수 있었다.
→ By delivering newspapers, Hyunmin was able to pay his tuition.

마크는 한국어 말하기 연습을 많이 해 봄으로써 자연스럽게 말하는 것이 가능해졌다.
→ By practicing speaking Korean a lot, Mark became able to speak naturally.

힘든 시간 가족들이 있음으로써 어려운 상황을 잘 극복할 수 있었어요.
→ Thanks to having my family there in hard times, I was able to get through that difficult situation.

기업은 온라인으로 소통 창구를 마련함으로써 사원들간의 원활한 소통을 가능하게 해 줬어요.
→ By setting up an online channel for exchanges, the company made smooth communication between its employees possible.

매달 꾸준히 책을 읽음으로써 새로운 분야의 지식도 쌓고 다양한 아이디어를 얻을 수 있었습니다.
→ By reading regularly every month, I was able to build up knowledge in new fields and come up with a variety of ideas.

현민이는 근력 운동을 꾸준히 함으로써 두 달만에 10키로를 감량할 수 있었다.
→ By doing strength training consistently, Hyunmin was able to lose ten kilos in two months.

한 번도 입지 않은 옷들을 바자회에 기부함으로써 불우이웃을 위한 성금에 조금이나마 도움을 줄 수 있었다.
→ By donating never-worn clothes to the charity bazaar, we were able to contribute a little to the fund for the less fortunate.

혜지는 토론 모임에 꾸준히 참여함으로써 좋은 사람들을 알게 되고 성격도 많이 밝아졌어요.
→ By taking part in a debate club regularly, Hyeji met good people and her personality became much brighter.

With a verb ending in ㄹ, the ㄹ stays before -ㅁ: 살다 → 삶으로써, 만들다 → 만듦으로써. With an irregular ㅅ verb such as 짓다, "to build, to conclude", we get 지음으로써.

By means of with [Noun](으)로써

Through, via with 을/를 통해(서)

Exercises

Traveling to South Korea can be an unforgettable experience. But when you don’t speak Korean, everything gets more complicated: ordering in a restaurant or café becomes stressful, you can’t understand signs or directions, asking for help in case of trouble is nearly impossible, and most importantly, you miss out on the very essence of a successful trip to Korea: connecting with the locals.

Since English - Korean machine translators can’t always be trusted (the two languages work in completely different ways), it’s essential to prepare yourself in advance to fully enjoy your trip to South Korea!

Learn more

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