By bus, with chopsticks, in Korean: (으)로

How you get there: vehicle + 로

학교에 버스로 가요 — I go to school by bus. 지하철로 회사에 가요 — I go to work by subway. 지하철 is the subway.

The destination still has 에. The new piece is on the vehicle: 버스로, 지하철로. It answers “how?” rather than “where to?”. The two phrases can come in either order, because each carries its own particle; the verb stays last.

지하철로 is said with one long l sound.

The tool you use: 로 or 으로

젓가락 chopsticks: 젓가락으로 먹어요 — I eat with chopsticks. 손 hand: 빵은 손으로 먹어요 — bread, you eat with your hands.

It is the same particle, and it means “by means of”: a vehicle, a tool. It has two shapes. After a vowel, 로: 버스로. After a final consonant, 으로: 손으로, 젓가락으로. One exception matters: after the final consonant ㄹ it is 로 again, which is why you saw 지하철로.

젓가락 is pronounced [젇까락].

More ways to travel

택시 taxi, 기차 train, 비행기 plane, 자전거 bicycle.

All four end in a vowel, so all four take 로: 택시로, 기차로, 비행기로, 자전거로. The particle is the same in every tense: 비행기로 일본에 갈 거예요 — I’m going to fly to Japan, literally “go to Japan by plane”.

택시 is pronounced [택씨].

A language is a means too

한국말로 이야기해요 — we talk in Korean. 영어로 이야기해요 — we talk in English.

English switches preposition: by bus, with chopsticks, in Korean. Korean sees one idea, the means by which something is done, and uses one particle for all three. Check the shape each time: 영어 ends in a vowel, so 로. 한국말 ends in ㄹ, so 로 as well, not 으로.

Riding is different: 버스를 타요

타요 means ride, take or get on, dictionary form 타다. The vehicle is its object: 버스를 타요, 자전거를 타요. So “I take the bus” has 를, while “I go by bus” has 로. The particle follows the verb.

내려요 is “get off”: 역에서 내려요 — I get off at the station. And for walking there is one fixed word, 걸어서, “on foot”. It takes no particle at all: 학교에 걸어서 가요.

Second job: toward a place

어디로 가요? — which way are you going? 집으로 가요 — I’m heading home.

After a place, with a verb of movement, the same particle gives the direction: toward. 집에 가요 names where you will end up; 집으로 가요 names which way you are heading. In everyday use the two overlap a great deal. The shape rule is unchanged: 어디 ends in a vowel, 집 in ㅂ.