으로 vs 에Direction, means, and destination — which one, and when

에 is where you are going. (으)로 is which way you are heading — and what you are getting there with.

(으)로 Direction, means, role

Toward, by way of, using, and as. One particle covering all four.

에 Destination, location

The endpoint itself — where you arrive.

핵심The rule

With a verb of movement the two overlap enough that either is often grammatical, and the difference is one of focus. 에 names the endpoint: 학교에 가요 is going to school, and the school is where you end up. (으)로 names the direction: 학교로 가요 is heading schoolwards, and whether you get there is not the point of the sentence. That is why signs, directions and turns use (으)로 — 오른쪽으로 가세요 — and why a destination in a ticket booking uses 에.

Away from movement the overlap ends, and (으)로 takes on three jobs 에 has no claim to at all:

By means of — 버스로 왔어요, 카드로 계산할게요, 한국어로 말해요.
Made of — 나무로 만든 책상.
In the role of — 선생님으로 일해요.

The form is decided by 받침, with one irregularity worth learning immediately: 으로 after a consonant, 로 after a vowel — and also 로 after ㄹ. 지하철로, not 지하철으로.

어느 쪽?Which one, when

Meaning	Particle	Example
Arriving somewhere	에	부산에 도착했어요.
Heading in a direction	(으)로	이쪽으로 오세요.
Transport used	(으)로	버스로 30분 걸려요.
Language or tool used	(으)로	한국어로 써 주세요.
Material something is made of	(으)로	쌀로 만든 술이에요.
Role or capacity	(으)로	통역으로 일했어요.
Being somewhere / a time	에	일곱 시에 집에 있어요.

비교Same sentence, different particle

Both sentences below are correct. That is the point — these are not right-and-wrong pairs, they are two different things to say.

학교에 가요.

I'm going to school.

The school is the destination — that is where this trip ends.

학교로 가요.

I'm heading toward the school.

The direction is what matters. Natural when giving or following directions.

집에 왔어요.

I came home.

Arrival at a place.

지하철로 왔어요.

I came by subway.

Means, not place. Note 로 after ㄹ, never 으로.

자주 하는 실수Common mistakes

✗지하철으로 갔어요.

✓지하철로 갔어요.

ㄹ 받침 behaves like no 받침 for this particle. 서울로, 지하철로, 연필로 — all 로.

✗버스에 왔어요.

✓버스로 왔어요.

에 would make the bus the place you arrived at. The vehicle you travelled in is means, which is (으)로.

사전 예문In the dictionary's own examples

Straight from the 국립국어원 entries, so you can check the rule above against real usage.

(으)로full entry ›

승규는 일본으로 유학을 가기로 했다.

Seunggyu decided to go study abroad in Japan.

우리는 배를 타기 위해 부산으로 출발했다.

We set off for Busan to take a boat.

기다리던 편지가 도착했다는 소식에 나는 집으로 달려갔다.

Upon hearing that the letter I had been waiting for had arrived, I ran home.

에full entry ›

여기 의자에 앉으렴.

Sit here on the chair.

가게에 손님들이 많다.

There are many customers in the store.

상 위에 컵이 놓여 있다.

A cup is placed on the table.

자주 묻는 질문Common questions

What is the difference between 에 and 으로 for going somewhere?

에 marks the destination and 으로 marks the direction. 학교에 가요 says you are going to school; 학교로 가요 says you are heading that way. With most movement verbs both are grammatical, and 으로 is what directions and signs use.

Why is it 지하철로 and not 지하철으로?

Because a ㄹ 받침 counts as no 받침 for this particle. The rule is 으로 after a consonant, 로 after a vowel or after ㄹ — the same avoidance of ㄹ following ㄹ that shows up across Korean phonology.

How do you say 'in Korean' — 한국어로 or 한국어에?

한국어로. This is the instrumental sense: the language is the tool you are using. The same 으로 covers 카드로 (by card), 젓가락으로 (with chopsticks) and 이메일로 (by email).

Example sentences from the 국립국어원 한국어기초사전, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.