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Grammar Intermediate TOPIK II · Level 3–4 Sejong Korean 3A & 3B · Unit 1

(으)로부터

(으)로부터: From a Source or Origin

From — marks the starting point or origin of an action, often for sources in careful or written Korean.

Before this, make sure you know: 부터 , 에게서, 한테서 , (으)로 , -아요 / -어요

How to form it

When Form Example
Noun ends in a consonant (not ㄹ) N + 으로부터 책 → 책으로부터 / 경험 → 경험으로부터
Noun ends in a vowel or ㄹ (classroom allomorph) N + 로부터 친구 → 친구로부터 / 서울 → 서울로부터
Dictionary composition note 으로 + 부터 출발점·비롯되는 대상 (우리말샘)

(으)로부터 marks where something starts or stems from — a source or origin.

우리말샘 describes 으로부터 as the combination of the particle 으로 and the particle 부터: the starting point of an action, or what something originates from.

Forms

Noun ends withShapeExample
Consonant (not ㄹ)으로부터책으로부터, 경험으로부터
Vowel or ㄹ로부터이야기로부터, 마을로부터
이 정보는 보고서로부터 왔어요.
실수는 부주의로부터 생겨요.
전통은 일상으로부터 이어져요.

Classroom Korean teaches the 로부터 allomorph after vowel and ㄹ-final nouns beside dictionary 으로부터.

Not time 부터

MarkerTypical job
부터 부터from a starting point — especially time (3시부터)
(으)로부터from a source / origin
9시부터 시작해요.           from 9 (time)
문제의 원인으로부터…        from the cause (origin)

*9시으로부터 is not how you open a workday span. Keep clock talk on 부터.

Not plain (으)로

(으)로 answers by what means / toward where / as what. (으)로부터 answers from what source or origin.

Example
Means지하철로 가요
Source뉴스로부터 들었어요

Same 으로 building block; different particle job once 부터 is stacked on.

Register tip (hedged)

Spoken Korean often uses 에게서, 한테서 for from a person: 친구한테서 편지를 받았어요.

(으)로부터 shows up more in careful speech and writing when the source is abstract, textual, or institutional — reports, traditions, causes. That is a classroom register note. It is not a claim that the dictionary equates (으)로부터 with 에게서/한테서.

친구한테서 들었어요.          everyday, from a person
자료로부터 확인했어요.        source-as-origin, more careful

Quick check

  • Clock or span start? → 부터
  • From a person, casual? → 한테서 / 에게서
  • Source / origin, careful? → (으)로부터

Do not confuse it with

에게서, 한테서

from a person — the receiving end of 에게 / 한테

부터

from — a starting point in time

(으)로

by, toward, as — one particle doing three jobs

Taught alongside this

In the Sejong course this appears in 약속 시간에 늦으면 안 돼요 — Sejong Korean 3A & 3B, Unit 1, on the theme of 모임. These come with it:

-으려면 if you intend to — a condition about your own plan -으면 되다/안 되다 it's fine if / you must not — permission and prohibition as a pair

Words used above

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으로부터eurobuteofrom (source/origin) — after consonant noun
로부터robuteofrom (source/origin) — after vowel or ㄹ noun
출처chulcheosource (of information)
비롯되다birotdoedato originate / to stem from

Quick check

No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.

1. What does 으로부터 mainly mark in classroom Korean?

2. 책으로부터 — why 으로부터?

3. How does this differ from 부터 alone?

Common questions

Is (으)로부터 the same as 에게서 in the dictionary?

No. Do not treat them as dictionary synonyms. 우리말샘 defines 으로부터 via 으로 + 부터 (starting point / what something stems from). [[g:egeseo-hanteseo]] is the person-source pair. Teachers sometimes note that careful writing prefers (으)로부터 for abstract or textual sources — that is a register tip, not a dictionary equation.

으로 vs 으로부터?

[[g:euro]] (으)로 covers means, direction, and more. (으)로부터 specifically flags origin/source. 버스로 가요 ≠ 버스로부터 들었어요.

When should I prefer 한테서?

Everyday speech about hearing or receiving from a person: 친구한테서 들었어요. Save (으)로부터 for sources, origins, and more careful or written lines.

Can it mark time like 3시부터?

Time spans almost always want plain [[g:buteo]]. Reach for (으)로부터 when the noun is a source or origin, not a clock.