Asking Directions in Korean: -다가, ㄷ-Irregular, and (으)로

Asking directions in Korean comes down to one move: tell someone to go straight, then switch direction. 쭉 가다가 오른쪽으로 가세요 = go straight, then turn right. The grammar behind it is -다가 (do X, then switch to Y), the ㄷ-irregular verbs you walk and listen with (걷다 → 걸어요), and (으)로 for “toward.” Master these three and you can both give a route and follow one anywhere in Korea.

In Lesson 4 you handled a shopping counter; now you’ll get yourself across the city. Korean directions stack short steps with -다가, so a long route is just “go straight a bit, then turn,” repeated.

Ten words for finding your way

A street in Korean runs on landmarks and turns. Learn these before you ask.

What does -다가 do in directions?

A route is rarely one straight shot — you go for a while, then you change. That “then change” is exactly what -다가 captures. Attach it to a verb stem: you’re doing the first action, and partway through you switch to the next.

Think of -다가 as the joint between two legs of a journey. It is not the same as -아서/-어서 (which links cause or a smooth sequence) — -다가 carries a small “and then something changes,” which is precisely how a person walks you through turn after turn.

The ㄷ-irregular: 걷다 → 걸어요

Two of your most useful direction verbs — 걷다 (walk) and 듣다 (listen, as in “I heard the place is near here”) — hide a twist. When a vowel ending follows, their final ㄷ turns into ㄹ.

There’s no spelling cue that tells you which is which, so just bank the three real irregulars — 걷다, 듣다, 묻다 — and treat every other ㄷ-verb as regular. A quick gut check: if you can swap in 받아요 (receive) and it sounds like your verb, it’s regular; the walking-listening-asking trio is the exception.

(으)로: the “toward” particle

To point someone in a direction, Korean doesn’t use 에 — it uses (으)로. 에 marks where you end up; (으)로 marks the heading you take.

So 학교에 가요 = I go to school (destination), but 오른쪽으로 가요 = I go toward the right (heading). The same (으)로 also marks means of transport — 버스로 가요 (go by bus) — which you’ll lean on heavily in the next lesson.

Asking the way, the Korean way

Watch all three tools work as a lost visitor finds the subway station:

See the pattern: 가다가 hands off from one leg to the next, 걸어서 quietly uses the ㄷ-irregular, and 오른쪽으로 / 왼쪽으로 set the heading each time. String these and you can route anyone through a Korean neighborhood — or follow when they route you.

FAQ

What does -다가 mean when giving directions? -다가 attaches to a verb stem and means you do one action, then switch to another mid-way: 쭉 가다가 오른쪽으로 가세요 = go straight, and then (partway) turn right. It is the glue between two steps of a route. Compare it with -아서/-어서, which links cause or smooth sequence; -다가 specifically signals an interruption or change of action, which is exactly how directions move from one leg to the next.

What is the ㄷ-irregular and which verbs follow it? Some verbs ending in ㄷ change that ㄷ to ㄹ when a vowel ending follows: 걷다 (walk) → 걸어요, 듣다 (listen) → 들어요, 묻다 (ask) → 물어요. But not all ㄷ verbs do this — 받다 (receive) → 받아요, 닫다 (close) → 닫아요, and 믿다 (believe) → 믿어요 stay regular. There is no spelling clue, so memorize the irregular set (걷다, 듣다, 묻다) and treat the rest as regular.

When do I use (으)로 instead of 에 for places? Use (으)로 for the direction you move toward or the route you take: 오른쪽으로 가세요 = go to the right, 이쪽으로 오세요 = come this way. Use 에 for a fixed destination or location: 학교에 가요 = I go to school. Rough rule: 에 marks the endpoint, (으)로 marks the heading. After a vowel or ㄹ use 로 (버스로, 이쪽으로); after other consonants use 으로 (오른쪽으로).

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Next: transport and travel time — 집에서부터 한 시간 걸려요. Previous: clothes shopping in Korean. Full path: curriculum hub.