Korean -(으)러 vs -(으)려고: Two Ways to Say "In Order To"
-(으)러 needs a movement verb like 가다 or 오다; -(으)려고 doesn't, but it can't say "let's go." Three common traps and fixes. Practice at kdiaryai.com.
English "to" covers a lot of ground: "I went to the store to buy milk" and "I started saving money to buy a bike" both use the same little word. Korean splits that job into two different endings, and which one fits depends on something English never marks at all — whether the verb closing the sentence is a verb of movement.
-(으)러: only pairs with 가다, 오다, 다니다
| Verb | + -(으)러 | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 사다 (buy) | 사러 | 우유를 사러 편의점에 갔어요. — I went to the convenience store to buy milk. |
| 먹다 (eat) | 먹으러 | 점심을 먹으러 식당에 왔어요. — I came to the restaurant to eat lunch. |
| 만나다 (meet) | 만나러 | 친구를 만나러 강남에 가요. — I'm going to Gangnam to meet a friend. |
| 배우다 (learn) | 배우러 | 한국어를 배우러 학원에 다녀요. — I go to a language school to learn Korean. |
으 shows up after a consonant-final stem (먹다 → 먹으러) and disappears after a vowel-final one (사다 → 사러, no 으 needed). ㄹ-final stems drop the 으 too — 만들다 (make) → 만들러, not 만들으러.
The rule that doesn't bend: the sentence has to close on a verb of movement — 가다, 오다, 다니다, or one of their compounds like 나가다, 들어오다, 올라가다, 돌아가다. -(으)러 doesn't attach to adjectives, and it never carries its own tense marker (always 사러, never 샀으러).
-(으)려고: almost any verb can follow
-(으)려고 also translates as "in order to" or "intending to," but it drops the movement requirement — the verb after it doesn't have to be about going anywhere.
- 살을 빼려고 운동을 시작했어요. — I started exercising in order to lose weight.
- 늦잠을 자지 않으려고 알람을 두 개 맞췄어요. — I set two alarms so I wouldn't oversleep.
- 취업하려고 자격증을 땄어요. — I got a certificate in order to find a job.
None of these end in 가다, 오다, or 다니다 — 시작하다 (start), 맞추다 (set), 따다 (earn) aren't movement verbs, so -(으)러 has nowhere to attach. Like -(으)러, -(으)려고 also sits on the bare stem with no tense of its own (사려고, never 샀으려고).
-(으)려고 can sit before 가다 and 오다 too — 우유를 사려고 편의점에 갔어요 is correct. It just sounds a little more like "I went, intending to buy milk," while 사러 갔어요 is the everyday way to say why you went somewhere.
Side by side
| -(으)러 | -(으)려고 | |
|---|---|---|
| Attaches to | verb stem | verb stem |
| Verb after it | movement verbs only (가다/오다/다니다…) | movement verbs and everything else |
| Carries its own tense | never | never |
| Before "let's…" / "please…" (-자, -(으)ㅂ시다, -(으)세요) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Feel | "go/come to [do]" | "with the intention of [doing], ..." |
The trap: -(으)러 outside of a movement verb
Because both translate as "to," it's tempting to keep using -(으)러 once the sentence stops being about literally going somewhere:
돈을 모으러 아르바이트를 시작했어요. ✗ 돈을 모으려고 아르바이트를 시작했어요. ✓ — I started a part-time job in order to save money.
시작하다 isn't a verb of movement, so -(으)러 has nothing to attach to. The moment the final verb stops being 가다/오다/다니다, -(으)려고 is the only one that fits.
The trap: -(으)려고 needs the same subject
-(으)려고 also requires the same subject in both clauses — whoever is intending has to be the one doing the main-clause action:
아이가 자려고 엄마가 불을 껐어요. ✗ 아이가 자도록 엄마가 불을 껐어요. ✓ — The mom turned off the light so the child could sleep.
The child is the one sleeping; the mom is the one turning off the light. Two different subjects, so -도록 — an ending that can mean "so that [someone else] can" — does the job that -(으)려고 can't.
The trap: -(으)려고 in a suggestion or request
-(으)려고 describes an intention you already have, so it doesn't combine with "let's…" or "please…" endings. -(으)러 does:
점심 먹으려고 가자. ✗ 점심 먹으러 가자. ✓ — Let's go eat lunch.
If you're inviting someone or asking them to go somewhere for a purpose, -(으)러 is the only choice.
Try it in tonight's entry
Write one sentence about somewhere you went to do something, and one about something you started or changed for a separate goal:
- 책을 빌리러 도서관에 갔어요.
- 시험을 잘 보려고 요즘 매일 공부해요.
If the sentence ends in 가다, 오다, or 다니다 and the whole point is why you went there, reach for -(으)러. If the closing verb is anything else, -(으)려고 is the one doing the work.