Lesson 18
In today’s lesson, we will look at the grammatical structure -(으)ㄴ/는 대로. This is used when you want to describe how something is done in the same way as another action, or how it remains in the same state as the current. You can say things like, “Leave it as is”, “Did you do as I told you?”, or, “I wrote down what I heard” using this structure.
Conjugation
Past tense: Verb stem + -(으)ㄴ 대로
Present tense: Verb stem + -(느)ㄴ 대로
Ex)
보다 = to see
→ 본 대로 = the way you saw it; just the way you saw it; as you saw it
→ 보는 대로 = the way you see it; just the way you see it; as you see it
하다 = to do
→ 제가 한 대로 = the way I did it; just like I did it; as I did it
→ 제가 하는 대로 = the way I do it; just like I do it; as I do it
Let us take a look at some commonly used phrases containing -(으)ㄴ/는 대로
1. 아는 대로 = just the way one knows
Ex)
아는 대로 말해 주세요.
= Please tell me everything you know.
= Please tell me how you know of it (without changing anything).
아는 대로 쓰세요.
= Just write whatever you know.
= You do not have to add or change anything, just write what you know.
2. 말한 대로 = just the way one said
Ex)
제가 말한 대로 했어요?
= Did you do it the way I told you?
= Did you do as I said?
예지 씨가 말한 대로 했는데, 안 됐어요.
= We did as Yeji said, but it did not work.
= We did it just as Yeji told us to, but it did not go well.
3. 들은 대로 = just like one heard
Ex)
들은 대로 이야기해 주세요.
= Tell me what you heard.
= Tell me exactly as you heard it.
들은 대로 잘 전달했어요.
= I delivered the message well.
= I passed on what I heard accurately.
Other Usages and Forms of -(으)ㄴ/는 대로 or -대로
1. -는 대로 meaning “as soon as”
→ You can use -는 대로 after a verb stem to mean “as soon as”.
Ex)
도착하다 = to arrive
→ 도착하는 대로 전화해 주세요. = Call me as soon as you arrive.
* You can use what we learned in previous lessons as well, such as, “도착하자마자 전화해 주세요.” or, “도착하면 바로 전화해 주세요.”
2. Verb stem + -던 대로
→ You can use -던 대로 instead of -(으)ㄴ 대로 to talk about a past action or state that was not finished or was repeated.
Ex)
하다 = to do, 평소 = usual times, 평소에 = usually
→ 평소에 하던 대로 하세요. = Just do as you usually do. / Just do it in the way you have
always done it.
* You can also say 평소에 하는 대로, but by using 하던 대로, you are showing it was a habit.
3. 이대로, 그대로, and 저대로
→ Combined with 이, 그, and 저, you can say “just like this” or “just like that” with 이대로, 그대로, and 저대로. The meanings are affected by the original meanings of the words 이, 그, and 저.
이대로 = just the way it is now; keeping the current state
저대로 = just like that is over there now; keeping the current state of that thing/person over there
그대로 = just the way it is (In this case, whatever you are referring to is closer to the listener, far away from you.)
4. Noun + -대로
→ When you add -대로 after a noun, it means “following + Noun” or “just like how something goes”. Please note that there should be no space between the noun and -대로.
Ex)
제 말대로 = like I said; following what I said
▷ 제 = my (polite)
▷ 말 = words, saying, what one says
예언대로 = just as the prophecy said; just like the prediction said
▷ 예언 = prophecy, prediction