Location & Direction
Ask for and describe simple locations and directions.
Asking for and giving directions in Korea is a high-value early skill because Korean addresses follow a different logic than Western addresses. You will rarely give a Korean address as a street name and number — instead, Koreans navigate by landmark and area. The key vocabulary covers basic directions (왼쪽 left, 오른쪽 right, 앞 front, 뒤 back, 위 up, 아래 down) and key locations (지하철역 subway station, 편의점 convenience store, 은행 bank, 카페 café).
The particle system is essential here: 에 marks destination ('가다 + 에서 + 학교 + 에 + 가요' is wrong; '학교에 가요' is correct, meaning 'I'm going to school'). 에서 marks the location of an action ('학교에서 공부해요' = 'I study at school'). The distinction between 에 and 에서 is one of the most common particle errors at this level — 에 for being or going to a place, 에서 for doing an action at a place. Practice the contrast deliberately because it carries through every later lesson.
에/에서 (Location)
Use 에 to show existence/location. Use 에서 to show action location.
으로/로 (Direction)
Use 으로/로 after nouns to indicate direction or movement.
How It Works
에 and 에서 both mark location but answer different questions, and the distinction is about whether anything is happening there. 에 marks static location or a destination — where something exists or where you are going. 에서 marks the place an action occurs, or a starting point.
So 카페에 가요 means 'I go to the café' (destination) while 카페에서 공부해요 means 'I study at the café' (site of the activity). 거기에 책이 있어요 uses 에 because existence is not an action. If you can identify a verb of activity, you generally want 에서; with 있다/없다 and verbs of movement towards, you want 에.
으로/로 marks direction, and the choice between the two forms is the familiar phonetic one: 로 follows a vowel or the consonant ㄹ, 으로 follows other consonants. 오른쪽으로, 앞으로, 학교로. It means 'towards' or 'by way of', which is why it also shows up for means of transport later on.
The demonstratives 여기, 거기, 저기 form a three-way system rather than the two-way here/there of English. 여기 is near the speaker, 거기 is near the listener or already mentioned, 저기 is away from both. Japanese speakers will recognise ここ・そこ・あそこ immediately — the mapping is essentially exact.
Where You'll Hear It
Asking for directions is the immediate application, and the useful thing is how few words you need. 화장실 어디예요? gets you the question; the answer will almost certainly contain 오른쪽으로 or 왼쪽으로 plus 가세요, so recognising those three pieces is enough to follow it.
저기요 deserves special mention because it is built on 저기 and is the standard way to get a stranger's or a server's attention. Literally 'over there', it functions as 'excuse me' and is far safer than trying to pick a title for someone whose age and role you cannot judge.
에 versus 에서 shows up in every sentence about your day. 회사에 가요 ('I go to the office') versus 회사에서 일해요 ('I work at the office') is a pair you will need constantly, and the difference is visible in exactly the way described above.
The three-way demonstratives also matter in shops. Pointing and saying 이거 ('this one'), 그거 ('that one, near you') or 저거 ('that one over there') is how most transactions actually proceed when you do not know the word for the item — which, early on, is most of the time.
Cultural & Language Note
Korean distinguishes 여기, 거기, and 저기 on a three-way system that matches Japanese ここ, そこ, あそこ almost exactly: near me, near you, away from both. English collapses this into 'here' and 'there', so English speakers routinely under-specify. Japanese speakers get this for free and only need to learn the new words.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
에 marks where something is or where you are going; 에서 marks where an action takes place. 집에 있어요 (I am at home) but 집에서 공부해요 (I study at home). Learners who default to one or the other produce sentences that are understandable but clearly off. The direction particle also alternates by ending: 으로 after a consonant, 로 after a vowel or ㄹ.
How to Practice This Lesson
Test 에 versus 에서 with one question: is something happening at this place, or am I just locating it? Run ten sentences through that test rather than memorising a rule. 집에 있어요 — just locating, so 에. 집에서 밥을 먹어요 — something happening, so 에서.
For 으로/로, the phonetic rule includes an exception worth drilling: ㄹ takes 로, not 으로. 서울로, not 서울으로. Practise a handful of place names ending in ㄹ so the exception does not surprise you later.
Japanese speakers should map 여기/거기/저기 onto ここ/そこ/あそこ and move on — this is one of the few places where the transfer is almost free, and time is better spent on 에 versus 에서.
Finally, memorise 저기요 as a complete unit and use it. It removes the entire problem of choosing a title for strangers, which is otherwise a real obstacle in the first weeks.