대로: As, according to

대로: doing it exactly the way something says

대로 means "according to", "just as", or "the way that". It's one of the more useful things to learn early, because it turns up constantly in instructions, requests and complaints.

With a noun

Attach it straight to the noun. Nothing changes for consonants or vowels.

• 계획대로 하세요. gyehoekdaero haseyo — "Do it according to the plan."
• 약속대로 왔어요. yaksokdaero wasseoyo — "I came as promised."
• 마음대로 하세요. maeumdaero haseyo — "Do as you like."

That last one is worth memorizing whole. 마음대로 maeumdaero literally reads "according to your heart" and it's everywhere in speech.

With a verb, and the tense matters

This is where 대로 gets interesting, because the verb ending in front of it changes the meaning.

~는 대로 (*neun daero*) (present) can mean "as soon as" or "the way that", and context decides:

• 도착하는 대로 전화할게요. dochakaneun daero jeonhwahalgeyo — "I'll call as soon as I arrive."
• 시키는 대로 하세요. sikineun daero haseyo — "Do as you're told."

~(으)ㄴ 대로 (past) means "just as it was", "the way I did":

• 제가 본 대로 말할게요. jega bon daero malhalgeyo — "I'll tell you just as I saw it."

Same particle: with the past form it's about matching something that already happened, and with the present form it can be either timing or manner.

대로 vs 처럼

Both get translated "like" or "as", and they aren't interchangeable.

• 대로 = following something exactly, as an instruction or a model.
• 처럼** = resembling something.

• 선생님이 말한 대로 했어요. seonsaengnimi malhan daero haesseoyo — "I did it exactly as the teacher said." You followed the instruction.
• 선생님처럼 말했어요. seonsaengnimcheoreom malhaesseoyo — "I spoke like the teacher." You resembled them.

The first is compliance. The second is similarity. Swap them and the sentence still parses, which is exactly why the mistake survives so long.

The spacing rule

With a noun, 대로 attaches with no space: 계획대로 gyehoekdaero.

With a verb, it takes a space: 본 대로 bon daero, 하는 대로 haneun daero.

That's because after a verb it's working as a bound noun rather than a particle. Korean spelling rules follow the grammar here, and getting it wrong is a very visible mistake in writing.

나는 나대로: each in their own way

Put 대로 on two people in a row and it means "each separately, in their own way":

• 너는 너대로 바쁘고 나는 나대로 바빠. neoneun neodaero bappeugo naneun nadaero bappa "You're busy with your stuff, and I'm busy with mine."

Set phrases worth knowing

• 그대로 geudaero "as it is, unchanged": 그대로 두세요. geudaero duseyo "Leave it as it is."
• 될 수 있는 대로 doel su inneun daero "as … as possible": 될 수 있는 대로 빨리 오세요. doel su inneun daero ppalli oseyo "Come as soon as you can."
• 제멋대로 jemeotdaero "however they please". It's a complaint, so it's never a compliment.