Skip to content

Easy Korean - Level 9, Unit 24: Due to / Because of (-(으)로 말미암아)

When you want to state the cause of a situation, especially a major event, historical fact, or serious consequence, you can use the highly formal structure -(으)로 말미암아.

It translates to "Due to..." or "Because of..."

Structure Breakdown

  • -(으)로 = by / via
  • 말미암아 = from the verb 말미암다 (to be caused by / to originate from)

How to use it

It is almost always attached to a Noun.

  • 명사(Noun) + (으)로 말미암아

1. Noun ends in a Vowel or ㄹ: Add -로 말미암아 * 사고 (accident) -> 사고로 말미암아 (Due to the accident) * 실수 (mistake) -> 실수로 말미암아 (Due to the mistake) * 폭우 (heavy rain) -> 폭우로 말미암아 (Due to the heavy rain) * 마찰 (friction) -> 마찰로 말미암아 (Due to friction)

2. Noun ends in a Consonant: Add -으로 말미암아 * 태풍 (typhoon) -> 태풍으로 말미암아 (Due to the typhoon) * 지진 (earthquake) -> 지진으로 말미암아 (Due to the earthquake) * 전쟁 (war) -> 전쟁으로 말미암아 (Due to the war)

(으)로 말미암아 vs. 때문에

  • 때문에 means "because of" and can be used for anything, from daily life ("Because of the rain") to formal speech.
  • -(으)로 말미암아 is strictly for formal writing, news reports, religious texts, or academic papers. Using it to say "I was late due to traffic" to a friend would sound very strange and overly dramatic!

Example Sentences

  1. 태풍으로 말미암아 많은 피해가 발생했습니다. (Due to the typhoon, a lot of damage occurred.)

  2. 그 사건으로 말미암아 두 나라의 관계가 악화되었습니다. (Because of that incident, the relationship between the two countries worsened.)

  3. 한 사람의 실수로 말미암아 모든 계획이 무너졌어요. (Due to one person's mistake, all the plans collapsed.)