예를 들어(서) · 예컨대: For Example | Korean Grammar

When you make a general statement and then want to back it up with a concrete case, English reaches for "for example," "for instance," or "e.g." Korean has one main phrase for all three: 예를 들어(서). It is not a mysterious grammatical form — it is a plain, frozen verb phrase meaning literally "raising an example," and once you see how it's built, it stops being something to memorize and becomes something you understand.

What 예를 들어 actually is

예를 들어(서) breaks down cleanly: 예(例), "example," takes the object particle 를, and the verb is 들다 — the everyday verb "to lift, to hold up, to raise." So 예를 들다 is "to raise an example," and 예를 들어(서) is its -아/어서 form, "raising an example, and so…". Both 예를 들어 and 예를 들어서 are correct and interchangeable; the shorter 예를 들어 is more common as a sentence opener.

과일을 좋아해요. 예를 들어, 사과랑 딸기요.

gwaireul joahaeyo. yereul deureo, sagwarang ttalgiyo

I like fruit — for example, apples and strawberries.

꾸준히 하는 게 중요해요. 예를 들어, 매일 조금씩 단어를 외우는 거예요.

kkujunhi haneun ge jung-yohaeyo. yereul deureo, maeil jogeumssik daneoreul oeuneun geoyeyo

Being consistent is what matters — for example, memorizing a few words every day.

Because it's a fixed adverbial phrase, you don't conjugate it or swap in demonstratives the way you might expect from a "그렇다-family" connector. It sits, unchanged, at the front of the clause that gives the instance. English "for example / for instance / e.g." map straight onto it with no adjustment.

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The verb is 들다 ("to raise / hold up"), never 주다 ("to give"). English "give an example" tempts learners into ×예를 주다, but in Korean you always raise an example: 예를 들다. Lock the collocation in as a unit — 예(를) 들다.

The variants: 예를 들면 and 예컨대

예를 들면 swaps the -아서 ending for the conditional -(으)면: "if I give an example." The meaning is the same as 예를 들어 — it just frames the example as "supposing I name one." It's fully interchangeable in most contexts.

저는 매운 음식을 잘 먹어요. 예를 들면 떡볶이나 김치찌개 같은 거요.

jeoneun maeun eumsigeul jal meogeoyo. yereul deulmyeon tteokbokkina gimchijjigae gateun geoyo

I handle spicy food well — for instance, things like tteokbokki or kimchi stew.

예컨대 is the compact, literary equivalent — one word doing the job of the whole phrase, the exemplifying counterpart to written 즉. Reserve it for formal writing: essays, reports, academic prose. In conversation it sounds bookish.

이 소설은 여러 사회 문제, 예컨대 빈곤과 차별을 다룬다.

i soseoreun yeoreo sahoe munje, yekeondae bingongwa chabyeoreul darunda

This novel deals with various social problems — for example, poverty and discrimination. (written)

There is also 이를테면 ("say, for instance / as it were"), a close synonym with a slightly more casual, illustrative feel, and the abbreviation 예: used in notes and parenthetical lists, exactly like English "e.g." (필요한 서류(예: 여권, 항공권)).

그 친구는, 이를테면 우리 반의 분위기 메이커예요.

geu chinguneun, ireulteomyeon uri banui bunwigi meikeoyeyo

That friend is, say, the life of the party in our class.

What follows it: a genuine instance, often a list

예를 들어 introduces an instance — a member of the category you just named. That's the load-bearing idea. Whatever comes next has to be a subset of the general claim, not a separate point. It very naturally opens a list, which Korean often closes with 등 ("etc.") or strings together with the particle -(이)나 ("or, among others").

서울에는 볼거리가 많아요. 예를 들어서, 경복궁, 남산타워, 한강 공원 등이 있어요.

Seoureneun bolgeoriga manayo. yereul deureoseo, Gyeongbokgung, Namsantawo, Hangang gong-won deung-i isseoyo

Seoul has lots to see — for example, Gyeongbokgung, Namsan Tower, the Han River parks, and so on.

뭐 좀 마실래요? 예를 들어 커피나 주스요.

mwo jom masillaeyo? yereul deureo keopina juseuyo

Want something to drink? Coffee or juice, for example.

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Everything after 예를 들어 must be a genuine member of the set you just named. If your next item is an additional, separate point rather than an instance of that set, you don't want 예를 들어 — you want 그리고 or 게다가. "I like fruit; for example, meat" is broken in Korean for the same reason it's broken in English.

Common Mistakes

1. Following 예를 들어 with something that isn't an instance. The example must belong to the category just named. A separate, unrelated item is an addition, not an example.

❌ 저는 과일을 좋아해요. 예를 들어, 고기도 좋아해요.

Incorrect — meat is not an example of fruit; it's a separate point. Use 그리고.

✅ 저는 과일을 좋아해요. 예를 들어, 사과랑 포도요.

jeoneun gwaireul joahaeyo. yereul deureo, sagwarang podoyo

I like fruit — for example, apples and grapes.

2. Misspelling 예를 as 예룰 / 예을. The object particle after the vowel-final 예 is 를, giving 예를. ×예룰 and ×예을 are common slips.

❌ 예룰 들어 볼게요.

Misspelling — it's 예(例) + object particle 를, so 예를 들어.

✅ 예를 들어 볼게요.

yereul deureo bolgeyo

Let me give an example.

3. Using 주다 instead of 들다. You raise (들다) an example, you don't give (주다) one.

❌ 예를 줄게요.

Wrong verb — the collocation is 예를 들다 ('raise an example'), not ×예를 주다.

✅ 예를 들게요.

yereul deulgeyo

I'll give an example.

4. Writing 예를 들어 with no space. 예를 and 들어 are two separate 어절 (spacing units); ×예를들어 runs them together.

❌ 예를들어 김치가 있어요.

Wrong spacing — write 예를 and 들어 as separate words.

✅ 예를 들어 김치가 있어요.

yereul deureo gimchiga isseoyo

For example, there's kimchi.

Key Takeaways

예를 들어(서) = "for example," literally "raising an example," from 예를 들다 — with 들다 ("raise"), never 주다 ("give").
예를 들면 (with -(으)면) is an interchangeable variant; 예컨대 is its compact, written form; 이를테면 a casual synonym; 예: the "e.g." abbreviation.
What follows must be a genuine instance of the category just named — otherwise you want addition (그리고/게다가), not an example.
Watch the spelling (예를, not ×예룰/×예을) and the spacing (예를 들어, two words).

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