In today’s lesson, we are looking at the grammatical structure, -(으/느)ㄴ 대로. This is used when you want to describe how something is done in the same way as another action or remains in the same state as the current. You can say things like “Leave it as it”; “Did you do as I told you?”; or “I wrote down what I heard” using this structure.

Construction
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 하는 대로 = the way I do it; just like I do it; as I do it
→ 제가 한 대로 = the way I did it; just like I did it; as I did it

Examples
1. 아는 대로 = just the way one knows
(알다 = to know)

아는 대로 말해 주세요.
= Please tell me everything you know.
= Please tell me just the way you know of it (without changing anything).

아는 대로 쓰세요.
= Just write whatever you know.
= You don’t have to add or change anything, just write what you know.

2. 말한 대로 = just the way one said
(말하다 = to say)

제가 말한 대로 했어요? 
= Did you do it the way I told you?
= Did you do as I said?

효진 씨가 말한 대로 했는데, 안 됐어요.
= We did as Hyojin said, but it didn’t work.
= We did it just as Hyojin told us to, but it didn’t go well.

3. 들은 대로 = just like I heard
(듣다 = to hear)

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/느)ㄴ 대로
1. -(느)ㄴ 대로 meaning “as soon as”
→ You can use -(느)ㄴ 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.

2. Verb stem + -(던) 대로
→ You can use -(던) 대로 instead of -(으)ㄴ 대로 to talk about a past action or state that wasn’t finished or that was repeated.

Ex)
하다 = to do, 평소 = usual times
→ 평소에 하던 대로 하세요. = Just do as you usually do. / Just do it in the way you’ve always done it.

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

4. Noun + -대로
→ When you add -대로 after a noun, it means “following + [noun]” or “just like how the [noun] goes”.

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