Korean-English Dictionary: According to, Due to using ~에 의하다, ~(으)로 인하다

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"~에 의하다" and "(으)로 인하다" are two phrases used in Korean to express the cause or reason for an event or occurrence. Though they are similar in fundamental sense, they have slight differences in usage and sentence structure.

In daily conversation, these two phrases can be used interchangeably to express the cause of an event. The choice between the two often depends on the context and the level of formality of the sentence you want to use.

In the previous lessons, you were introduced to the complicated explanations of the ~는데/~는 데 grammatical principle. Now you can take it easy and describe some principles that aren't so difficult to comprehend. In this part of the lesson, you will learn about ~에 의하다 and ~(으)로 인하다. Let's get started.

Adding 에 의 하다 to a noun in a sentence can create two different meanings, depending on how it's added.  The first (and easier) meaning requires you to change ~에 의 하다 to ~에 의 하다. The ~에 attaches to the noun, and the whole composition will mean "according to (the noun)." For example:

> 대통령에 의하면… = according to the President…

> 소식통에 의하면… = according to sources…

> 많은 사람들에 의하면… = according to many people… 

This construction can be placed in a matching sentence:

> 일기 예보에 의하면 오늘은 비가 내릴 것입니다.

   According to the weather forecast, it will rain today. 

> 많은 사람들에 의하면 사고는 오후 8시에 발생했습니다.

   According to many people, the incident happened at 8pm.

Attaching ~에 의 해 to a noun will create the meaning "because...". Notice that 의하다 changes to 의해 with the addition of ~아/어, and 의하다 changes to 의하다. As you've learned in Korean Passive Voice, you can attach "~에 의 해" to nouns in passive voice sentences.

It's worth noting that passive sentences cannot have objects. That means, you can't attach the particle 을/를 to a noun in a passive sentence. For example: 

탁자는 제공된다 = the table is provided 

차는 청소되었어 = the car was cleaned 

고기는 요리됐다 = the food was cooked 

In English we use words like "by" to be attached to these words to convey intentions like the following:

> Chairs are provided by the committee

> The car was bought by my father 

> The shirt was sewn by mom 

In Korean, when something is done by someone else, you can add 에 의해 to the word. 

For example: 

> 의자 제공된다 = chair was provided 

> 의자는 위원회에 의해 제공된다 = chair was provided by the committee 

Also remember that 에게 is the same particle as 에 의해 in, but is used when a passive action is performed by someone. For example: 

> 자동차는 구입했습니다 = The car was bought

> 자동차는 아버지에게 구입했습니다 = The car was bought by my father 

Also, remember that sentences in Korean are usually unnatural when spoken in the passive form. I rarely hear someone use "에 의해" in a sentence. However, this is important to know because you might come across it one day.

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