Korean grammar · Elementary (A2)
Honorifics: -(으)시-, 께서, 드리다
How Korean shows respect for the person you talk about: -(으)시- in every tense, honorific verbs and nouns, humble forms, and 께서 and 께.
Respect for the person you talk about
Korean has two separate politeness systems. The speech level (polite, formal or casual) depends on who you are talking to. Honorifics depend on who you are talking about: when the subject of the sentence is older than you, higher in rank or a customer, you raise them with -(으)시- and special words, and you lower yourself with humble words.
So the two can combine freely. To a friend, in casual speech, about your grandmother: (halmeoniga osyeosseo), Grandma has come. To your boss, in the polite style, about yourself: (jega halgeyo), no honorific, because you never raise yourself.
-(으)시- in every tense
Add -시- to a stem ending in a vowel and -으시- to a stem ending in a consonant. ㄹ stems lose the ㄹ: (salda) → (saseyo). In the polite style, -시- + -어요 becomes -세요, so the honorific present looks just like a polite request: (eodi gaseyo?) is “where are you going?”, (yeogi anjeuseyo) is “please sit here”.
It works on descriptive verbs too: (halmeonineun kiga keuseyo), my grandmother is tall. And on (ida): (seonsaengnimiseyo?), are you a teacher?
| Form | (gada), to go | (ikda), to read |
|---|---|---|
| present | (gaseyo) | (ilgeuseyo) |
| past | (gasyeosseoyo) | (ilgeusyeosseoyo) |
| future | (gasil geoyeyo) | (ilgeusil geoyeyo) |
| formal present | (gasimnida) | (ilgeusimnida) |
| formal past | (gasyeotseumnida) | (ilgeusyeotseumnida) |
| casual present | (gasyeo) | (ilgeusyeo) |
- 아버지는 은행에서 일하세요.Abeojineun eunhaengeseo ilhaseyo.My father works at a bank.
- 선생님, 주말 잘 보내셨어요?Seonsaengnim, jumal jal bonaesyeosseoyo?Did you have a good weekend? (to a teacher)
- 사장님은 내일 오실 거예요.Sajangnimeun naeil osil geoyeyo.The boss will come tomorrow.
Honorific and humble verbs
Some common verbs have their own honorific form, used instead of adding -(으)시-. A few verbs also have a humble form, used when you do something for or towards a person you respect: you (deurida), give, to your parents, and you (yeojjwoboda), ask, your teacher.
(itda) has two honorific forms: (gyesida) when someone is somewhere ( (sajangnim gyeseyo?), is the boss in?), and (isseusida) when someone has something ( (sigan isseuseyo?), do you have time?).
| Plain | Honorific (about them) | Humble (about me) |
|---|---|---|
| (itda), to be somewhere | (gyesida) | — |
| (meokda), (masida) | (deusida) | — |
| (jada), to sleep | (jumusida) | — |
| (malhada), to say | (malsseumhasida) | (malsseumdeurida) |
| (apeuda), to be ill | (pyeonchaneusida) | — |
| (jukda), to die | (doragasida) | — |
| (juda), to give | (jusida) | (deurida) |
| (mutda), to ask | (mureobosida) | (yeojjwoboda) |
| (boda), to see, meet | (bosida) | (boepda) |
| (deryeogada), to take along | — | (mosida) |
- 할머니, 진지 드셨어요?Halmeoni, jinji deusyeosseoyo?Grandma, have you eaten?
- 사장님은 지금 사무실에 안 계세요.Sajangnimeun jigeum samusire an gyeseyo.The boss isn't in the office right now.
- 부모님께 선물을 드렸어요.Bumonimkke seonmureul deuryeosseoyo.I gave my parents a present.
- 궁금한 게 있으면 선생님께 여쭤보세요.Gunggeumhan ge isseumyeon seonsaengnimkke yeojjwoboseyo.If you have a question, ask the teacher.
Honorific nouns and particles
A few everyday nouns have honorific partners: (ireum) → (seongham), name; (nai) → (yeonse), age; (jip) → (daek), home; (mal) → (malsseum), words; (saengil) → (saengsin), birthday; (bap) → (jinji), meal; (saram) → (bun), person. 님 (nim) is added to titles: (seonsaengnim), (sajangnim), (bumonim).
The particles change too: 이/가 → 께서 (kkeseo), 은/는 → 께서는 (kkeseoneun), 에게/한테 → 께 (kke). 께서 is formal; in conversation -(으)시- alone is usually enough. For yourself use humble (jeo) and (jeohui), we, our. About your country, though, Koreans say (urinara), not 저희 나라.
- 성함이 어떻게 되세요?Seonghami eotteoke doeseyo?May I have your name?
- 아버님 연세가 어떻게 되세요?Abeonim yeonsega eotteoke doeseyo?How old is your father?
- 할아버지께서 신문을 읽으세요.Harabeojikkeseo sinmuneul ilgeuseyo.Grandfather is reading the newspaper.
Too much politeness
-(으)시- raises people, not things. In shops and cafés you will often hear staff raise objects out of extra politeness: (keopi naosyeotseumnida), “your coffee has (honourably) arrived”, or (i saijeuneun eopseuseyo). It is very common but considered incorrect; the correct forms are (keopi nawatseumnida) and (i saijeuneun eopseoyo).
Two more rules. Never use -(으)시- about yourself: 제가 가세요 is wrong. And raise older or senior people you talk about even when they aren't there. Traditional etiquette said not to raise your boss when speaking to someone even more senior, but today most people simply raise both.