Questions tagged [honorific]
Korean honorifics are used to reflect the speaker's relationship with the subject of the sentence.Originally, the honorifics expressed the differences in social status between speakers. This tag can be used when the question is related to addressing the audience of different levels in a manner that speaks the relationship.
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What is the politest way in Korean to say that someone is 'old'?
I am aware of 낡은 and 오래 된, but I'm not sure that these are suitable for saying that an (esteemed) person is old. (I'm sure 헌 probably isn't either!)
What is the politest way to say that someone is ...
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How to say this is Korean
It is a formal letter:
This is to certify that according to the records of the National population register, the marital status of the above-named person is reflected as SINGLE and is free to enter ...
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Would this make sense in a religious context?
I want to say in a prayer to God "It's worth it, right? I want to see you."
Based on some YouTube videos I have pieced this together:
"힘들었지만 값진 일이었어, 지요?
보고싶습니다."
The context of ...
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Can you use 아/야 on yourself?
Can you say for example: 나는 수시야 다.
If not is there any kind of way to refer to yourself in a cutesy way, like when in japanese you call youself “name”-chan?
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"Hypercorrect" honorifics (e.g. 필요하시면)
The verb suffix '시' is normally used to give respect to the subject of the verb; yet it is easy to see examples where the verb subject is inanimate and an honorific isn't required:
다른 것이 필요하시면 알려주십시오 ...
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Why the verb 'meet' is not at the end in the sentence 만나서 반갑습니다?
This sentence: '만나서 반갑습니다' means 'I am glad to meet you'.
The word '만나서' means 'meet' and then '반갑습니다' if we takes its dictionary base form '반갑다' means 'glad or joyful'.
만나서 is a verb and 반갑다 is an ...
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What’s the difference between 뵙다, 뵈다, and 보다?
I’m pretty sure they all mean to see but is the difference just in formality? I’ve seen people say that 뵙다 is the most honorific and 보다 is the least, but I’ve seen those same people say that 뵙다 can ...
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How are the honorific forms of the verb 이다 created?
From what I understood, for the present tense there are the following forms that can be used depending on the situation. Here I've made some examples of these with the verb 하다 and I've written the ...
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How is the honorific informal form of verbes created?
From what I understood, if I want to talk about my teacher with my friend I have to use the honorific informal form, but how do I create this form? Do I just remove 다 from the verb to then make it ...
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Are 있다 and 계시다 always interchangeable?
I learned that for 존댓말 you should replace 있다 with 계시다, however it seems like most of the examples are in relation to where someone is (such as 할아버지께 댁에 계세요). Can you also use 계시다 for possession? Can ...
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Valid usage of -"십니다"?
I came across this sentence in a textbook.
김선생님은 차 타고 서울로 가십니다. Meaning "Mr. Kim goes to Seoul by car".
My doubt concerns the suffix -shimnida. Previously I came across the interrogative -...
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Difference betwen the honorofics 씨 vs 시
What is the difference between the honorifics 씨 vs 시 when used at the end of a name?
씨 as an honorific: https://blogs.transparent.com/korean/honorific-titles/
시 as an honorific: https://en.wiktionary....
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아니요, 남자아이는 여자가 아닙니다. Is this sentence gramatically correct with respect to the honorofics used?
아니요, 남자아이는 여자가 아닙니다 : Why would the sentence start with '요 ' (아니요) and end with 'ㅂ니다' (아닙니다)? I thought both were used in different levels of formality. Is it correct for the same sentence to use both ...
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Is it possible to use the honorific 으시 in the plain form?
I'm aware the plain form or 해라체 is an impersonal form, so it would be rarely correct to use honorifics in plain form. However, I've found some instances in some textbooks in which saying (으)신다 is ...
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줍다 Honorific form: 주으십니다?
I was supposed to write a sentence in my workbook. The answer is: 할머니께서 정원에서 쓰레기를 주으십니다
I want to ask isn't it supposed to be 줍으십니다?
Or is there a irregular rule?
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Conjugation of 이시다
Could you please tell me if this is correct?
이다 --> 이시다
Present tense
야 / 이야 --> 셔 / 이셔
예요 / 이에요 --> 세요 / 이세요
인다 --> 이시다
입니다 --> 이십니다
Past tense
였어 --> 였셔
였어요 --> 였세요
였다 --> ...
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How to decide on which part to use honorifics?
I have seen that sometimes the honorific is used for only some part of the sentence, such as at the subject particle or verb. For example,
할머니가 식용유를 사려고 슈퍼마켓에 가셨어요.
In this sentence, the honorific ...
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Is 오빠 used outside of Korea?
Recently I was watching a Chinese-language show from Taiwan, and I was surprised to hear a character insist that another character, whom he thought of as his sister, call him something that sounded ...
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Assuming relative status is known, how do I know when I should 'honor' someone gramatically?
It's possible to honor someone by use of 드리다 rather than 주다 when they receive a favour, use of honorific nouns such as 말씀 instead of 말, and honorific particles like 께서 and 께.
I used to think that I ...
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Are some sounds more pleasing to the ear, like ㄴ and ㅁ?
I notice that many honorifics have similar consonant sounds when spoken. For example, the ~ㅂ/습니다 conjugation and the ~님 noun ending (e.g., in 선생님, 사장님, 아버님) have the ㄴ and ㅁ sounds when spoken.
Are ...
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Is “honorific” a noun or an adjective, and what precisely does it mean?
Are honorifics things you add to a word/sentence to raise the level of politeness/respect?
Or are honorifics different levels of politeness/respect of words/sentences?
Or do you add things to a word/...
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Is it ok to use the contracted version of quotationals ( 대, 래...) when you'd normally need an honorific?
Instead of saying
없다고 하셨어요
I think this has the same meaning:
없대요
However, would it normally be a problem that the honorific particle is left out? If so, is there a way of incorporating the ...
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위대한 수령 without honorific 시
If we use the "Great Leader" or "Great General" as subjects in a sentence, the honorific 시 is attached to the predicate in order to describe the action or state of the subject.
For example, the ...
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When does 시 become 세?
In my Talk To Me In Korean book 'Real Life Conversations For Beginners', there is a dialog which includes the translation: "Are you a student?" / 학생 이세요
I was expecting the sentence to be 학생 이시에요, if ...
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Difference in use of the "present" and the "honorific present" (e.g. 하다)?
In the 해라체 (haera-che) speech level (which is a lower level as far as I understand), the present is 한다 (handa), which corresponds to the declarative present formal low form when looking for the ...
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Honorifics Question 가지고 있으세요? or 계세요?
In the case of using the full "have" form of (__를) 가지고 있다, which is the correct honorific form? 가지고 있으세요 or 가지고 계세요?
I remember reading that in cases (__이/가) 있다 for "have" you are supposed to use ...
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교수님 성함께서는 vs 교수님 성함은
우리 교수님 성함은 심만찰이십니다.
우리 교수님 성함께서는 심만찰이십니다.
I saw the first sentence in my Korean textbook. I am wondering why don't we use 께서는 after 성함 as in the sentence #2.
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Should I use honorifics for a group of people containing both me and my seniors?
Let's say I want to say 'tonight we can eat chicken', in the sense that it's possible (perhaps I've bought some chicken).
If 'we' is a group containing both me and people who are senior, should I say
...
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Multiple `(으)시` in a sentence for honoring target?
I find that I am anxious about making sure to honor the person that I'm speaking about, especially if they are the person I am speaking to or are of a high position.
Take this interrogative sentence ...
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A question on '주체높임법 (subject honorific)'
How and when to use the honorific in Korean is one of the most difficult and confusing things in learning Korean. Let's imagine the below situation where your father tells you to ask your grandfather ...
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Would a person EVER use honorific forms to talk about themself?
I've become used to the idea that you don't use honorifics to talk about yourself (as explained in this answer). Of course I can imagine that you might do it as a joke, or when quoting or imitating ...
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What is a good friendly way to say 'goodbye' to my mother or father in law on the phone?
Finishing with 안녕히 계십시오 or 주말 잘 보내세요 sounds extremely stilted and formal to me when they are just saying '안녕!' to me. How can I show respect and still sound friendly and cheerful when saying goodbye? ...
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How should I choose speech levels and honorifcs if talking to (or about) a group of people of mixed status?
If, for example, I am talking to (or about) a group of children and adults, would I normally use honorifics that were appropriate for the highest-status members of the group?
Assuming that is the ...
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Is (으)시 sometimes used just to disambiguate between the first and second person?
From casual observation, it seemed to me that people sometimes use (으)시 in sentences to make it clear that they are talking about a second or third person, rather than themselves - even in situations ...
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Are there any other honorific particles apart from 께서 and 께?
께서 is an honorific version of 이/가 :
아버님께서는 무엇을 하세요?
What does your father do?
께 is an honorific version of 에게/한테:
할머님께 편지를 썼습니다.
I wrote Grandmother a letter.
examples from http://...
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What's the honorific to represent a female's older sister?
I got to know that Korean grammar uses an extensive system of honorifics and those are used to differentiate between formal and informal speech.
So ways to formal speech is to honorific nouns and ...
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How should I use the pronoun 당신?
This is an issue I run into occasionally when teaching others Korean, especially those who learned some Korean via music.
I know that 당신 is an intimate form of "you." Since we avoid explicitly using ...
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Applying honorifics to 한 적, which is correct? 한 적 있으세요 vs 하신 적 있으세요 vs 하신 적 있어요
So we've got this awesome question over here: What is the meaning and etymology of 본 적 (없다/있다). It goes over the meaning and basic usage, but one thing I'm not sure about is how to properly apply ...
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Can I write "마음을 잡수시다"?
In What's the difference between 드세요 and 잡수세요?, We know that '드세요' and '잡수세요' are honorific ways to say '먹다'. Then, is it grammatically correct?
그분은 이제야 위기를 극복하려는 마음을 잡수셨다.
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What's the difference between 드세요 and 잡수세요?
I thought 드세요 was the honorific way to say 'eat', but I've also heard '잡수세요'. What's the difference?
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Do we use honorifics when talking about seniors in the third person?
This is a question from the definition stage and I would like to get it discussed in the main site. What are the rules for using honorifis when we are talking about someone in the third person? For ...
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When to use -세요 and when -(으)ㅂ니다?
This is one the questions from the definition phase and I would like to get it discussed in the main site. (으)세요 and (으)ㅂ니다 are both honorific ending. When should we use one over the other?
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Are formal / honorific forms mandatory when talking about oneself?
If I am talking to someone superior in status or a stranger, and I refer to myself in a sentence, should formal / honorific form be used?
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