Questions tagged [polite]
Regarding the use of the language in a manner that is polite.
18 questions
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Is 옥체 used to refer to people's body?
In Korean dramas I have come accross "옥체" [jade like body] to refer to the body of a King as in:
밤이 늦어 전하의 옥체마저 상하실까 걱정이옵니다.
It is late at night, and I am afraid you [Your majesty's jade-...
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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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1
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갖다 vs 가지다: much like 해 instead of 하?
I'm a post-beginner in Korean. Before I go to the point, I guess I should summarize what I know about Korean grammar likely related to this question.
I know that, in Korean, the radical of the verbs (...
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What does this North Korean woman mean by joking about "ear wax" when they are about to eat?
Reference point: https://youtu.be/cAFzX16uGls?t=245
A bunch of North Koreans are sitting around a table with a male guest from Singapore, who is filming in first person.
One of the North Korean ...
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Is there a difference between -뜹니다 and -씁니다?
I recently came across the verb 고맙다 conjugated as follows: 고맙뜹니다
I was confused, as I've never seen the formal polite ending spelled with ㄸ. Usually it's spelled -습니다.
I checked verbix.com and ...
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Addressing someone on the street you have never met and who is of ambiguous age
I was visiting Korea (강원도 춘천시) recently and needed to ask directions to a building on a college campus. (강원대학교 for those who are interested). I was on foot and I did not immediately see a campus map ...
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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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Is it grammatically correct to add 요 to everything?
I thought 요 was only a verb ending, and my textbook did not introduce adding it to all sorts of parts of speech, which I hear regularly in Korea. From the well-known 저도요 to 이렇게요, noun + 요 etc. Is that ...
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What's the meaning and appropriate usage of 잘 부탁드립니다?
I sometimes hear the phrase "잘 부탁드립니다" used in certain formal settings, for instance during introductions.
It seems to mean, literally, just "I request (something)"; that doesn't really make sense to ...
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If you accidentally use an inappropriate level of politeness, what is the best way to 'recover'?
Let's say I accidentally say "몇 살이에요", "어디 가?", or "밥 만들어줄까?" to a superior, and immediately realise my mistake. What's the best way to recover from the mistake? Should I repeat the sentence using ...
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What are some ways to refuse politely?
In various situations I'd like to be able to refuse politely. What are some ways I can do so? In particular, I'd like to see a variety of phrases with different levels of formality.
For example, in ...
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Can 어떻게 돼요 be seen the polite way to say 뭐예요 ('what is it')?
I have seen 어떻게 되다 used for asking politely about personal attributes:
성함이 어떻게 되세요? => What is your name?
아버님은 연세가 어떻게 되세요? => How old is your father?
But I have also seen examples like
...
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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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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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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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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 ...
- 2,954
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What is a polite term of address to use for a friend's mother?
What is a polite term of address to use for a friend's mother?
Is it impolite to call her by name?
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How can I ask someone to repeat a statement in Korean?
I have a hard time grasping the meaning of certain Korean phrases the first time I hear them, especially when they are quickly.
How can I politely ask someone to repeat something they just said?
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