12
votes
Accepted
What is the politest way in Korean to say that someone is 'old'?
연세 should be definitely mentioned here. 연세 is a more polite form of 나이, and if you want to be super polite, you can say 연세가 많으시다 to mean "old". It's also a very common expression.
It might seem odd ...
- 7,372
11
votes
Would a person EVER use honorific forms to talk about themself?
Kings in fiction, and kings in history sometimes used 짐 to refer to himself. This can be seen as elevated form of '나', but not necessarily. 짐 is also rare. The kings of Joseon dynasty used 나 primarily ...
- 7,372
9
votes
Accepted
Would a person EVER use honorific forms to talk about themself?
I think that rather than use honorifics on oneself, people of great rank or importance talk to others and about themselves using a lower form of speech (like 해라체 or 반말).
One source I look to for ...
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8
votes
Accepted
How should I use the pronoun 당신?
In general, "당신" is a honorific expression indicating the listener, but the listener may be not close to the speaker.
당신의 이름이 무엇인지 알고 싶습니다.
당신을 기억하고 있겠습니다.
However, "당신" can be a ...
- 1,062
6
votes
Accepted
When to use -세요 and when -(으)ㅂ니다?
You're mixing two slightly different aspects of speech. One (합쇼체: ~습니다/ㅂ니다) is more of a level of formality due to setting and the other(시) is a level of respect towards the subject of your sentences.
...
- 1,009
6
votes
Accepted
Can I write "마음을 잡수시다"?
It is not correct.
In the cited post, '먹다' means "to eat food or drink", but '마음' is not food/drink. '잡수시다' and '드시다' can't be honorific expressions of "먹다" if the object is not food/drink. Instead, '...
- 1,062
6
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between 드세요 and 잡수세요?
I think it is a difference of trend.
Like @choco_addicted said, they can be interchanged but '잡수세요' is
more antique expression.
Nowadays most of young people use '드세요' and say '맛있게 드세요' or '저녁은 드셨어요?...
- 76
6
votes
Accepted
Is 오빠 used outside of Korea?
At least on the Web (Twitter, Instagram, and Google), these words are used in place of 오빠:
oppa (English)
オッパ (Japanese)
โอปป้า (Thai)
欧巴 (Chinese)
All of them sound almost the same as 오빠. I am ...
- 3,238
5
votes
What's the honorific to represent a female's older sister?
There seems to be no honorific expression of 언니.
{언니}는 여성끼리의 호칭어다. 앞서 확인한 다른 호칭어와 같이 친족 집단에서 사용되며 비 친족 집단에서 [친밀]의 공유를 중심으로 사용되는 공통점을 가진다. 하지만 다른 어휘소가 {형님}, {오라버니}, {누님}같은 확장 어휘소를 가지는 것과 달리 {언니}는 ...
- 1,062
5
votes
Is “honorific” a noun or an adjective, and what precisely does it mean?
Honorifics HON
Are honorifics things you add to a word/sentence to raise the level of politeness/respect?
Yes.
Are honorifics different levels of politeness/respect of words/sentences?
No. ...
- 2,760
5
votes
How to decide on which part to use honorifics?
There are the three factors for Korean honorific speech: (a) subject honorification, (b) object exaltation, and (c) speech styles. (You may refer to this.)
Your question and example relate to the ...
- 3,238
4
votes
What's the difference between 드세요 and 잡수세요?
They are both honorific ways to say '먹다' and can be interchanged.
아버지께서 진지를 드신다.
아버지께서 진지를 잡수신다.
- 1,062
4
votes
Accepted
Do we use honorifics when talking about seniors in the third person?
There are 2 ways of expressing the honorific in Korean (3 actually, but one is limited to a few cases).
Listener honorific (상대경어법): used to give respect to the person / people you're speaking to. ...
- 5,974
4
votes
Accepted
Should I use honorifics for a group of people containing both me and my seniors?
You do not refer to a group that includes yourself in honorifics. (Basically, the rule of not honoring yourself trumps the rule of honoring the others.)
Arguably, you address (speak to) such a group ...
- 1,287
4
votes
Are some sounds more pleasing to the ear, like ㄴ and ㅁ?
One thing to keep in mind is that (1) ㄴ and ㅁ are common consonants and (2) polite expressions are usually longer. So, there's a good chance that a polite expression will contain either ㄴ or ㅁ.
But I ...
- 7,207
4
votes
Accepted
Why the verb 'meet' is not at the end in the sentence 만나서 반갑습니다?
In Korean, it is the predicate that always ends a sentence, not necessarily a verb. A predicate can be the main verb of the sentence, or it can be an adjective, or it can be a noun with a copulative ...
- 5,974
3
votes
Honorifics Question 가지고 있으세요? or 계세요?
This is also a confusing problem for most of the native Korean speakers. They will understand what you mean even if you use in a wrong way. But actually, there is a slight difference.
계시다 and 있으시다 ...
- 1,554
3
votes
교수님 성함께서는 vs 교수님 성함은
When you say 우리 교수님 성함, you're omitting the possessive particle 의. (Which is totally fine, by the way.) Therefore, the topic particle should follow the actual subject - 성함 - not its possessive entity. ...
- 511
3
votes
Accepted
Multiple `(으)시` in a sentence for honoring target?
I've been told that essentially the more (으)시's you put in, the more polite you're being. As with English, if you go super-polite, you might be in danger of over-egging the pudding, or sounding ...
- 13.4k
3
votes
A question on '주체높임법 (subject honorific)'
If we want to show respect to someone who does something, we put 시 to the verb. But if the listener has higher rank than the person who is acting, we don't put 시. The situation is the same for 께서.
...
- 461
3
votes
Accepted
What is a good friendly way to say 'goodbye' to my mother or father in law on the phone?
"안녕히 계세요" is not too much formal yet shows respect! "주말 잘 보내세요" is also good in my opinion. As you wrote, "안녕히 계십시오" is too formal.
- 1,608
3
votes
Accepted
Difference betwen the honorofics 씨 vs 시
I did not leave an answer immediately because that kind of question usually arises when one is unable to distinguish between certain sounds, rather than when one does not know usage differences. ...
- 3,238
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