Types of Honorific Sentence Endings
We have already learned how to conjugate verbs and adjectives in the past, present, and future tense. However, the form we learned is mostly used in the written language (books, articles, journals, etc.). So this time, we are going to learn the basic forms that are used in speaking.
In the case of honorifics, Koreans use different conjugations of verbs and adjectives depending on who they are talking to. You must conjugate differently depending on age, social status, or relationship with the person you speak with.
The way we talk to our friends might be different from the way we talk to coworkers in a professional work environment. So you should use different forms with more or less respect depending on who you talk to.
It is important to show respect to a person by using an appropriate honorific system in the Korean language, which could show how fluent you are in Korean.
There are 3 levels.
Level #1: Informal with no respect
It is used when you talk to your friends, or the people close to you (including younger people).
Level #2: Formal with low respect
It is used when you talk to people close to you (elderly, high position, first met)
Level #3: Formal with high respect
It is used when you talk to strangers or in different situations (military, company, first met)
There is a difference between "formal with low respect" and "formal with high respect" but they are used depending on the situations and status of relationships. So, we need to consider our relationship with the other individual parties. We have to see how and when Koreans use it in conversations. Now we are going to learn each basic form that is used for speaking in the present, past, and future tense.
Honorific Sentence Endings (Present Tense)
1. Informal with no respect
[-어, -아, -여] are combined with the verb stem.
I read a book = 나는 책을 읽어 (읽 + -어)
I always come here = 나는 항상 이곳을 와 (오 + -아)
I practice piano = 나는 피아노를 연습해 (연습하 + -여) Irregular
2. Formal with low respect
[-어요, -아요, -여요] are combined with the verb stem.
I read a book = 나는 책을 읽어요 (읽 + -어요)
I always come here = 나는 항상 이곳을 와요 (오 + -아요) Irregular
I practice piano = 나는 피아노를 연습해요 (연습하 + -여요)
3. Formal with high respect
[-ㅂ니다/습니다] are combined with the verb stem.
I read a book = 나는 책을 읽습니다 (읽 + -습니다)
I always come here = 나는 항상 이곳을 옵니다 (오 + -ㅂ니다)
I practice piano = 나는 피아노를 연습합니다 (연습하 + -ㅂ니다)
Honorific Sentence Endings (Past Tense)
1. Informal with no respect
[-었어, -았어, -였어] are combined with the verb stem.
I read a book = 나는 책을 읽었어 (읽 + -었어)
I always came here = 나는 항상 이곳을 왔어 (오 + -았어)
I practiced piano = 나는 피아노를 연습했어 (연습하 + -였어)
2. Formal with low respect
[-었어요, -았어요, -였어요] are combined with the verb stem.
I read a book = 나는 책을 읽었어요 (읽 + -었어요)
I always came here = 나는 항상 이곳을 왔어요 (오 + -았어요)
I practiced piano = 나는 피아노를 연습했어요 (연습하 + -였어요)
3. Formal with high respect
[-었습니다, -았습니다, -였습니다] are combined with the verb stem.
I read a book = 나는 책을 읽었습니다 (읽 + -었습니다)
I always came here = 나는 항상 이곳을 왔습니다 (오 + -았습니다)
I practiced piano = 나는 피아노를 연습했습니다 (연습하 + -였습니다)
Honorific Sentence Endings (Future Tense)
1. Informal with no respect
[-겠어] is combined with the verb stem.
I will read a book = 나는 책을 읽겠어 (읽 + -겠어)
I will always come here = 나는 항상 이곳을 오겠어 (오 + -겠어)
I will practice piano = 나는 피아노를 연습하겠어 (연습하 + -겠어)
2. Formal with low respect
[-겠어요] is combined with the verb stem.
I will read a book = 나는 책을 읽겠어요 (읽 + -겠어요)
I will always come here = 나는 항상 이곳을 오겠어요 (오 + -겠어요)
I will practice piano = 나는 피아노를 연습하겠어요 (연습하 + -겠어요)
3. Formal with high respect
[-겠습니다] is combined with the verb stem.
I will read a book = 나는 책을 읽겠습니다 (읽 + -겠습니다)
I will always come here = 나는 항상 이곳을 오겠습니다 (오 + -겠습니다)
I will practice piano = 나는 피아노를 연습하겠습니다 (연습하 + -겠습니다)
Table of Verbs (present, past, and future)
Table of Adjectives (present, past, and future)
The adjectives are conjugated in the same way as the verbs.
이다 (To be)
Present
1. Informal with no respect
[-(이)야] is combined with the verb stem.
When a verb stem ends with a vowel, it is combined with [-야].
When a verb stem ends with a consonant, it is combined with [-이야].
I am a singer = 나는 가수 + [-야] = 나는 가수야
That is a book = 그것은 책 + [-이야] = 그것은 책이야
*Negative way*
[-야] is combined with “아니다 (Not to be)”
그것은 책이 아니 + [-야] = 그것은 책이 아니야 = That is not a book
나는 가수가 아니 + [-야] = 나는 가수가 아니야 = I am not a singer
2. Formal with low respect
[-이에요/예요] are combined with the verb stem.
When a verb stem ends with a vowel, it is combined with [-예요].
When a verb stem ends with a consonant, it is combined with [-이에요].
That is a piano = 그것은 피아노 + [-예요] = 그것은 피아노예요
I am a policeman = 나는 경찰 + [-이에요] = 나는 경찰이에요
*Negative way*
[-예요/에요] is combined with “아니다 (Not to be)”
그것은 피아노가 아니 + [-예요] = 그것은 피아노가 아니예요 = That is not a piano
나는 경찰이 아니 + [-에요] = 나는 경찰이 아니에요 = I am not a policeman
3. Formal with high respect
[-ㅂ/입니다] is combined with the verb stem.
When a verb stem ends with a vowel or a consonant, it is combined with [-입니다].
I am a doctor = 나는 의사 + [-입니다] = 나는 의사입니다
That is my major = 그것은 제 전공 + [-입니다] = 그것은 제 전공입니다.
*Negative way*
[-ㅂ니다] is combined with “아니다 (Not to be)”
I am not a doctor = 나는 의사가 아니 + [-ㅂ니다] = 나는 의사가 아닙니다
That is not my major = 그것은 제 전공이 아니 + [-ㅂ니다] = 그것은 제 전공이 아닙니다
Past
1. Informal with no respect
[-이었어, -였어] are combined with the verb stem.
When a verb stem ends with a vowel, it is combined with [-였어].
When a verb stem ends with a consonant, it is combined with [-이었어].
I was a soldier = 나는 군인 + [-이었어] = 나는 군인이었어
My friend was a pharmacist = 내 친구는 약사 + [-였어] = 내 친구는 약사였어
2. Formal with low respect
[-이었어요, -였어요] are combined with the verb stem.
When a verb stem ends with a vowel, it is combined with [-였어요].
When a verb stem ends with a consonant, it is combined with [-이었어요].
I was a chief = 나는 요리사 + [-였어요] = 나는 요리사였어요
That was a promise = 그것은 약속 + [-이었어요] = 그것은 약속이었어요
3. Formal with high respect
[-이었습니다, -였습니다] are combined with the verb stem.
When a verb stem ends with a vowel, it is combined with [-였습니다].
When a verb stem ends with a consonant, it is combined with [-이었습니다].
I was a lawyer = 나는 변호사 + [-였습니다] = 나는 요리사였습니다
That was a lie = 그것은 거짓말 + [-이었습니다] = 그것은 거짓말이었습니다.
*Negative way*
[아니] is combined with “-었어(요)”, “-었습니다”, “-였어(요)”, “-였습니다”.
I was not a human
나는 사람이 아니 + 었어 = 나는 사람이 아니었어
저는 사람이 아니 + 었어요 = 저는 사람이 아니었어요
저는 사람이 아니 + 었습니다 = 저는 사람이 아니었습니다.
I was not a friend
나는 친구가 아니 + 였어 = 나는 친구가 아니였어
저는 친구가 아니 + 였어요 = 저는 친구가 아니였어요
저는 친구가 아니 + 였습니다 = 저는 친구가 아니었습니다.
Future
There are two ways to present the future. We are going to use [이다] and another verb [되다] which means “to become”. They are used depending on the noun which fits more in a given sentence. Let's look at them one by one to see the difference.
1. Informal with no respect
[-일 거야] is combined with [이다]
[-될 거야] is combined with [되다]
When a noun ends with a vowel, it is combined with [-가]
When a noun ends with a consonant, it is combined with [-이]
He would be Chinese = 그는 중국인 + [-일 거야] = 그는 중국인일 거야
South Korea would be a good country = 한국은 좋은 나라 + [-일 거야] = 한국은 좋은 나라일 거야
I would become a professor = 나는 교수가 + [-될 거야] = 나는 교수가 될 거야
My friend would become a poet = 내 친구는 시인이 + [-될 거야] = 내 친구는 시인이 될 거야
2. Formal with low respect
[-일 거예요] is combined with [이다]
[-될 거예요] is combined with [되다]
When a noun ends with a vowel, it is combined with [-가]
When a noun ends with a consonant, it is combined with [-이]
That would be a face = 그것은 얼굴 + [-일 거예요] = 그것은 얼굴일 거예요
Seoul would be a capital = 서울은 수도 + [-일 거예요] = 서울은 수도일 거예요
I would become a teacher = 저는 선생님이 + [-될 거예요] = 나는 선생님이 될 거예요
My friend would become an interpreter = 제 친구는 통역사가 + [-될 거예요] = 내 친구는 통역사가 될 거예요
3. Formal with high respect
[-일 것입니다] is combined with [이다]
[-될 것입니다] is combined with [되다]
When a noun ends with a vowel, it combines with [-가]
When a noun ends with a consonant, it combines with [-이]
That would be a paper = 그것은 종이 + [-일 것입니다] = 그것은 종이일 것입니다
That would be my car = 저것은 제 차 + [-일 것입니다] = 저것은 제 차일 것입니다
I would become a model = 저는 모델이 + [-될 것입니다] = 저는 모델이 될 것입니다
My friend would become an author = 제 친구는 작가가 + [-될 것입니다] = 제 친구는 작가가 될 것입니다
*Negative way*
[아니] is combined with “-었어(요)”, “-었습니다”, “-였어(요)”, “-였습니다”.
[아니] is combined with [-일 거야], [-될 거야]
[아니] is combined with [-일 거예요], [-될 거예요]
[아니] is combined with [-일 것입니다], [-될 것입니다]
My friend would not be an idiot = 내 친구는 바보가 아니 + [일 거야] = 내 친구는 바보가 아닐 거야
My friend would not become an idiot = 내 친구는 바보가 아니 + [될 거야] = 내 친구는 바보가 안될 거야
I would not be a student = 저는 학생이 아니 + [-일 거예요] = 저는 학생이 아닐 거예요
I would not become a student = 저는 학생이 아니 + [-될 거예요] = 저는 학생이 안될 거예요
Here would not be a park = 이곳은 공원이 아니 + [일 것입니다] = 이곳은 공원이 아닐 것입니다
Here would not become a park = 이곳은 공원이 아니 + [될 것입니다] = 이곳은 공원이 안될 것입니다
Note: Once again, this is grammatically correct, but it requires more context to make a full sentence. This is used to display an example of how to conjugate verbs/adjectives.
In the next chapter, let's learn how to apply the honorific systems learned in a conversation.