Korean Honorifics — 요, 시, and When to Use Them

Korean politeness has two separate switches: 요 is polite to the person you are talking to, and -(으)시- honors the person you are talking about. Add 요 to the end of a sentence with strangers, shop staff and anyone older. Add 시 inside the verb when the subject is someone you respect — a teacher, a grandparent, a customer. Many beginners think these are one rule; once you see they are two, honorifics get much easier.

1. Switch one — 요 (who you talk to)

The ending of the sentence shows how polite you are to your listener. These are the three levels you will hear most:

Casual speech is basically the polite form without 요: 가요 → 가, 먹어요 → 먹어, 좋아요 → 좋아. Using 반말 with someone who hasn't invited it can sound rude, so start with 요 and switch only when the other person suggests it — Koreans often ask 말 놓을까요? ("Shall we speak casually?").

2. Switch two — -(으)시- (who you talk about)

-(으)시- goes inside the verb, right after the stem, to show respect for the subject of the sentence. Use -으시- after a consonant and -시- after a vowel.

Now you can see the two switches working separately:

• 선생님이 오세요. — The teacher is coming. (honoring the teacher and polite to the listener)
• 동생이 와요. — My younger sibling is coming. (no honor for a little brother, but still polite to the listener)
• 할머니가 오셔. — Grandma's coming. (said to a close friend: no 요, but Grandma still gets 시)

You also hear -(으)세요 as a gentle request: 앉으세요 ("Please sit down"), 이쪽으로 오세요 ("Come this way, please").

3. Special honorific words

A handful of very common verbs don't just add 시 — they switch to a different word.

So you ask an older person 맛있게 드세요 ("Enjoy your meal"), say good night with 안녕히 주무세요, and on the phone ask 사장님 계세요? ("Is the boss in?").

One fine point: 계시다 is for a person being somewhere. When the subject has something, use 있으시다: 선생님은 교실에 계세요 (the teacher is in the classroom), but 선생님, 시간 있으세요? (do you have time?).

Some nouns and particles have honorific forms too: 집 → 댁 (home), 나이 → 연세 (age), 이름 → 성함 (name), 밥 → 진지 (meal), and the subject particle 이/가 → 께서: 할아버지께서 주무세요.

4. Giving to and meeting someone you respect

When the person you respect is on the receiving end, the verb changes instead of adding 시:

• 주다 → 드리다: 선생님께 꽃을 드렸어요. (I gave the teacher flowers.)
• 보다 (meet) → 뵙다: 처음 뵙겠습니다. (Nice to meet you — literally "I'm seeing you for the first time.")
• 묻다 → 여쭤보다: 선생님께 여쭤볼게요. (I'll ask the teacher.)

Notice 에게 ("to") becomes 께 here.

5. A common slip — honoring things

In some shops you may hear 주문하신 커피 나오셨습니다. Staff mean to be extra polite, but -(으)시- should honor people, not the coffee. The standard form is 주문하신 커피 나왔습니다 — the 하신 already honors the customer who ordered.

Where to start

You don't need everything at once. Begin with these four and you will sound polite in almost any situation: 해요체 endings (-요), -(으)세요 for requests, 저 instead of 나, and 드세요 / 주무세요 / 계세요 for older people. Try them in short dialogues in Everyday Korean.