Politeness Level: A Deep Dive into Korean Honorifics
In Korea, speaking with attention to politeness is mandatory as they affect social levels and politeness values. Mistakes in the choice of politeness level can be perceived as demeaning to a person. Therefore, understanding the context and relationship with the opposite person is essential to use the proper level of politeness in speaking and writing in Korean.
The communication etiquette used in Korean is divided into 4 levels based on the level of politeness, namely informal (unofficial) used to speak with friends, semi-formal to speak with older or younger people, formal for older people, and very formal for older people or formal occasions.
1. Present Tense
Simple sentences using 이다 are the easiest sentences to explain sentence based on courtesy level. In the present tense, 이다 can be changed into 4 depending on the politeness.
a. Informal Sentence
Informal structure, 이다 will be changed to 이야 if the last word before 이다 ends with a consonant or 야 if the last word before 이다 ends with a vowel. Examples:
> 나의 아버지는 선생님 이야
(my father is a teacher)
> 나는 의사 야
(I am a doctor)
b. Semi-Formal
The semi-formal style has a consistent sentence structure, using 이다 but changing to 이에요 if the last word before 이다 ends in a consonant, and 예요 if the last word before 이다 ends with a vowel. Here are some examples:
> 저의 아버지는 좋은 사람 이에요
(my father is a good person)
> 그 사람은 저의 누나 예요
(that person is my sister)
c. Formal
We do not need to replace the word "이다" with another form. This is because "이다" is a highly polite word and can be considered as the highest or semi-formal level. Here are some examples:
> 저의 친구는 좋은 사람 이다
(My friend is a good person)
> 이 건물은 박물관 이다
(This building is a museum)
d. Very Formal
It is the highest level of politeness and is used when speaking to older people, respected people, or for formal conversations. This level is indicated by the word "입니다" for both vowel and consonant endings. Examples include:
> 저의 삼천은 의사 입니다
(My uncle is a doctor)
> 이 것은 소고기 입니다
(This is beef)
Read Also The Related Topic: Honorific 시
2. Past Tense
Just like past tense, "이다" will be changing depend on the last syllable.
a. Informal
"이다" changes to "이었어" for the last word before "이다" ends with a consonant and "였어" (이 + 었어) for the last word before "이다" ends with a vowel.
> 나는 똑똑한 남자 였어
(I was a smart guy)
b. Semi-Formal
Now, we only need to add the word "요" after the word "었어" or "였어". Examples:
> 저는 가수였어요
(I was a singer)
c. Formal
This chapter is almost the same as the semi-formal level, we only need to change "요" to "다". Examples:
> 저는 잘생긴남자 였다
(I was a handsome man)
d. Very Formal
Now, we need to add 습니다 after "이었" or "였" to express the highest politeness. Examples:
> 그집은 저의집 이었습니다
(that house was my house)
> 이가방은 저의친구 였습니자
(this bag was my friend’s bag)
3. Future Tense
In the previous lesson, we have learned about the present tense and past tense using honorific sentences, and we’ve known how to speak “will” using "겠다". But, in this kind of sentence structure, we can also add "을/를 것 이다". Let’s look at the following examples in the image below.
As we can see from the examples above, the difference lies only in the written form between "겠다" and "을 것". In general, the meaning of each example sentence is the same. However, in this particular sentence, "을 것이다" is replaced by "겠다," which is combined with "이다". Let's look at the following examples:
나는 축구 할게 (I will play football)
저는 소설을 읽을 것이다 (I will read a novel)
저는 밥을 먹을거예요 (I will eat rice)
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