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Learn Korean with KoreanClass101.com! Korean is a language which heavily inflects social hierarchy. According to different relationships, one is expected to be polite to certain people, and is not expected to be polite to others. And as no one wants to be rude when learning a new language, listen in to find out what Politeness Levels in Korean is all about! And after listening, remember to stop by KoreanClass101.com and leave us a post!



This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Korean Culture Class . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

22 Responses to “Korean Culture Class #5 - Politeness Levels”

KoreanClass101.com says:

여러분… how do you feel about politeness levels?

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maxiewawa 김 says:

시러헤요

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오스틴 says:

It certainly makes learning Korean a bit more difficult.. However, I like knowing how people are treating me when they speak to me.

My favorite example… My mom and her friend were coming to visit, and I wanted to ask around at hotels near my apartment. So I went into one, and found the manager sitting as his desk, with the phone to his ear, so I patiently waited….. and waited. After about 20 seconds, he scowled at me and said…

“말해” SPEAK! (It’s like saying “What the hell do you want?”)
So I explained how my mom was coming, and I wanted to see what the rooms were like. He refused to show any to me.. not because he was full, but because he didn’t want any Americans staying there.

It was probably one of the seedier motels on that street, so it’s a good thing I didn’t send my mom there, but the guy was just plain rude!

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선현우 says:

Austin,

That was quite an experience!! :-(
That guy was really rude. I don’t think he’ll ever do that to anyone who looks older than him. As long as he works there, that motel will never stand a chance of being successful!

Like you said, knowing 존댓말 and 반말 can certainly be beneficial in such embarrassing situations, but you can only get closer to people a lot more quickly if you know how to 존댓말 and 반말 properly, right? :-)

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선현우 says:

I have two 여동생(younger sisters) and they both use 반말 to my parents but I rarely use 반말 to them becuase I find myself more comfortable using 존댓말 to them :D

For example, while my sister would say “엄마, 배 고파” I would always say “엄마, 배 고파요.” (although in fact I never have to worry about being hungry when I’m with her - the food is always there even before I get hungry. haha) Oh I miss my parents! :-)

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사라 says:

Although it makes learning the language a little harder, I think the different politeness levels are my favorite part of the language. I know you can show respect in English but I like the fact that Korean leaves no room for guessing if the other person is being respectful/polite or not. I also like that being polite to a stranger or to anyone older than you is just something that you do naturally.

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선현우 says:

사라,

I didn’t realize before you mentioned it that using polite Korean to strangers is a virtue, but I guess it really is something that all Korean people are used to and it’s really good because you show respect in your language to the other person even before you get to know them.

But again, using the politeness level speech is really the minimum politeness that you can show, right? Some people can still be rude while talking in polite speech, heh heh. :D

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Daniel K says:

Sometimes it can feel strange when someone uses too much politeness, when they don’t have to. I was sitting in the park reading a couple months ago, when an older gentleman sat down near me and looked at my book. We had a conversation in a combination of English and Korean. When this man spoke to me in Korean, he used the most formal form of politeness– and the honourific form of the verb! It made me feel a little uncomfortable, because I was so young. I know he was just being polite because it was our first time meeting, but still.

In my first Korean book, it said the formal form is slightly more common among men. It also said that men should use it occasionally to sound more masculine. If you just use the standard politeness level too much, the book said your Korean might sound a bit effeminate. Anyone else heard that before?

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Keith says:

Sara, I agree… it’s nice that there’s no room to guess. But more than politeness levels, I think the tone of voice is the most important in terms of politeness :P

Daniel, I have heard that, and it is slightly true… but I think that may be Korean maybe about 20 years ago. From what I’ve noticed, almost everyone, male and female use the standard politeness level for nearly everything these days. :grin:

And I’m not totally sure about this, but I think some dialects in Korean use the formal politeness level more commonly…

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steved says:

저기요. 있지 않아요. 징징거리기는요. 정말 쉬운것 같아요. :lol:

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inyx says:

I don’t know if you guy’s touched on this, but is there a difference inside the levels too?

Standard - 해요 and 하새요
Formal - 합니다 and 하십니다

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Keith says:

iynx, actually there is a difference… the honorific infix (시) is used when respecting the person referred to in the sentence (sometimes, not the listener).

it’s a bit more advanced, so we plan on touching upon it in Beginner Lesson Season 2! :mrgreen:

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오스틴 says:

Good eye/ear inyx…here’s mt 2 cents.

Adding the 세 to ~해요 is respectful AND sort of like adding ‘please’ in English.

But it is implicit for standard politeness in some cases:
-You would never say 주요 (give me) even though it is ‘polite’. Instead (주세요), (please give me)

Adding 시 to ~합니다 is a way to talk about someone in the 2nd or third person respectfully.

I hear this at McDondalds frequently (주무하신 홋케이크 나와습니다) “The hotcake you ordered came out.” It would be OK to call it a 주문한 홋케이크 too, since that’s what it is (lit. ordered hotcake) but because I’m the customer who reserves respect… :-)

btw… correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that ~시 can be added in standard politeness level too

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오스틴 says:

—> 주문하신 홋케이크 나와습니다 :oops:

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inyx says:

oh gogo season 2!

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선현우 says:

오스틴 :D

맞아요. 동사(verb)에 “시”를 더하면 더욱 정중한(polite) 표현이 되죠.

갑니다

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선현우 says:

주문하신 홋케이크 나와습니다

–> 주문하신 핫케이크 나왔습니다. ^^

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The KoreanClass101.com Blog says:

[…] Essentially, this is the socially appropriate form of language that is used depending on the situation. Think “Please” and “Thank you” times a million. […]

Jeroen says:

What about when you speak to children? Like.. I suppose if you’re speaking to a whole group you’d use standard, whether you know them or not? What about if you speak to one kid that you’ve never seen before, use intimate? I’m 20 years old.

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Austin (오민) says:

@Jeroen

Great question… and there isn’t really a straightforward answer.

반말 is appropriate when talking to kids individually in every case. But often teachers will use 존댓말 when addressing the whole group or asking the class a question. However, if the teacher is angry, and trying to discipline the whole class for being loud, or for doing poorly on a test, the teacher will likely use 반말. The letter I wrote to my students before I left Korea was in standard level

And, even individually, 존댓말 can be used, it just depends on the precise tone you want to communicate.

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선현우(Hyunwoo Sun) says:

Jeroen :)

Like Austin said, there isn’t a straightforward answer to that. :) If I see a kid who’s about 10 years old, though, I would definitely use 반말 :D

but from Middle school up, I wouldn’t use 반말 to them because they are old enough to be ‘respected’ as a social individual :)

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llallaful says:

i cant open the file

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