"you" in Korean

[jintana23]

여러분,
I have questions. There are a lot of "you" in Korean. As far as I know, they are 당신, 너, 니 and 그대 (There might be more than these). I know it's quite simple, but I'm not sure when to use them since subjects of sentences seem to be omitted. Also which ones are polite to use and which ones are not.

감사합니다.

[kyuree]

여러분,
I have questions. There are a lot of "you" in Korean. As far as I know, they are 당신, 너, 니 and 그대 (There might be more than these). I know it's quite simple, but I'm not sure when to use them since subjects of sentences seem to be omitted. Also which ones are polite to use and which ones are not.

감사합니다.

only use 너 with people who are close to you or waaay younger than you (kids),
니 is a stressed version of 너 just like 내 is for 나.
당신 i've only seen this one in ads.
If you're not close to someone use their name (i.e. address them in the 3rd person) or their title. I'm guessing 당신 is used in ads b/c they don't know your name or title.

I hope someone else can give you more insight into this topic...

[austinfd]

Yes, the most polite thing is to use someone's name or title.

당신 can be a general catch all for "you" when you don't know someones name, or you can alternatively call them 선생님 (yes, it also means teacher... more accurately here, Sir, Ma'am)


니 and 너 are pretty well described here, I haven't come across 그대 much at all.

Just to add to the discussion:
니 is generally used as a subject. 니가.... you never hear 니는
너 goes with the topic marking particle, 너는 and the object particle, 너를
(These are regularly shortened to 넌 and 널... especially in songs)

[javiskefka]

니 is generally used as a subject. 니가.... you never hear 니는

Except in 경상도 dialect, I believe.

[kyuree]

I think 그대 is only towards a lover...

[manyakumi]

I think 그대 is only towards a lover...

I think 그대 is only towards a lover... only in the poetry and song lyrics.
Or when someone tries to make a fun with the dramatic words.

I think there was the same issue about "YOU" in this forum before.

[jintana23]

Everyone, thank you very much for taking your time replying my post. Now, I understand better. Kyuree and Manyakumi, you were right I heard 그대 from a song. But couldn't recall its name. This means I cannot use it in daily's conversation? And do you have examples ?

Manyakumi
Thanks for mentioning the forum under the same issue. Are there a lot of examples on that forum? Since I'm new in here, I don't know much about browsing the forum. If I would like to find some specific points ,do you know how to find them or just read randomly from the posted topics ?

[manyakumi]

I hope this helps.

http://www.koreanclass101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1420

[jintana23]

감사합니다 manyakumi 씨

I'll check it out now.