(으)시...

[Alexis]

OK, I am SO confused about this honorific infix thingy. I've spent the past few days trying to get my head around it, and I just... don't understand! Like, OK... it's added in to... make verbs polite, yeah?

But when it comes to the conjugation, I still don't really understand why so many things have "세요"... how do you get the 세? How does 시다 turn into 세?! Ugh, I just don't get it... Also, when do you use 세 instead of 셔? How do you know when to use it?

...please help. This is driving me insane!!!!!

[gillesvdp]

Hello Alexis,

시, as you mentioned is made to introduce politeness in a sentence, but it is a different type of politeness than the ~요 ending (to make it short).

When you use ~요 or ~ㅂ니다, it shows the politeness level towards whom you are speaking.
~시 shows politeness towards who you are speaking about.

To give you an example, if you talk to your mom, you should say:
엄마, 교회에 왜 안가요? [Mom, why are you not going to Church?]
==> Usage of ~요 because you are talking to your mom.

Now imagine you are talking to your younger brother about your mom:
동생, 엄마가 교회에 왜 안 가셔? [Bro', why doesn't Mom go to church?]
In this sentence, you can see the combination of ~시 and informal language.


As for your second question regqrding 시 turning into 셔 or 세, I do not have the answer. Someone else?
[When it comes to using 시, I trust my feeling, but I guess you need a better explaination than that. :p]

[manyakumi]

Hi, Alexis.
I'll add more explanation of your question.

시 + 어요 = 셔요 -> 세요

세요 is a modern form of 셔요.
There's no grammatical rule.
Peoples got used to it since its pronunciation is easier than 셔요.

Hope this helps.

[Alexis]

Thanks, manyakumi!!! So it doesn't matter whether you use 세요 or 셔요? They're the same thing?

[manyakumi]

So it doesn't matter whether you use 세요 or 셔요? They're the same thing?

Yeah, they're same though,
We prefer using 세요 more nowadays.