Learn about Korean politness levels
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are Korean politeness levels? |
| Kyejin: And which one should I use? |
| Michael: At KoreanClass101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following situation, Seo So-yeong is visiting her friend Karen Morris at home. Karen's son, Ben Morris, opens the door for her: |
| "Welcome, come on in!" |
| Ben Morris: 어서 오세요! (Eoseo oseyo!) |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Morris: 어서 오세요! (Eoseo oseyo!) |
| Seo So-yeong: 반가워요, 벤! (Bangawoyo, ben!) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Seo So-yeong: 어서 오세요! (Eoseo oseyo!) |
| Michael: "Welcome, come on in!" |
| Seo So-yeong: 반가워요, 벤! (Bangawoyo, ben!) |
| Michael: "Nice to meet you, Ben." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: One of the most important things you're going to learn when you're studying Korean is the Korean politeness levels, also known as speech levels. This level system is part of the addressee honorification which raises or lowers the listener, either formally or informally. Each of these levels is used to differentiate the degree of courtesy or respect shown to an individual or a group of people the speaker is addressing. In total, there are seven Korean speech levels, and they are mainly divided into two main streams, formal and informal. Then, within these two criteria, the politeness levels are once again classified depending on how much the speaker "raises" or "lowers" the listener. Five of these levels are formal speech, or |
| Kyejin: 격식체 (gyeoksikche) |
| Michael: These are the speech levels often used in settings where the speaker is in a formal or an official setting. The remaining two levels are informal speech, or |
| Kyejin: 비격식체 (bigyeoksikche) |
| Michael: and are the types of speech you will usually use in casual conversations where you don't have to be formal. Let's start with the first five levels, beginning with |
| Kyejin: 하소서체 (Hasoseo-che) |
| Michael: This is considered as a very formally polite level and has been traditionally used to show the utmost respect when addressing royalty. Nowadays, you will find this kind of speech in religious writings, such as the Bible, but it's rarely used in daily conversations.The next speech level is |
| Kyejin: 하십시오체 (Hasipsio-che) |
| Michael: or a formal, highly addressee-raising speech. This is a formal polite level and is a very respectful form of speech. In modern Korea, this speech is used when addressing strangers or when speaking to elders. It's often used in the service industry, particularly when addressing customers. It's also used in business settings, such as when addressing a CEO. The third speech level on our list is |
| Kyejin: 하오체 (Haoche) |
| Michael: a formal, moderately addressee-raising speech. It's an old-fashioned style of formal speech, although you will often encounter it if you watch historical Korean dramas. It is the form of speech used between two people of the same rank, such as when two kings meet. It can be used when addressing people of the same rank, or even lower, while still maintaining a degree of respect. Keep in mind that this style of speech should not be used when addressing someone with a higher rank than you. The next Korean speech level is |
| Kyejin: 하게체 (Hage-che) |
| Michael: it's a formal, moderately addressee-lowering speech. This one is used to address people of the same rank or lower. It's relatively outdated, although, in modern Korea, a person with a high-ranking position may address someone lower in rank using this speech level. This particular speech level is not used when addressing children and should never be used when addressing blood relatives. Oftentimes, it's used by older people when speaking to younger people in a friendly manner—for example when a mother-in-law is addressing her son-in-law. It's also occasionally used between (aged) adult male friends. |
| Kyejin: 해라체 (Haera-che) |
| Michael: is a formal, highly addressee-lowering speech. It can be considered as formally impolite. It lowers the addressee greatly and thus is used when addressing people of the same rank or lower. This speech level may also be found from official documents like a thesis or on the news, when objective information is being delivered. Now, let's move on to the informal speech levels. First, there is |
| Kyejin: 해요체 (Haeyo-che) |
| Michael: an informal, addressee-raising speech. This is an informal, yet polite, form of speech. This is the speech style most foreigners learn first because of its simplicity and the fact that it's the one used in everyday situations. People use this speech level when addressing strangers and elderly individuals. It's a fairly highly polite speech level, although it's often used casually. Next, we have |
| Kyejin: 해체 (Hae-che) |
| Michael: which is an Informal, addressee-lowering speech. This level of speech seems to be the most intimate of the seven. It's an informal, casual speech that does not raise the listener. This is the one used between family members, close friends, pets, and should never be used when addressing people you are not extremely familiar with. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Ben Morris says "Welcome, come on in?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Kyejin: 어서 오세요! (Eoseo oseyo!) |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how So-yeong Seo says "Nice to meet you, Ben?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Kyejin: 반가워요, 벤! (Bangawoyo, ben!) |
| Michael: In this exchange between So-yeong and Ben, we can observe that the speech level used is |
| Kyejin: 해요체 (Haeyo-che) |
| Michael: As mentioned, this is the most common polite way of speech used in Korea, and the one often learned first by foreigners due to its simplicity and practicability. |
| Michael: It's a casual, yet polite, speech level, and Ben's use of it in addressing his mom's friend was appropriate. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned that there are a total of seven politeness levels, or speech levels, in Korean. The first one is |
| Kyejin: 하소서체 (Hasoseo-che) |
| Michael: The most formal and polite level that was traditionally used to address royalty but scarcely used in modern Korean. The second one is |
| Kyejin: 하십시오체 (Hasipsio-che) |
| Michael: a formally polite level when addressing strangers or when speaking to elders. The third one is |
| Kyejin: 해요체 (Haeyo-che) |
| Michael: an informal, yet polite, form of speech, and is the speech style of choice in everyday conversations. The next one is |
| Kyejin: 하오체 (Haoche) |
| Michael: is a formal and moderate addressee raising form of speech that's relatively outdated. It's used to address individuals of the same rank or lower while still maintaining some degree of respect or politeness. The fifth speech level is |
| Kyejin: 하게체 (Hage-che) |
| Michael: which is used in formal settings when addressing people of the same rank or lower. It's also a bit outdated already, although someone with a higher rank may use it to address a subordinate or a person with a lower rank. The next one is |
| Kyejin: 해체 (Hae-che) |
| Michael: the most intimate level of politeness and is an informal or casual speech that has no added degree of formality. It's the one you use when addressing extremely familiar people like your family and friends. Lastly, there is |
| Kyejin: 해라체 (Haera-che) |
| Michael: which is the formal, but highly addressee-lowering speech. It's used without any added degree of politeness, so it's only used when addressing a person of the same rank or lower. However, it's also used in formal settings when delivering information through official papers or news. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: We've learned that there are seven levels of speech or politeness in Korean, but, did you know that, in contemporary Korea, only four levels or styles of speech are used in everyday life? The first three styles are referred to as |
| Kyejin: 존댓말 (Jondaenmal) |
| Michael: which is used to "raise" the listener, and includes the speech levels |
| Kyejin: 하십시오체 (Hasipsio-che), |
| Michael: This speech level is used by adding |
| Kyejin: -ㅂ니다 / 습니다 (-bnida / -seumnida) |
| Michael: to verb or adjective stems for declarative sentences and |
| Kyejin: -(으)십시오 (-(eu)sipsio) |
| Michael: for imperative sentences. Remember how Ben greeted So-yeong? He said "Welcome, come on in'' which is actually an imperative remark, thus making her enter his house. And the response So-yeong made was a declarative sentence. Now, how about we try raising their conversation into formal, highly addressee raising speech? It would look like |
| Kyejin: 어서 오십시오! (Eoseo osipsio!) |
| Kyejin: 반갑습니다, 벤! (Bangapseumnida, Ben)! |
| Michael: Our next level is |
| Kyejin: 해요체 (Haeyo-che) |
| Michael: This speech level is used by adding |
| Kyejin : -어요/-아요 (-eoyo/-ayo) |
| Michael: for declarative and |
| Kyejin: -어요/-아요/-세요 (-eoyo/-ayo/-seyo) |
| Michael: for imperative sentences. That's how our conversation between Ben and So-yeong was conjugated. |
| Kyejin: 어서 오세요! (Eoseo oseyo!) |
| Kyejin: 반가워요, 벤! (Bangawoyo, Ben!) |
| Michael: The other two out of the four commonly used speech levels can be referred to as |
| Kyejin: 반말 (banmal). |
| Michael: First, we have |
| Kyejin: 해라체 (Haera-che) |
| Michael: This speech level is used by conjugating with |
| Kyejin: -다/-는다 (-da/-neunda) |
| Michael: for declarative and |
| Kyejin: -어라/-아라 (-eora/-ara) |
| for imperative sentences. So, if we were to turn Ben and So-yeong's conversation into this speech level (though it's not likely to happen in reality), it would sound like |
| Kyejin: 어서 와라! (Eoseo wara! ) |
| Kyejin: 반갑다, 벤! (Bangapda, Ben!) |
| Michael: Lastly, we have the most intimate speech, which is |
| Kyejin: 해체 (Hae-che) |
| Michael: The conjugation is done by placing |
| Kyejin:-아/-어 (-a/-eo) |
| Michael: for both declarative and imperative sentences. If the dialogue is spoken at this level, it would be: |
| Kyejin: 어서 와! (Eoseo wa!) |
| Kyejin: 반가워, 벤! (Bangawo, Ben!) |
| Michael: Always remember that politeness and respect are intricately associated with the language and the culture of Koreans. It's important to be aware of when each of the speech levels we've discussed in this lesson are used. Not using speech styles appropriately may easily offend your listeners. The good news is that, if you're a foreigner, Koreans most likely won't get mad if you address them in a wrong way. Nevertheless, most people of higher ranks might consider it impolite even for foreigners to address them in the most "lowering" or casual way, such as using the greeting |
| Kyejin: 안녕. (annyeong) |
| Michael: meaning "hi," so we can simply change it to the more appropriate informal, addressee raising speech. |
| Kyejin: 안녕하세요. (annyeonghaseyo) |
| Michael: meaning "hello." That said, it would be wonderful for learners of the Korean language to be familiar even with the most basic rules when it comes to Korean politeness levels just to be sure. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Kyejin: 안녕히 계세요. (annyeonghi gyeseyo.) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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