Honorific -(으)시 in Korean

In Brief

Add -(으)시- to a verb stem when the subject—the person doing the action or being described—deserves respect. Use -시- after a vowel and -으시- after most consonants: 가다 → 가세요, 읽다 → 읽으세요. This is different from choosing a polite sentence ending for the person listening.

Overview

Korean politeness works in more than one direction. A polite ending such as -아/어요 shows courtesy to the listener. The honorific suffix -(으)시- raises the status of the sentence's subject: an elder, teacher, supervisor, customer, guest, or another person you wish to treat respectfully. In 선생님이 오세요, -시- honors the teacher, while the final polite ending addresses the listener courteously.

English does not normally change a verb because its subject deserves respect. It may use a title such as “Professor,” a courteous expression, or a more formal tone instead. Korean can mark that social relationship inside the verb, so English speakers must learn to ask not only “Am I speaking politely?” but also “Whom is this sentence about?”

This is an early A1 pattern because forms such as 하세요, 오세요, and 안녕하세요 occur constantly. The beginner rule is manageable: find the subject, decide whether that person should be honored, and place -(으)시- before the final ending. Social details and special vocabulary can be learned gradually.

How It Works

1. Start with the verb stem

The stem is the part left after removing dictionary-form -다:

Dictionary form	Stem	Meaning
가다	가-	go
오다	오-	come
읽다	읽-	read
찾다	찾-	look for
하다	하-	do

Attach the honorific marker to that stem.

2. Choose -시- or -으시-

Stem ending	Pattern	Dictionary form with honorific	Common polite form
Vowel	stem + 시	가다 → 가시다	가세요
Consonant except ㄹ	stem + 으시	읽다 → 읽으시다	읽으세요
ㄹ	drop ㄹ + 시	살다 → 사시다	사세요
하다	하 + 시	하다 → 하시다	하세요

The ㄹ rule matters: 살으세요 is not the standard form. Remove ㄹ first: 살다 → 사세요. Other common examples are 알다 → 아세요 (“know”) and 만들다 → 만드세요 (“make”).

3. Add the sentence ending

The underlying combination -시- + -어요 contracts to -세요:

• 가 + 시 + 어요 → 가세요
• 읽 + 으시 + 어요 → 읽으세요
• 하 + 시 + 어요 → 하세요

This explains why -세요 can appear in an ordinary statement as well as in a request. 어머니가 매일 운동하세요 means “Mother exercises every day”; it is not a command. Whether a form is a statement, question, or request depends on context, intonation, and sentence structure.

4. Combine it with tense and speech level

The honorific marker comes before tense and the final ending:

verb stem + -(으)시- + tense + final ending

Function	가다 “go”	읽다 “read”	하다 “do”
Present polite	가세요	읽으세요	하세요
Present formal	가십니다	읽으십니다	하십니다
Past polite	가셨어요	읽으셨어요	하셨어요
Past formal	가셨습니다	읽으셨습니다	하셨습니다
Polite question	가세요?	읽으세요?	하세요?
Future/planned	가실 거예요	읽으실 거예요	하실 거예요

In the past, 시 + 었 contracts to 셨: 가시었어요 → 가셨어요. In future-style -(으)ㄹ 거예요, the honorific form supplies -실 or -으실: 가실 거예요, 읽으실 거예요.

5. Honor the subject, not automatically the listener

Compare these two dimensions:

Sentence	Subject honored?	Listener addressed politely?	Meaning
선생님이 와.	No	No	The teacher is coming.
선생님이 와요.	No	Yes	The teacher is coming.
선생님이 오세요.	Yes	Yes	The teacher is coming.
선생님이 오십니다.	Yes	Yes, formally	The teacher is coming.

The second sentence is polite to the listener but does not grammatically honor the teacher. The third and fourth do both. In respectful everyday conversation, the third is often the natural choice.

Because Korean often omits subjects, context may supply the honored person:

• 언제 오세요? — “When are you coming?” or “When is he/she coming?”
• 지금 뭐 하세요? — “What are you doing?”

Here -시- may honor the listener because the omitted subject is “you.” It still marks subject honorification; it is not simply another word for “polite.”

6. Subject particles often become honorific too

The regular subject particles 이/가 can be replaced by honorific 께서 when the subject is respected:

• 선생님이 오세요.
• 선생님께서 오세요.

Both can be respectful because the verb contains -시-. 께서 makes the honorific relationship more explicit and can sound more formal. Beginners do not need to replace every 이/가 with 께서; in conversation, a title plus 이/가 and an honorific verb is common.

7. Action verbs, descriptive verbs, and the copula

Korean “adjectives” behave like verbs when they describe a subject. They can therefore take the honorific marker:

• 할머니가 건강하세요. — “Grandmother is healthy.”
• 교수님이 바쁘세요. — “The professor is busy.”

The copula 이다 (“be” after a noun) has the respectful polite form 이세요/세요:

• 의사이세요. — “He/She is a doctor.”
• 선생님이세요. — “He/She is a teacher.”

After a noun ending in a consonant, 이세요 is possible; after a vowel, use 세요. In actual speech, 이세요 may also be heard after vowel-final nouns, but the basic contrast above is a useful starting point.

8. Some verbs have special honorific forms

With several very common actions, Korean prefers a special honorific verb rather than merely adding -(으)시- to the plain verb.

Plain verb	Special honorific	Meaning	Example
먹다 / 마시다	드시다	eat / drink	뭐 드세요?
자다	주무시다	sleep	할머니가 주무세요.
있다	계시다	be, stay	선생님이 교실에 계세요.
말하다	말씀하시다	speak, say	선생님이 말씀하세요.
죽다	돌아가시다	pass away	할아버지께서 돌아가셨어요.

Notice that many special forms already contain 시 historically or structurally. Do not add another -시-: say 주무세요, not 주무시세요. A fuller set belongs to later study, but 드시다, 주무시다, and 계시다 are worth recognizing early.

Examples in Context

Korean	English	Note
어머니가 오세요.	Mother is coming.	The subject, 어머니, is honored.
선생님이 한국어를 가르치세요.	The teacher teaches Korean.	Vowel stem: 가르치- + 시.
할아버지께서 신문을 읽으세요.	Grandfather reads the newspaper.	Consonant stem: 읽- + 으시.
부모님은 서울에 사세요.	My parents live in Seoul.	ㄹ drops: 살다 → 사세요.
사장님이 지금 회의하세요.	The company president is in a meeting now.	하다 → 하세요.
교수님은 오늘 바쁘세요.	The professor is busy today.	A descriptive verb can honor its subject.
선생님이세요?	Are you a teacher?	Respectful copula; the omitted subject is “you.”
어제 병원에 가셨어요.	He/She went to the hospital yesterday.	Past honorific form; identity comes from context.
아버지는 내일 돌아오실 거예요.	Father will come back tomorrow.	Honorific marker before the future construction.
언제 출발하십니까?	When will you depart?	Formal question.
뭐 드시겠어요?	What would you like to eat?	Special honorific 드시다 plus -겠-.
할머니께서 주무세요.	Grandmother is sleeping.	Special honorific of 자다.
김 선생님이 사무실에 계세요.	Mr./Ms. Kim is in the office.	계시다 honors a respected person who is present.
안녕히 가세요.	Goodbye.	Said to someone who is leaving.

Common Mistakes

Treating -세요 as only a command

• Wrong interpretation: 아버지가 일하세요. = “Father, please work.”
• Right interpretation: 아버지가 일하세요. = “Father works/is working.”
• Why: With 아버지가 as the stated subject, 일하세요 is an honorific statement. The same form can make a request when the addressee is the understood subject: 여기에서 일하세요 (“Please work here”).

Honoring the wrong person

• Wrong: 제가 가세요.
• Right: 제가 가요. — “I am going.”
• Why: -시- honors the subject. Speakers normally do not honor themselves. If “I” is the subject, use an appropriate polite ending for the listener without adding -시-.

Forgetting the extra 으 after a consonant

• Wrong: 선생님이 책을 읽세요.
• Right: 선생님이 책을 읽으세요.
• Why: A stem ending in a consonant other than ㄹ takes -으시-: 읽- + 으시- + 어요 → 읽으세요.

Keeping ㄹ before -시-

• Wrong: 할머니가 서울에 살으세요.
• Right: 할머니가 서울에 사세요.
• Why: Stem-final ㄹ disappears before -시-: 살- → 사시- → 사세요.

Using a plain verb where a special form is expected

• Less natural: 할머니가 자세요.
• Natural: 할머니가 주무세요. — “Grandmother is sleeping.”
• Why: Common actions such as sleeping and eating have established honorific verbs. 자세요 is grammatically formed, but 주무세요 is the conventional respectful choice for a clearly honored subject.

Doubling the honorific marker

• Wrong: 할머니가 주무시세요.
• Right: 할머니가 주무세요.
• Why: 주무시다 already includes the honorific element. Its polite form contracts to 주무세요; adding another 시 overmarks it.

Usage Notes

Who normally receives subject honorification?

Typical choices include older relatives, teachers, customers, guests, supervisors, and people referred to by a professional title. Age, role, familiarity, setting, and the speaker's relationship with the listener all matter. Korean honorific use is therefore not a mechanical list of “important people.” The same person may be spoken about differently at home, among close colleagues, and in customer service.

Titles often replace pronouns or names. 선생님, 교수님, 사장님, and kinship terms such as 어머니 identify the respected subject naturally. English speakers may be tempted to repeat “he,” “she,” or “you,” but Korean commonly omits the subject once everyone knows who is meant.

Polite listener speech is not enough by itself

-아요/어요 and -(으)시- solve different problems. When telling a friend about your respected professor, you might use a casual ending but retain subject honorification: 교수님 오셨어 (“The professor came”). Conversely, 제가 했어요 is polite to the listener but correctly lacks -시-, because the subject is the speaker.

Requests can sound direct even with -세요

-(으)세요 is the standard polite request form, but politeness does not always mean softness. A bare command such as 기다리세요 can sound firm in some situations. Adding 좀, 잠깐만, or a longer request construction can soften it: 잠깐만 기다려 주세요 (“Please wait just a moment”). The grammar of polite commands is treated separately from the broader subject-honorific function.

Service language may honor the customer indirectly

In shops and restaurants, staff often use -시- in language connected with a customer's choice, order, or possession. Some expressions extend honorification beyond a straightforward human subject, and highly formulaic service speech can even attach honorific marking to products or prices. Learners should recognize this usage but should not copy every overextended service formula. In careful standard usage, honorification is anchored in a respected person.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A1, but they explain forms you will encounter.

Honorific marking can appear more than once in a long predicate

When several grammatical pieces follow a main verb, -시- appears where the respected subject is grammatically marked. Compare 가실 수 있어요 (“[the respected person] can go”) and 가셔야 해요 (“[the respected person] has to go”). The exact position follows the construction, so it is best to learn whole forms rather than insert 시 at the end by guesswork.

Honorific vocabulary and humble vocabulary point in different directions

Subject honorifics raise the person who acts: 선생님께서 말씀하셨어요 (“The teacher spoke”). Humble forms lower the speaker or the speaker's side in relation to someone respected: 선생님께 말씀드렸어요 (“I told the teacher”). The first honors the subject; the second uses a humble verb because the respected person is the recipient. These systems often work together, but they are not interchangeable.

Direct and indirect honorification

The clearest use is direct subject honorification, where the respected person is the grammatical subject: 할아버지께서 오셨어요. Korean also permits indirect honorification in some contexts, especially when a body part, possession, family member, or state is closely associated with a respected person: 할머니는 손이 크세요 (“Grandmother has large hands”). Here 손 is marked as the local subject of “be large,” while -시- honors the grandmother associated with it.

Acceptability varies with the expression and context. This is not a license to attach -시- to every sentence containing something owned by a respected person.

“Relative honorifics” are context-sensitive

Traditional descriptions sometimes discuss 압존법, the practice of not elevating one superior when speaking to an even higher-ranking person. Modern usage varies by generation, workplace, institution, and family. Many speakers continue to honor the person being discussed, and rigid textbook rules may not match daily speech. As a learner, follow the established language of your workplace or community rather than trying to calculate every hierarchy from one universal rule.

Written and spoken styles choose different endings

The honorific marker remains recognizable across speech levels:

• conversational polite: 오세요
• formal polite: 오십니다
• formal question: 오십니까?
• casual report about an honored person: 오셔 or past 오셨어

This shows again that subject honorification and listener-directed speech level are separate grammatical choices.

Practice Tips

1. Build three-form sets. For five everyday verbs, write the plain polite, honorific polite, and honorific past forms: 가요 → 가세요 → 가셨어요; 읽어요 → 읽으세요 → 읽으셨어요. This makes both placement and contraction automatic.
2. Identify two people in every sentence. Ask “Who is the subject?” and “Who is listening?” Then decide separately whether the verb needs -(으)시- and whether the ending should be polite.
3. Learn special verbs in complete phrases. Memorize 뭐 드세요?, 안녕히 주무세요, and 어디에 계세요? rather than isolated dictionary forms. Audio practice will also help you distinguish statement, question, and request uses of -세요 by intonation.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Polite Ending -아/어요 — provides the everyday listener-polite endings that combine with -(으)시-.
• Next step: Imperative -(으)세요 — focuses on using the familiar -세요 shape for polite requests and commands.
• Later study: Honorific Vocabulary — expands special forms such as 드시다, 주무시다, 계시다, and 말씀하시다.