Imperative -(으)세요 in Korean

In Brief

Use verb stem + -(으)세요 for a polite instruction or command: 앉으세요 means “Please sit down,” and 가세요 means “Please go.” Use -지 마세요 for “please do not”: 걱정하지 마세요 means “Please don’t worry.” For a personal favor, -아/어 주세요 often sounds softer and closer to English “Could you please…?”

Overview

An imperative is a form used to tell or ask someone to do something. Korean does not rely on a separate word equivalent to English please. Instead, the verb ending, the speaker’s tone, and the relationship between the speakers show how polite or forceful the message is.

At A2, -(으)세요 is the most useful command ending to learn. You will hear it in everyday conversation, classrooms, shops, workplaces, directions, and public instructions. It is polite enough for many ordinary interactions, but it is still grammatically a directive: depending on context, 들어오세요 can sound like “Come in,” “Please come in,” or a welcoming invitation.

This ending builds on the honorific marker -(으)시-, which shows respect toward the person performing the action. In an imperative, that person is normally the listener. Korean generally leaves out the subject “you,” so 여기 앉으세요 is complete and natural without a pronoun. English speakers should also remember that adding a translation such as please does not automatically make every direct command socially appropriate; when requesting a favor, Korean often uses a request construction instead.

How It Works

The beginner rule

Find the verb stem (the dictionary form after removing -다) and look at its final sound.

Stem ending	Form	Dictionary form	Polite command
Vowel	stem + -세요	가다 “to go”	가세요
Consonant other than ㄹ	stem + -으세요	앉다 “to sit”	앉으세요
ㄹ	remove ㄹ + -세요	열다 “to open”	여세요
하다	하세요	조심하다 “to be careful”	조심하세요

The choice between -세요 and -으세요 is based on pronunciation and spelling, not on whether English would use please. A few common transformations are:

• 보다 → 보세요: Please look.
• 읽다 → 읽으세요: Please read.
• 만들다 → 만드세요: Please make it. (The final ㄹ drops.)
• 기다리다 → 기다리세요: Please wait.
• 운동하다 → 운동하세요: Please exercise.

Common irregular stems

Some verbs change their stem when an ending beginning with a vowel or 으 is attached. These are ordinary Korean conjugation patterns, not special imperative endings.

Pattern	Dictionary form	Polite command	Meaning
ㄷ irregular	듣다	들으세요	Please listen.
ㅂ irregular	돕다	도우세요	Please help.
ㄹ drop before 시	살다	사세요	Please live / Buy, please.
Regular consonant	벗다	벗으세요	Please take it off.

Do not assume that every verb ending in ㄷ or ㅂ is irregular. For example, 닫다 → 닫으세요 (“Please close it”) and 입다 → 입으세요 (“Please put it on”) are regular. Learning the polite command together with each new irregular verb is more reliable than guessing.

Negative commands: -지 마세요

To tell someone politely not to do something, attach -지 마세요 to the verb stem. This pattern does not require a vowel/consonant choice.

Dictionary form	Negative command	Meaning
가다	가지 마세요	Please don’t go.
먹다	먹지 마세요	Please don’t eat it.
걱정하다	걱정하지 마세요	Please don’t worry.
열다	열지 마세요	Please don’t open it.

Here 말다 has the sense “to refrain from doing.” For a prohibition, use -지 마세요, not the ordinary negative forms 안 or -지 않다. 안 가세요 usually means “You aren’t going?” or “(Someone) does not go,” whereas 가지 마세요 clearly means “Please don’t go.”

A command versus a favor

-(으)세요 works well for instructions, directions, invitations, and actions that are expected in the situation:

• 오른쪽으로 가세요. — Go to the right.
• 많이 드세요. — Please eat plenty.
• 편히 쉬세요. — Please rest comfortably.

When the listener is doing something specifically for you, use -아/어 주세요, literally asking them to “do it for me/us.” The ending follows the ordinary -아/어 conjugation:

• 문을 열어 주세요. — Please open the door.
• 천천히 말해 주세요. — Please speak slowly.
• 사진을 찍어 주세요. — Please take a photo.

Compare 여기에 이름을 쓰세요 (“Write your name here,” an instruction) with 여기에 주소를 써 주세요 (“Please write the address here,” a request for assistance). The boundary is not absolute, but this contrast helps English speakers avoid using a bare command where “Could you…?” would be more natural.

Casual and formal alternatives

Korean command forms change with register (the level of formality and social distance expressed by speech).

Register	Positive	Negative	Typical setting
Casual intimate	-아/어	-지 마	Close friends, younger family members
Polite everyday	-(으)세요	-지 마세요	Most ordinary polite interaction
Formal deferential	-(으)십시오	-지 마십시오	Announcements, official instructions, formal service language

Examples are 앉아 / 앉으세요 / 앉으십시오 (“Sit”), and 가지 마 / 가지 마세요 / 가지 마십시오 (“Don’t go”). Casual -아/어 can sound warm among close friends but abrupt or rude to a stranger. Formal -(으)십시오 is respectful yet often impersonal; it is common on signs and in official speech, but can sound stiff in relaxed conversation.

Examples in Context

Korean	English	Note
앉으세요.	Please sit down.	Consonant stem + -으세요
잠깐만 기다리세요.	Please wait just a moment.	Vowel stem + -세요
이쪽으로 오세요.	Please come this way.	Polite direction or invitation
책을 펴세요.	Please open your book.	Common classroom instruction
잘 들으세요.	Listen carefully.	듣다 is ㄷ-irregular
여기에서 사진을 찍으세요.	Take a photo here.	Instruction about where to act
조심하세요.	Please be careful.	Common warning or farewell
걱정하지 마세요.	Please don’t worry.	Negative command
문을 열지 마세요.	Please don’t open the door.	Prohibition with -지 마세요
천천히 말씀해 주세요.	Please speak slowly.	Respectful vocabulary plus a request
이 서류에 서명해 주세요.	Please sign this document.	Favor/request with -아/어 주세요
많이 드세요.	Please eat plenty.	Honorific 드시다 rather than 먹다
여기서 기다려.	Wait here.	Casual; only for an appropriate relationship
휴대 전화를 사용하지 마십시오.	Do not use mobile phones.	Formal public instruction

Notice that English translations often contain please even when Korean has no separate word meaning please. The politeness is carried mainly by the ending and the situation.

Common Mistakes

Adding -으세요 after every consonant, including ㄹ

• Wrong: 열으세요.
• Right: 여세요.
• Why: A stem-final ㄹ drops before the honorific 시: 열다 → 여세요. The same pattern gives 만들다 → 만드세요 and 살다 → 사세요.

Using 안 for a prohibition

• Wrong: 안 만지세요. (intended: “Please don’t touch it.”)
• Right: 만지지 마세요.
• Why: 안 만지세요 can be understood as a question or statement about not touching. A negative command uses stem + -지 마세요.

Treating -(으)세요 as a universal translation of “please”

• Awkward in many favor contexts: 사진을 찍으세요.
• More natural request: 사진을 찍어 주세요.
• Why: The first sentence tells the listener to take a photo; the second asks the listener to take one for you. Use -아/어 주세요 when the action benefits the speaker.

Using a casual command with the wrong person

• Too casual to a customer or stranger: 여기 앉아.
• Appropriate polite form: 여기 앉으세요.
• Why: -아/어 is normally reserved for close relationships or speech to someone clearly younger. English Sit here does not mark this social distinction, so English speakers must choose it deliberately in Korean.

Conjugating an irregular verb as if it were regular

• Wrong: 잘 듣으세요.
• Right: 잘 들으세요.
• Why: In this environment, 듣다 changes ㄷ to ㄹ before -으세요. Learn 들으세요 as a high-frequency form.

Overusing 당신 for “you”

• Unnatural: 당신은 여기에 앉으세요.
• Natural: 여기에 앉으세요.
• Why: Korean normally omits an obvious listener. 당신 is not a neutral everyday equivalent of English you and may sound confrontational, distant, or intimate depending on context.

Usage Notes

Tone still matters

A polite ending does not remove the force of a command. Said gently, 잠깐 기다리세요 is a courteous instruction. Said sharply, it can still be an order. Adding 좀 (“a little,” often a softener), 잠깐만 (“just a moment”), or a reason can make a request less abrupt:

• 여기 좀 보세요. — Please look here.
• 위험하니까 들어가지 마세요. — Please don’t go in because it is dangerous.

However, 좀 does not automatically make every sentence polite. The relationship, setting, and voice remain important.

Invitations and good wishes

Not every -(으)세요 sentence feels like a command. Korean uses it for welcoming invitations and conventional wishes:

• 어서 오세요. — Welcome / Please come in.
• 맛있게 드세요. — Enjoy your meal.
• 안녕히 가세요. — Goodbye (said to the person leaving).
• 푹 쉬세요. — Get plenty of rest.

These are best learned as useful expressions rather than translated word by word.

Subject honorification and special verbs

Because -(으)세요 contains honorific -(으)시-, Korean often also chooses an honorific verb when one is conventional. For eating, 드세요 (from 드시다) is more respectful than 먹으세요. For speaking, 말씀하세요 is more respectful than 말하세요. The ordinary forms are grammatically possible, but vocabulary and endings work together to set the level of respect.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of the following at A2, but these points explain forms you will encounter later.

First, -(으)세요 is not exclusively imperative. Since it contains the honorific marker and the polite -요 ending, the same surface form can appear in an honorific statement or question:

• 선생님이 지금 주무세요. — The teacher is sleeping now.
• 어디에 사세요? — Where do you live?
• 이쪽으로 오세요. — Please come this way.

Sentence type, intonation, and context tell you whether it is a statement, question, or command. In the third example, the understood actor is the listener and the sentence directs an action.

Second, Korean has more ways to soften requests. -아/어 주시겠어요? asks whether the listener would be willing to act, and -아/어 주실 수 있어요? asks whether they can do it. For example, 창문을 닫아 주시겠어요? means “Would you close the window?” These forms are longer than 창문을 닫으세요, but often more suitable when you do not have the role or authority to instruct the listener.

Third, written notices may omit a finite command ending and use compact forms such as 출입 금지 (“No entry”) or a noun plus 바랍니다 in formal requests. Official language also frequently uses -(으)십시오: 안전선을 넘지 마십시오 (“Do not cross the safety line”). Recognizing these styles is useful, but -(으)세요 remains the best general-purpose spoken form.

Finally, very direct plain imperatives such as -아라/어라 occur in quotations, instructions to oneself, writing, and speech from someone with clear authority to a subordinate. They can sound commanding and are not a safer casual substitute for -아/어. Beginners should recognize them but avoid using them until they understand the relationship and genre.

Practice Tips

1. Build positive–negative pairs. Take ten everyday verbs and say both forms: 들어가세요 / 들어가지 마세요, 앉으세요 / 앉지 마세요. This makes -지 마세요 automatic.
2. Sort situations by register. Imagine speaking to a close friend, a shop employee, and an audience. Practice one message as 기다려, 기다리세요, and 기다리십시오, then decide which setting fits each form.
3. Contrast instructions with favors. For each verb, make one neutral instruction with -(으)세요 and one favor with -아/어 주세요: 여기에 쓰세요 versus 이름을 써 주세요. Listen for these two patterns in Korean videos and note who benefits from the action.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Honorific -(으)시 — explains the respect marker contained in -(으)세요 and the stem changes that occur before it.