Learn Korean

What are honorifics in Korean?

 In Korean, depending on who you are speaking to, you must use different conjugations of the same word. The different conjugations imply respect and politeness to the person you are speaking to. Depending on that person’s age and/or seniority in relation to yours, you must speak differently to that person.

The reason this is so hard for English speakers to understand is that we have nothing like this in English. We can make some sentences sound polite by adding ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ but you can only use those words in a limited amount of sentences. For example, if somebody asked you “where did you go yesterday?” You could respond:

I went to school yesterday.

In English, regardless of whether you were speaking to your girlfriend’s grandfather or your best friend, that sentence would look and sound exactly the same. In Korean, you must use a higher respect form when speaking to somebody older or higher in position. Unless you are literally just starting to learn Korean (in which case, some Korean people would let it pass) you must always do this.

I can share a really funny experience that happened to me. I started learning Korean a few months before I moved to Korea. I was not studying very hard or often, so my Korean was extremely basic. When I arrived at the airport in Seoul, was driven directly to my school and introduced to my principal immediately. My principal said “I am happy you are working at my school,” to which I replied:

나도 (the lower respect form of saying “me too”)

Instead of being impressed that I at least knew some words in Korean, the look on his face was as if somebody had just kidnapped his daughter.

Never, never underestimate the importance of honorific endings in Korean.

Keep in mind that all these conjugations with different honorific endings have exactly the same meaning. You will learn how to conjugate using honorifics in the following ways:

Informal low respect

Used when talking to your friends, people you are close with, people younger than you and your family.

Informal high respect

This can be used in most situations, even in formal situations despite the name being “informal.” This is usually the way most people speak when they are trying to show respect to the person they are talking to.

Formal high respect

This is a very high respect form that is used when addressing people who deserve a lot of respect from you. It is hard to describe perfectly, but honestly, the difference between ‘Informal high respect’ and ‘Formal high respect’ is not very big. As long as you speak in either of these two ways, you will not offend anyone.