The verb: ♮┺ Softening with the help of special verbs

A direct proposal 㞟㦣㔲┺ or command 㞟㦒㎎㣪 turns into a soft suggestion with the -㰖㣪㬶 ending. 㧊㴓㦒⪲ 㞟㦒㔲㰖㣪. Why don’t you sit over here? ▪㤊◆ ㍶䛣₆ 㫖 䔖㬶. It’s hot; why don’t we turn on the fan?

6.3.3 -ῂO㣪PaGGgentle questions and commands

-ῂ㣪 is associated with a softer variety of commands and questions. It is usually intermixed with the regular 䟊㣪 style ending when there are multiple questionscommands. ⁎☯㞞 㧮 㰖⌞㠊㣪? ⏒ⶎ㦖 㧮 ♒Ṗῂ㣪? How have you been? And how is your dissertation going? 㧊Ệ ⶊ㓾 ⋮ⶒ㧊㠦㣪? Ṩ㦖 㠒Ⱎῂ㣪? What kind of vegetable is this? And how much is it? 5 ⹫ 6 㧒 䕾䋺㰖⪲ 㡞㟓䟊 㭒㎎㣪. 䢎䎪㦖 ⹪╍Ṗ ⁒㻮⪲ 㧷㞚 㭒㔲ῂ㣪. Please reserve a 5-night, 6-day package for me. And get a hotel near the beach. ⁎⩒ Ịṫ䞮Ợ 㧮 㰖⌊㎎㣪. 䞲ῃ ⋮㡺㔲Ⳋ 㡆⧓ 㭒㔲ῂ㣪. Take care and goodbye. And let me know if you are coming to Korea.

6.3.4 -⋮㣪, -㦖Ṗ㣪: gentle questions

-⋮㣪 for action verbs and past tense and -㦖Ṗ㣪චṖ㣪 for present tense descriptive verbs form gentle questions for which an answer is not strongly demanded. 㰚㍶㧊 㰖⁞ 㰧㠦 㧞⋮㣪? ⽊䐋 ⳝ 㔲㸺 ✺㠊㡺⋮㣪? Is Jin-sun home right now? Around what time does she usually come home? ₖ㍶㌳┮ 㰖⁞ ╗㠦 Ἒ㔶Ṗ㣪? ⽊䐋 ⳝ 㔲㸺 ✺㠊㡺㔲⋮㣪? Is Mr. Kim home right now? Around what time does he usually come home? NOTE: For some reason, Ἒ㔲┺ the honorific counterpart of 㧞┺ takes -චṖ㣪 more frequently than -⋮㣪. ῃ㧊 ⍞ⶊ 㕇Ệ㤊Ṗ㣪? ㏢⁞㧊 㫖 ▲ ✺㠊Ṫ⋮㣪? Is the soup too bland? Did it not have enough salt? ⳿ Ⱎ⯊┞? 㹢ṲṖ ⍞ⶊ 㱆⋮? Are you thirsty? I wonder whether the stew was too salty.

6.4 Other softening strategies

6.4.1 㠊⠑Ợ

Questions with 㠊⠑Ợ are considered gentler than those with 㢲. So 㠊⠑Ợ 㡺㎾㔋┞₢? ‘What brings you here?’ is preferred to 㢲 㡺㎾㔋┞₢? ‘Why are you here?’ The 㠊⠑Ợ ♒㣪♮㎎㣪? pattern offers a polite indirect way of asking for information in general. 㩚䢪⻞䢎Ṗ 㠊⠑Ợ ♒㣪? vs. 㩚䢪⻞䢎Ṗ ⶦ㡞㣪? What is your phone number? 㡆㎎Ṗ 㠊⠑Ợ ♮㎎㣪? vs. 㡆㎎Ṗ ⳝ㧊㎎㣪? How old are you? Ṗỿ㧊 㠊⠑Ợ ♒㣪? vs. Ṩ㧊 㠒Ⱎ㡞㣪? What’s the price? ㌂㧊㯞Ṗ 㠊⠑Ợ ♒㣪? vs. ㌂㧊㯞Ṗ 㠒Ⱎ㡞㣪ⳝ㧊㠦㣪? What’s the size? ㌳㧒㧊 㠊⠑Ợ ♒㣪? vs. ㌳㧒㧊 㠎㩲㡞㣪? When is your birthday?

6.4.2 㫖

Questions or commands are often softened by the use of an imploring 㫖 ‘please,’ which literally means ‘a little bit.’ 㫖 㠊⟶㎎㣪? So, how are you feeling? 㠊⠑Ợ 㫖 㞞 ♶₢㣪? Is there any way to make it work? ⹿ 㼃㏢ 㫖 䟊⧒. ゾⰂ 㫖 䟊 Please clean up the room. Quickly, please. 㩲⹲ ₢⿞㰖 㫖 Ⱎ. Please calm down and behave. ‖㺄Ợ 㫖 䞮㰖 Ⱎ⧒. Leave me alone, please.

6.4.3 -ἶ 䟊㍲

This is a useful hedging device when one doesn’t want to pinpoint a specific reason or enumerate all the reasons for one’s action. It is less direct than -㠊㍲. A: 㞞⎫䞮㎎㣪? 㥂㧒㧊㎎㣪? B:ٻ✲ⰊٻⰦ㝖☚ٻ㧞ἶٻ䟊㍲ٻ㺔㞚ٻ㢪㠊㣪.ٻvs. ✲ⰊG Ⱖ㝖㧊G 㧞㠊㍲…ٻ A: How are you? What brought you here? B: I have something to tell you and so forth, so I came to see you.ٻ