Subject honorification: the suffix -시
2.1.2 The subject honorific -시 and hearer-related sentence endings
The following tables offer an integrated picture of the relationship between the subject-related honorific suffix -시 and hearer-related sentence endings.
Statements with an honorific subject: in basic present tense 존댓말 Formal
반말 Casual
합니다 style 해요 style
해 style 한다하다 style
믿으십니다 믿으세요
믿으셔 믿으신다
친절하십니다 친절하세요
친절하셔 친절하시다
선생님이십니다 선생님이세요
선생님이셔 선생님이시다
NOTE: -으셔요 is old fashioned compared to -으세요. Questions with an honorific subject: in basic present tense
존댓말 Formal 반말 Casual
합니까 style 해요 style
해 style 하니 하냐 style
믿으십니까 믿으세요
믿으셔 믿으시니
친절하십니까 친절하세요
친절하셔 친절하시니
선생님이십니까 선생님이세요
선생님이셔 선생님이시니
NOTE :
-으시니 alternates with -으시냐 믿으시냐, 친절하시냐, 선생님이시냐. In choosing the right style and verb form, a speaker must take into account
hisher relationship both to the referent of the subject and to the hearer. For instance, if you ask a stranger whether she is Professor Kim, you must use
김교수님이십니까?김교수님이세요? – with both a formal sentence ending for the stranger who is the hearer and the honorific suffix -시 since that person
is also the referent of the subject. On the other hand, if you are asking your younger sister whether someone is Professor Kim, you will say
김선생님이셔?김선생님이시니? – with a casual sentence ending for your sister, but the honorific suffix -시 for the professor.
If you are speaking about your younger sister to a close friend, you will say 내 동생이야, with neither a formal ending nor the honorific suffix -시. On the
other hand, if you are talking to your professor, you will use 제 동생이에요, with a formal ending for your professor, who is the hearer. But you will not use
-시, since the referent of the subject is your younger sister. See 3.2.1 for 내 vs. 제.
One should be especially careful when the hearer and the referent of the subject are identical and happen to be someone with whom one has to be formal.
For example, when you say to your teacher, ‘You go first’ or ‘You look tired,’
the teacher is both the hearer and the referent of the subject. Therefore, the sentence has to have both a formal ending
AND
-시 – you must say 먼저 가십시오가세요 and 피곤해 보이십니다보이세요.
2.1.3 -시 in commands and proposals
Additional guidelines apply in the case of commands and proposals. Commands:
존댓말 Formal 반말 Casual
하시오 style 해요 style
해 style 해라 style
믿으시오 믿으십시오
믿어요 믿으세요
믿어 믿어라
• Courtesy calls for the use of -시 in commands even when the referent of the subject is not normally honorific. The so-called honorific -시 is used as a
marker of deference to help soften the command and make it more acceptable to the hearer.
• Formal situations classroom instructions, conferences, and formal meetings tend to require more use of -시 in commands. For example, in speaking to
much younger students, most teachers will say: 수 시간에 잡담하지 마세요.
Do not have private conversations during class .
다음 주까지 교과서를 준비하세요. Please have your textbooks ready by next week.
In questions and statements, though, they would not use -시: 제 해 왔어요?
Have you brought your homework? 기말시험에 결 하면 안 됩니다.
You must not miss your final exam. Similar practices are found in the speech of a boss to his workers or a senior
person to his junior.
• The more formal the situation is, the more -시 is used, especially when the
subject refers to a large group of people. 앉아 계실 때는 안전벨트를 매십시오. Please wear a seatbelt while seated.
화재발생시에는 계단을 이용하십시오. Please use stairs when there’s a fire. • Psychological distance also plays a role. -시 is more likely to be used when one
doesn’t know the hearer, regardless of hisher age. For instance, 잠시만 기다리세요 is used instead of 기다려요 to a stranger on the phone. And a
fifty-year-old customer who is speaking to a much younger waitress should say:
고기 좀 바싹 구워 주세요. Please make my meat well done.
계산서 좀 갖다 주세요. Bring me the bill please.
• The use of -시 and formal endings in all sentence types is perhaps most common among salespeople, who tend to employ these forms with all
customers, regardless of age. • In general, the deferential use of -시 in commands takes place in
circumstances that are similar to those associated with the use of the formal 합니다 and 해요 styles in that the relevant factors involve formality
and psychological distance. Those who are on 반말 terms do not have to worry about using -시 in their commands to each other, so you will never need
to say 가시라 or 가셔 to a close friend unless it is for amusement or dramatic effect.
Proposals: 존댓말 Formal
반말 Casual
합시다 style 해요 style
해 style 하자 style
앉읍시다 앉으십시다
앉아요 앉으세요
앉아 앉자
• In proposals, where the subject refers jointly to the speaker and the hearer, use of -시 has lost much of its honorific impact – especially in the -으십시다
ending. For some reason, -시 does not have the same effect here that it has in command forms such as 드십시오 and 같이 드세요, where it increases the
level of formality and deference.
• The -으십시다 ending 드십시다, 앉으십시다, with the honorific -시, is used only by quite old, mostly male speakers.
• The -으세요 form is softer than the -으십시다 form and may be used for gentle proposals 저하고 같이 가세요. ‘Let’s go together.’. Where
additional deference is called for, the proposal is usually made indirectly, by changing it into a question or suggestion
see 6.1.
2.1.4 Special subject-honorific verbs
In the case of certain basic actions and relations, subject honorification must be expressed by the use of a special honorific verb. The suffix -시 is an inherent
part of these special verbs.
Plain form Honorific counterpart
먹다 드시다, 잡수시다
밥먹다 사 하시다, 진지 잡수시다
마시다 드시다, 하시다
배고프다 시장하시다
있다 계시다 ‘stay; be’ or 있으시다 ‘have’ see 2.1.5
자다 주무시다
다 돌아가시다
아프다 편찮으시다 entire body, 아프시다 specific area
영수야, 저녁 먹어라. 배 고프지? Youngsu, have dinner. You’re hungry, aren’t you?
할머니, 진지 잡수세요. 시장하시지요? Grandma, have dinner. You’re hungry, aren’t you?.
아빠, 안녕히 주무셨어요? 아침 사 하셨어요? Good morning, Dad. Have you eaten breakfast?
저는 커피부터 마실래요. 아빠도 커피 한 잔 드실하실 거죠? I’m going to have coffee first. You’ll have a cup of coffee too, Dad, right?
할머니 돌아가시던 날 어항에 물고기도 한 마리 었다.
The day when Grandma died, one fish in the fish tank died too. 할아버지가 요즘 좀 편찮으세요. 무릎이 많이 아프시대요.
My grandpa is not feeling well these days. His knee hurts a lot, he says. • The verbs 드시다 and 사하시다 are sufficiently respectful for most
purposes in contemporary Korean, but some senior adults may prefer to hear 잡수시다 and 진지 잡수시다.
• 돌아가시다 is frequently glossed in English as ‘pass away,’ but this is misleading. While 돌아가시다 is both euphemistic and respectful, English
‘pass away’ is simply euphemistic, which is why it can be used even for a child as can
숨을 잃다 and 사망하다. In contrast, 돌아가시다 can be used
in personal conversations only for an older or socially superior person see 9.1.
2.1.5 Tricky subjects
It is not always straightforward to identify the subject of a Korean sentence, and it is important to look beyond the subject particle -이가 see 19.1. The verb
있다없다, for instance, can be ambiguous.
Verb 있다 neg: 없다
있다 neg: 없다 Meaning ‘have’
‘stay; be’
Honorific form 있으시다 없으시다
계시다 안 계시다 When 있다없다 means ‘havenot have,’ as in 이모가 없어요 ‘I don’t have an
aunt,’ ‘I’ is the understood subject. So even though 이모 takes the particle -가, it is not the subject of the sentence and there is no honorific suffix on the verb.
For the same reason, -가 cannot be replaced by -께서 in this context. On the other hand, if the understood subject refers to your teacher and you want to say
‘My teacher doesn’t have an aunt,’ 이모가 없으세요 is right because your teacher deserves the suffix -시.
Here are some additional examples containing an honorific subject and 있다 with the sense of ‘have.’
사장님, 오늘 10 시에 회의 있으십니다. Sir, you have a meeting at 10 o’clock today.
교수님, 지금 잠깐 시간 있으세요? Professor, do you have a minute?
의견이 있으신 분은 발표해 주시기 바랍니다. Please speak out if you have an opinion.
슬하에 자녀가 세 분 있으십니다. They have three children.
When 있다 is used to mean ‘stay’ or ‘be’ rather than ‘have,’ the noun marked by -이가 is the subject. So, 할머니가 집에 안 계세요 means ‘Grandmother
is not home,’ and the special honorific verb is called for. 할머니가 안 계세요 ‘Grandmother is not home’ or ‘Grandmother doesn’t exist’ is an indirect way of
indicating that one’s grandmother has passed away.
Psychological verbs such as 좋다, 싫다, and so on also call for caution. In the examples below, the understood subject marked in bold-face in English
corresponds to the personthing experiencing the state described by the sentence coldness, enjoyment, need, and so forth. Only when that person is older andor
has higher social status is -시 used.
선생님, 밖에 안 추워요?
Teacher, isn’t it cold outside?
선생님, 안 추우세요?
Teacher, aren’t you cold?
저는 할아버지가 좋아요.
I like my grandfather.
아빠도 할아버지가 좋으세요?
Do you also like grandpa, Dad?
할아버지, 이 영화 재미있어요?
Grandpa, is this movie fun? 할아버지, 이 영화 재미있으세요? Grandpa, do you find this movie fun?
저는 선생님이 필요해요.
I need a teacher.
선생님께서 책이 필요하시대요.
The teacher needs the book, I heard.
할머니가 보고 싶어요.
I miss Grandma.
할머니가 저를 보고 싶어하세요.
Grandma misses me.
2.1.6 Complex verbs and -시
When -시 is called for in expressions that consist of two verbs, it shows up sometimes on both verbs, sometimes just on the first verb, and sometimes just on
the second verb. The first column is for plain forms and the second one is for honorific forms.
• -시 appears on both verbs: 할 수 있어요?
하실 수 있으세요? Can you do it?
가 본 이 있다. 가 보신
이 있으시다. She has been there. 오다 만났어.
오시다 만나셨어. He met them on his way here.
피곤한 거 같아요. 피곤하신 거 같으세요. I think she’s tired. 쉬고 싶어요?
쉬시고 싶으세요? Would you like to rest?
집을 팔게 됐어. 집을 파시게 되셨어. It turns out that he has to
sell his house. • -시 appears on the first verb only:
갈 거예요? 가실 거예요?
Are you going to go? 바뻐 가지고…
바쁘셔 가지고… Because she’s busy…
피곤한가 봐. 피곤하신가 봐.
Looks like he’s tired. 책 읽나 보다.
책 읽으시나 보다. Seems like she’s reading.
떠나고 말았어. 떠나시고 말았어.
He ended up leaving. 걸어야 돼요.
걸으셔야 돼요. You must walk.
안 와도 됩니다. 안 오셔도 됩니다.
You don’t have to come.
• -시 appears on the second verb only: 들어 와요.
들어 오세요. Please come in.
앉아 있어요. 앉아 계세요.
Please be seated. 젊어 보인다.
젊어 보이신다. He looks young.
해 줘요. 해 주세요.
Please do it for me. 해 봐요.
해 보세요. Please give it a try.
해 놓아요둬요. 해 놓으세요두세요.
Please do it for later use. 해 치워요.
해 치우세요. Just do it and get it over with.
잊어 버려요. 잊어 버리세요.
Forget about it. If the verb has a special honorific counterpart see 2.1.4, that form must be used
regardless of the verb’s position. So the honorific form of 먹어 봐요 is 드셔
보세요 even though the -시 normally appears only on the second verb in -어아 보다 patterns 해 보세요, 신어 보세요.
NOTE: Hereafter, the linking syllable -어아 will be abbreviated as simply -어. Matters are a bit different in quoted clauses. There, -시 appears either on the
verb quoted or on the quoting verb, depending on the referent of the subject for each verb. For instance, 오래 which is a reduced form of 오라고 해 can have
-시 right after 오 or after 라.
할머니, 오빠가 오시래요 오시라고 해요. Grandma, brother is asking you to come
오빠, 할머니가 오라셔 오라고 하셔. Brother, grandma is asking you to come.