5. Honorific Expressions Due to the influence of Confucian thought on Korean society, it is common fo r Korean speakers to use both honorific and humble forms of speech in conversation according to age, family relationships, social status, and social distance (degree of intimacy).
(1.)
Honoring the Subject of the Sentence Honorifics are used when the subject of a sentence is a person older than the speaker, a senior member of one ’ s family, or a person of higher social rank. To honor the subject , -(으)시 IS added to the stems of adjectives and verbs. For verb stems ending in a vowel, -시 is added , and for those ending in a consonant, -。시 is added.
·뀔톨야09 0)
+ -시- + -닙니다 가 + -시- + -어요 가 + -시- + -었어요 가 + -시- + -(으)근 거예요 가
• • • •
가십니다
• • • •
읽으십니다
가세요 가셨어요 가실거예요
.푹I를l· (to read)
+ -.으시- + -닙니다 읽 + -.으시- + -어요 읽 + -.으시- + -었어요 읽 + -.으시- + -(으)2 거예요 읽
(2 )
읽으세요 읽으셨어요 읽으실거예요
• 선생 님 께서 한국말을 가르치 십 니 다
The teacher teaches Korean
• 아버지께서는 작년에 부산에 가셨어요
My father went to 8뼈n last year.
Honoring the Li stener Honorifics are used when the listener is older or of higher social status than the speaker and also when the speaker and listener are not acquainted with each other, regardless of age. Final endings are used to express the degree of respect , and they can be formed from each of the formal p이 ite ， informal p이 ite ， and informal plain styles. See also Korean Sentence Structure 4. Sentence Types)
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