[MANNAM Basic Korean Class] Learning Grammar pattern (1)

Grammar 1 -으세요 : sentence ending for the honorific form- present

⦁'-으세요‘ is used with verbs and adjectives. If the verb/adjective stem ends in a consonant, '-으세요’ is added, If the verb/adjective stem ends in a vowel, '-세요‘ is added.

[동사verb] 읽다(to read) : 읽 -으세요 → 읽으세요

가다(to go) : 가 - 세요 → 가세요

[형용사adjective] 친절하다(to be kind) : 친절하 -세요 → 친절하세요

e.g. ① 선생님이 여섯 시에 집에 가세요. (The teacher goes home at 6 o'clock).

② 우리 어머니가 책을 읽으세요. (My mother is reading a book).

③ 우리 아버지가 정말 친절하세요. (My father is really kind).

⦁'-으세요‘ is also used to make a polite question.

e.g. 마이클 씨, 지금 학교에 가세요? (Michael, are you going to school now?)

마이클 씨 어머니가 선생님이세요? (Is Michael's mother a teacher?)

 

⦁Some verbs have special honorific forms.

⦁Irregular Verbs/adjectives

1. 'ㄷ‘ irregular verbs
with verbs that end in the consonant 'ㄷ‘, the 'ㄷ’ of the stem is changed to ‘f' and then '-으세요’ is added.
듣다: 듣  -으세요  → 들으세요
e.g. 우리 어머니가 음악을 들으세요. (My mother is listening to music).

2. 'ㅂ‘ irregular adjectives
with adjectives that end in the consonant 'ㅂ‘, the 'ㅂ’ of the stem is changed to '우‘ and then '-으세요’ is added.
춥다: 춥 -으세요 → 추우 -세요  →  추우세요.

3. ‘ㄹ’ irregular verbs
with verbs that end in the consonant 'ㄹ‘, the 'ㄹ’ of the stem is dropped and then ' -으세요‘ is added. The conjugated honorific forms of 살다(to live) and 사다(to buy) are spelled the same way. You can tell which word it is from context.
살다: 살 -으세요  → 사 -세요  → 사세요
e.g. 선생님은 서울에서 사세요. (The teacher lives in Seoul.)
     선생님은 커피를 사세요. (The teacher buys coffee.)

⦁The honorific '계세요‘is used only when the subject(of the sentence) is a person, and when the verb '있어요’ has the meaning of location or existence of the person.
e.g. ① 우리 할머니가 방에 계세요. (My grandmother is in the room).
                ↳ The subject is a person.
⦁When the subject is a thing (not a person) and the verb '있어요‘ has the meaning of possession, '있으세요/없으세요’ is used to express respect for the possessors of the thing.
e.g. ① 오늘 오후에 시간이 있으세요? (Do you have time in the afternoon?)
                     ↳ The subject is a thing.
    ② 우리 할머니는 핸드폰이 없으세요. ( My grandmother doesn't have a cellphone).
                        ↳ The subject is a thing.

 

Note

When creating the honorific form, the subject marker can be changed from '이/가‘ to '-께서’ to make the statement even more polite.

어머니가 → 어머니께서

e.g. 우리 어머니께서 오후에 시장에 가세요. (My mother goes to market in the afternoon).