Tense+Politeness
Korean tenses are revealed at the end of the sentence. The ending also shows the different levels of politeness. So here, I organize each tense by the various speech levels. If you want to learn the details of the speech levels, please click here to read my lesson!
Informal Polite
An informal polite ending is called "해요체" because it ends with "요". It is the most commonly used in daily conversations.
With the present tense 아/어/여요, you can mean all four types of sentences; statement, question, command, and suggestion. However, you can add other endings to make it more specific meanings.
Informal Casual
An informal casual is called "해체." It's very friendly, casual, and not polite at all. You are allowed to use it with your friends or someone younger than you.
Formal
A formal ending is called "하십시오체" or "합쇼체." It is used in official and formal situations. So, it is considered very polite and strict, not friendly at all!
하십시오 style has various endings depending on the sentence type. Click each link to check out the detailed grammar!