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안녕하세요? Welcome back to my Korean lesson! If you have studied with me, what you have seen so far was the informal endings. Today, you are going to take a big step and will learn about the Korean formal endings! You can also get free printable worksheets.
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1. What are formal endings?
In Korean, there are different language styles depending on the situation and politeness. You've learned the informal endings with me so far, in which sentences end with 요. Informal endings are used when you talk in daily life. Then what will be the formal ending?
Formal endings (or formal expressions) are used in public, official, and formal situations like work, presentations, public speeches, announcements, news, etc. You can get the vibe, right?
If you have to present your homework in front of your classmates, even though they are all your friends, you must use this "formal ending" because it is a public and official situation! In a work environment, you can use this ending when you want to be super polite to your boss. You can even use formal endings to co-workers during official meetings.
While informal endings have a friendly vibe, formal endings have a very strict and serious tone. So, informal endings are considered more polite than informal endings. I'll compare the two for you using a chart!
The Informal Ending | The Formal Ending |
In a statement, it ends with "요." In a question, it ends with "요?" | In a statement, it ends with 습니다 In a question, it ends with 습니까? |
It is a polite but still friendly ending. | It is very strict and polite. It doesn't have any friendly vibe at all. |
It is good to use in most of the daily life conversation. | You have to use it in official, public, and formal situations like in work, news, and announcements. |
2. ㅂ니다/습니다
In the informal setting, you conjugated a verb or an adjective stem with "아/어/여요" to make the present tense. The counterpart of this in the formal ending is "ㅂ니다/습니다."
While you had to pay attention to the last vowel to change with the 아/어/여요 ending, this time, you have to look at the final consonant (받침). You can attach this ending to a verb or an adjective stem. Let's take a look at the detailed grammar for this ㅂ니다/습니다.
받침 O: 습니다
If a stem has the final consonant, please attach "습니다" to it. However, you have to read this as /슴니다/ [seum-ni-da] because when the final consonant 'ㅂ' meets 'ㄴ', the sound turns into 'ㅁ'.
먹다 → 먹습니다. I eat.
읽다 → 읽습니다. I read.
작다 → 작습니다. It's small.
좋다 → 좋습니다. It's good.
I have good news for you. You don't have to worry about this grammar's irregular verbs or adjectives! All these irregular ones had their own special final consonants like ㄷ, ㅅ, or ㅂ. But now, you don't have to change them into something else. Since they have the final consonant, what you have to do is simply attach 습니다.
듣다 → 듣습니다. I listen.
잇다 → 잇습니다. I connect.
돕다 → 돕습니다. I help.
파랗다 → 파랗습니다. It's blue.
받침X: ㅂ니다
If a stem doesn't have the final consonant, we will make one for it. Please insert ㅂ under the last stem and attach 니다 after it.
가다 → 갑니다. I go.
보다 → 봅니다. I watch.
이다 → 입니다. am/are/is
크다 → 큽니다. It's big.
ㄹ받침: Drop ㄹ + ㅂ니다
If a stem ends with the final consonant ㄹ, you must get rid of it first. Then, insert ㅂ니다. In other words, you will replace the ㄹ with ㅂ.
살다 → 삽니다. I live.
만들다 → 만듭니다. I make.
풀다 → 풉니다. I solve.
길다 → 깁니다. It's long.
3. ㅂ니까?/습니까?
When you made a question in the informal present ending, you used the same spelling "아/어/여요" and then attached the question mark(?) to it. The counterpart of this in the formal question is "ㅂ니까? and 습니까?"
받침 O: 습니까?
When there is the final consonant, you will attach "습니까?" to make a question. You'll read it as /슴니까?/, again as ㅂ and ㄴ meet ㅂ turned into ㅁ.
먹다 → 먹습니까? Do you eat?
앉다 → 앉습니까? Do you sit?
작다 → 작습니까? Is it small?
좋다 → 좋습니까? Is it good?
걷다 → 걷습니까? Do you walk?
줍다 → 줍습니까? Do you pick up?
받침 X: ㅂ니까?
We will insert ㅂ under a verb or an adjective stem again!
쓰다 → 씁니까? Do you write?
주다 → 줍니까? Do you give?
빠르다 → 빠릅니까? Is it fast?
크다 → 큽니까? Is it big?
ㄹ 받침: Drop ㄹ + ㅂ니까?
If the final consonant is ㄹ, pay an extra attention! You have to drop the ㄹ and then add ㅂ in that spot.
살다 → 삽니까? Do you live?
풀다 → 풉니까? Do you solve?
길다 → 깁니까? Is it long?
4. Past/Future/Honorific Version
So far, you've learned a statement form of the present tense "ㅂ니다./습니다." and a question form "ㅂ니까?/습니까?" in the formal endings. Then how can we make them into past and future?
The past tense is realized with the tense word 았/었. You attach this tense word after the stem and when you do, you have to pay attention to the last vowel. You practiced before when you studied the informal past tense! Then, you will attach the ending at the end.
읽다 → 읽 → The vowel is 'ㅣ'. We need to add 었. → 읽었 → 읽었습니다.
가다 → 가 → The vowel is 가. We put 았. → 가았. They shorten to 갔. → 갔습니다.
살다 → 살 → 살았 → 살았습니다.
As you see, in front of '습니다,' you will always need the tense word 았 or 었. Both of them have the final consonant ㅆ. That means no matter what verb or adjective you use, you will end it with 습니다.
However, this time, you have to watch out for the irregular ones because you have to do the "았/었" conjugation first!
듣다 → 듣 → 들 → 들었 → 들었습니다. (Compare with 들었어요.)
돕다 → 돕 → 도 → 도왔 → 도왔습니다. (Compare with 도왔어요.)
If you compare those formal ones with informal ones, you can easily understand them, just simply replace 어요 with 습니다.
You have to attach the pre-final word 겠 to make things into the future tense. So, instead of 았/었 for the past, you will attach 겠 to the same spot! That means you will always attach the '습니다' version to 겠, not 'ㅂ니다' because 겠 has the final consonant.
먹다 → 먹 → 먹겠 → 먹겠습니다.
가다 → 가 → 가겠 → 가겠습니다.
만들다 → 만들 → 만들겠 → 만들겠습니다.
However, since 겠 is only one form. This time, you don't have to conjugate the irregular ㄷ, ㅅ, ㅂ to something else!
듣다 → 듣 → 듣겠 → 듣겠습니다.
짓다 → 짓 → 짓겠 → 짓겠습니다.
쓰다 → 쓰 → 쓰겠 → 쓰겠습니다.
You need to attach the honorific word (으)시 to make a politer sentence. This (으)시 comes right after the stem. It even comes before the tense words (았 or 겠). Compare the three different tenses.
읽다 → 읽 → It has the final consonant. Add honorific word 으시 to it. → 읽으시
Present: 읽으시 → No final consonant. +ㅂ니다. → 읽으십니다.
Past: 읽으시 → The vowel is 'ㅣ' We need to add 었. → 읽으시+었 → 시+었 shortenes to 셨. → 읽으셨 → 읽으셨습니다.
Future: 읽으시 → 읽으시겠 → 읽으시겠습니다.
가다 → 가 → It doesn't have the final consonant. Attach 시. → 가시
Present: 가시 → No final consonant, add ㅂ니다. → 갑니다.
Past: 가시 → The vowel is 'ㅣ', attach 었. → 가시었 → 시 and 었 become 셨. → 가셨 → 가셨습니다.
Future: 가시 → 가시겠 → 가시겠습니다.
It may sound complicated, but if you follow one by one, you will grab the pattern! As you see, the honorific word '(으)시' comes ahead of the past word 았/었. Since this honorific word always ends with 시, you will always need to attach 었. That means you will always make 시 plus 었 as 셨.
5. Examples
I will show you the formal way first and then equivalent informal sentences.
1
안녕하십니까? 저는 김민수입니다.
=안녕하세요? 저는 김민수예요.
Hello, I am Minsu Kim.
↳ Now, you can introduce yourself in a very polite way. "안녕하세요." came from the adjective "안녕하시다" (to be in the piece), so you can say "안녕하십니까?" to say hello very politely.
2
만나서 반갑습니다.
만나서 반가워요.
Nice to meet you.
↳ 반갑다 means 'to be glad.' The first one is more formal and polite than the second one.
3
민수 씨가 음악을 들었습니다.
민수 씨가 음악을 들었어요.
Minsu listened to the music.
↳ Replace 어요 with 습니다, to make the past tense formal ending easy.
4
제가 가겠습니다.
제가 가겠어요.
I'll go.
↳ Compared to the past tense word, the future tense word will be much easier.
5
안녕히 가십시오.
안녕히 가세요.
Goodbye. (Go well).
안녕히 계십시오.
안녕히 계세요.
Goodbye. (Stay well).
6. Wrap-up & Material: ㅂ니다/습니다 grammar
How was the lesson today? It can be complicated, but if you read carefully, you will understand the rules!
Korean formal endings are used in public, formal, and official situations. To conjugate, you have to see the final consonant.
In a present tesne: 습니다./ㅂ니다. (Question- 습니까?/ㅂ니까?)
In a past tense: 았/었습니다. (았/었습니까?)
In a future tense: 겠습니다. (겠습니까?)
With honorific word: (으)십니다.
Instead of a quiz, I prepared the printable PDF worksheet for you. Please download and solve the quiz. If you have any questions, please use the comment box! Thanks for studying with "My Korean Lesson!"
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