Order a latte in almost any Seoul café and you may hear 주문하신 라떼 나오셨습니다 — literally, "the latte you ordered has honourably come out." The barista is being polite… to a cup of coffee. Korean speakers joke about it, language columnists complain about it, and it's still everywhere. That one sentence captures what respect at B2 is about: you already know how to honour people (-(으)시-, 께서, 드시다). Now you'll learn to honour the right people, lower yourself gracefully, and handle the formal speech of service counters, announcements and ceremonies.
Korean politeness has three separate levers. At A2 you learned the first; this lesson is about the other two, and about pulling the first one only where it belongs.
| Lever | What it does | Tools | Korean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Raise the subject | honours the person doing the action | -(으)시-, 께서, 드시다, 계시다 | 사장님께서 오셨습니다. |
| 2. Lower yourself / raise the recipient | honours the person receiving the action | 드리다, 여쭙다, 뵙다, 모시다, 저, 저희 | 제가 사장님께 말씀드렸습니다. |
| 3. Raise the listener | sets the formality of the whole conversation | 하십시오체 / 해요체 / 반말 | 감사합니다 · 고마워요 · 고마워 |
The levers are independent. 제가 선생님께 여쭤봤어 (반말 to a friend, humble toward the teacher) is perfectly normal: your friend is the listener, but the teacher is still the person you asked.
Humble verbs are used when you (or someone on your side) do something to or for a person you respect. The respect goes to the recipient, so the recipient takes 께 instead of 에게/한테.
| Plain | Humble | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 주다 | 드리다 | 할머니께 용돈을 드렸어요. | I gave my grandmother some pocket money. |
| 묻다 | 여쭙다 / 여쭈다 | 모르는 게 있으면 선생님께 여쭤보세요. | If there's something you don't know, ask the teacher. |
| 만나다 / 보다 | 뵙다 / 뵈다 | 내일 회의에서 뵙겠습니다. | I'll see you at tomorrow's meeting. |
| 데리고 가다 | 모시고 가다 | 할머니를 모시고 병원에 갔어요. | I took my grandmother to the hospital. |
| 말하다 | 말씀드리다 | 제가 자세히 말씀드리겠습니다. | Let me explain in detail. |
| 알려 주다 | 알려 드리다 | 결과가 나오면 바로 알려 드릴게요. | I'll let you know as soon as the results are out. |
When a superior gives something to you, it's 주시다, not 드리다: ✓ 선생님께서 저에게 책을 주셨어요. ✗ 선생님이 저에게 책을 드렸어요 would mean the teacher humbly presented it to you — as if you outranked the teacher.
Both are standard. 뵙다 is slightly more humble and appears before consonant endings; 뵈다 supplies the forms with vowel endings. The one to watch is 뵈 + 어요, which contracts to 봬요 — one of the most frequent spelling mistakes even among native speakers, who often write ✗ 뵈요.
| Ending | Form | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| -겠습니다 | 뵙겠습니다 | 처음 뵙겠습니다. | How do you do? (first meeting) |
| -고 | 뵙고 | 여자 친구 부모님을 뵙고 왔어요. | I went to meet my girlfriend's parents. |
| -아/어요 | 봬요 (= 뵈어요) | 그럼 내일 봬요. | See you tomorrow, then. |
| -았/었어요 | 뵀어요 (= 뵈었어요) | 어제 교수님을 뵀어요. | I saw the professor yesterday. |
| -(으)러 | 뵈러 | 주말에 부모님을 뵈러 가요. | I'm going to see my parents at the weekend. |
| -(으)ㄹ게요 | 뵐게요 | 다음 주에 뵐게요. | I'll see you next week. |
Trick: if you could say 해요 in that slot, write 봬요; if you could say 하, write 뵈 (뵈러 ~ 하러). Similarly, 여쭙다 is used before consonants (여쭙고, 여쭙겠습니다), while most people use 여쭈다 before vowels: 여쭤요, 여쭤봐도 될까요?
| Meaning | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|
| to accompany / take (a superior) | 손님을 회의실로 모시고 갈게요. | I'll take our guest to the meeting room. |
| to live with and look after | 저는 부모님을 모시고 살아요. | I live with my parents and look after them. |
| to invite / welcome (ceremonies) | 다음은 오늘의 강연자를 모시겠습니다. | Next, let us welcome today's speaker. |
말씀 is unusual: it's an honorific noun and a humble one. When it's a superior's speech, it honours them; when it's yours, it lowers you.
| Use | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|
| honorific (their words) | 사장님 말씀을 잘 들었습니다. | I listened carefully to what the president said. |
| honorific verb | 부장님께서 말씀하셨어요. | The department head said so. |
| humble (my words) | 제 말씀은 그게 아니라… | What I mean is not that, but… |
| humble verb | 제가 부장님께 말씀드렸어요. | I told the department head. |
저희 is the humble "we / our" — the plural of 저. It lowers your group in front of the listener, so it never includes the listener: 저희 회사 (my company, talking to a client), 저희 어머니 (my mother, talking to an outsider). With your own team, where the listener is inside the group, use 우리.
Say 우리나라, never ✗ 저희 나라, even to foreigners. The National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) advises that a nation is not something to lower before another nation, and most Koreans would find 저희 나라 odd.
You met -(으)ㅂ니다/-습니다 in A1. At B2 you need the whole paradigm, plus a sense of when it is expected: service counters, presentations, news, announcements, the military, ceremonies, and first meetings with seniors.
| Sentence type | Ending | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statement | -(으)ㅂ니다 / -습니다 | 회의는 3시에 시작합니다. | The meeting starts at 3. |
| Question | -(으)ㅂ니까 / -습니까 | 불편한 점은 없으십니까? | Is there anything uncomfortable? |
| Offer / choice | -(으)시겠습니까 | 음료는 무엇으로 드시겠습니까? | What would you like to drink? |
| Command | -(으)십시오 | 잠시만 기다려 주십시오. | Please wait a moment. |
| Formal request | -(으)시기 바랍니다 | 자세한 내용은 홈페이지를 참고하시기 바랍니다. | Please refer to the website for details. |
| Suggestion (to equals/juniors) | -(으)ㅂ시다 | 자, 시작합시다. | Right, let's begin. |
| Suggestion (to superiors) | -(으)시지요 / -(으)시죠 | 부장님, 같이 가시지요. | Sir, shall we go together? |
Two things textbooks often skip. First, -(으)ㅂ시다 is not polite enough for superiors, despite looking formal — 사장님, 갑시다 sounds like you're giving orders. Second, a bare -(으)십시오 is still a command; in service speech it's usually softened to -아/어 주십시오 or -(으)시기 바랍니다. And in real offices people mix styles: -습니다 for reports, greetings and anything official, -요 for the friendly middle of the conversation.
Public announcements use a small, predictable set of formulas. Learn them once and you'll understand every subway, airport and wedding hall in the country.
| Where | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|
| Subway | 이번 역은 시청, 시청역입니다. 내리실 문은 오른쪽입니다. | This stop is City Hall. The doors will open on the right. |
| Department store | 고객 여러분께 안내 말씀 드리겠습니다. | Attention, shoppers. (We have an announcement.) |
| Airport | 잠시 후 탑승을 시작하겠습니다. 탑승권과 여권을 준비해 주시기 바랍니다. | We will begin boarding shortly. Please have your boarding pass and passport ready. |
| Plane | 승객 여러분께서는 좌석 벨트를 매 주시기 바랍니다. | Passengers, please fasten your seat belts. |
| Graduation | 지금부터 제30회 졸업식을 거행하겠습니다. | We will now hold the 30th graduation ceremony. |
| Ceremony | 다음은 총장님의 축사가 있겠습니다. | Next, there will be a congratulatory address from the university president. |
| Ceremony | 모두 자리에서 일어나 주시기 바랍니다. | Would everyone please rise. |
Notice the patterns: 여러분(께서는) to address the crowd, -겠습니다 as the formal "we will now…", N이/가 있겠습니다 ("there will be N") to introduce the next item, and -아/어 주시기 바랍니다 for every request. The -(으)시- in 내리실 honours the passengers — the people getting off.
압존법 (壓尊法, "suppressing respect") is a traditional rule: when you talk to someone of higher rank about a person who is above you but below the listener, you drop the honorifics for the middle person — because honouring them in front of their own superior would be impolite to the superior.
| Situation | Traditional (압존법) | Also accepted / now recommended |
|---|---|---|
| To your grandfather, about your father | 할아버지, 아버지가 아직 안 왔습니다. | 할아버지, 아버지께서 아직 안 오셨습니다. |
| To the department head, about your section chief | 부장님, 김 과장은 외근 나갔습니다. | 부장님, 김 과장님은 외근 나가셨습니다. |
Here's the honest picture today. The National Institute of Korean Language's etiquette guidance (표준 언어 예절) keeps 압존법 in the family as the traditional form but also accepts honouring the parent. For the workplace, it goes further: it says 압존법 doesn't belong there, and that honouring your superior — 김 과장님은 … 나가셨습니다 — is right even when you speak to their boss. In effect, 압존법 at work has become optional, and in most workplaces the honouring form is now the norm. Even the armed forces, long its stronghold, stopped requiring it among soldiers in 2016. You will still meet older managers and very traditional organisations that expect it, so the practical rule is: default to honouring, and follow the house style if your workplace clearly does otherwise.
사물존대 ("honouring objects") is the café-counter error from the start of this lesson. Staff attach -(으)시- to prices, products and drinks because -시- has come to feel like a general "I'm being polite" marker. But -시- honours the subject of the sentence — and in 커피가 나오셨습니다 the subject is the coffee.
| ✗ Heard every day | ✓ Standard | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 주문하신 커피 나오셨습니다. | 주문하신 커피 나왔습니다. | The coffee is the subject. (주문하신 is correct — the customer ordered.) |
| 이 상품은 품절이세요. | 이 상품은 품절입니다. | The product can't be honoured. |
| 그 사이즈는 지금 없으세요. | 그 사이즈는 지금 없습니다. | The size is the subject. |
| 가격은 삼만 원이세요. | 가격은 삼만 원입니다. | The price is the subject. |
| 사장님 말씀이 계시겠습니다. | 사장님 말씀이 있겠습니다. / 있으시겠습니다. | 계시다 is only for people; 있으시다 honours the owner of the words. |
Not every -시- on a noun is wrong. Indirect honouring (간접 높임) is standard when the thing belongs closely to the honoured person — their body, family, belongings, words or circumstances: 할머니께서는 귀가 밝으세요 ("Grandma has sharp hearing"), 선생님, 따님이 참 예쁘시네요. The test: is the subject part of the honoured person's life? A customer's address (주소가 어떻게 되세요?) is widely accepted on that basis; a shop's out-of-stock sweater is not.
Lucas has just started working at a café. His manager briefs him before opening; she speaks politely but warmly in 해요체, and they practise the 하십시오체 lines he'll use with customers.
| Speaker | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|
| 매니저 | 루카스 씨, 첫날이라 긴장되죠? 손님 응대할 때 몇 가지만 기억하세요. | Lucas, you must be nervous on your first day. Just remember a few things when you serve customers. |
| 루카스 | 네, 말씀해 주세요. | Yes, please tell me. |
| 매니저 | 음료가 나오면 손님께 뭐라고 할 거예요? | When a drink is ready, what will you say to the customer? |
| 루카스 | "주문하신 아메리카노 나오셨습니다"라고 하면 되지 않나요? | Can't I say "The Americano you ordered has (honourably) come out"? |
| 매니저 | 많이들 그렇게 말하는데, 커피를 높이면 안 돼요. "주문하신 아메리카노 나왔습니다"가 맞아요. | Lots of people say that, but you shouldn't honour the coffee. "The Americano you ordered is ready" is correct. |
| 루카스 | 아, 높여야 하는 건 손님이지 커피가 아니군요. | Ah, it's the customer you honour, not the coffee. |
| 매니저 | 맞아요. 그리고 계산할 때는 "결제는 어떻게 하시겠습니까?"라고 여쭤보세요. | Exactly. And when they pay, ask, "How would you like to pay?" |
| 루카스 | 일하다가 모르는 게 있으면 매니저님께 여쭤봐도 될까요? | If there's something I don't know while working, may I ask you? |
| 매니저 | 그럼요. 아, 오늘 오후에 본사에서 이사님이 오세요. 제가 이사님을 모시고 매장을 둘러볼 거예요. | Of course. Oh, and a director from head office is coming this afternoon. I'll be showing the director around the store. |
| 루카스 | 그럼 이사님께 인사드려야겠네요. 뭐라고 하면 돼요? | Then I should greet the director. What should I say? |
| 매니저 | "처음 뵙겠습니다. 이번에 새로 들어온 루카스라고 합니다." 정도면 충분해요. | "How do you do? I'm Lucas, and I've just joined" — that's enough. |
| 루카스 | 알겠습니다. 그럼 이따가 봬요! | Got it. See you later, then! |
In Korea the wedding MC (사회자) is usually a friend of the groom, reading a script in careful 하십시오체. Here is the opening of one.
| Korean |
|---|
| 안녕하십니까? 오늘 사회를 맡은 신랑의 친구 박준호입니다. 바쁘신 가운데 귀한 걸음을 해 주신 내빈 여러분께 진심으로 감사의 말씀을 드립니다. 잠시 후 결혼식을 시작하겠습니다. 하객 여러분께서는 자리에 앉아 주시기 바랍니다. 또한 원활한 진행을 위해 휴대 전화는 진동으로 바꿔 주시기 바랍니다. 먼저 양가 어머님께서 화촉을 밝히시겠습니다. 다음은 신랑 입장이 있겠습니다. 큰 박수로 맞이해 주십시오. 식이 끝난 후에는 지하 1층 연회장에서 식사를 하실 수 있습니다. 끝까지 자리를 빛내 주시기 바랍니다. |
Good afternoon. I am Park Junho, the groom's friend, and I'll be your MC today. I sincerely thank all of you, our honoured guests, for making the trip despite your busy schedules. The ceremony will begin shortly. Guests, please take your seats. Also, to help the ceremony run smoothly, please switch your mobile phones to vibrate. First, the mothers of both families will light the ceremonial candles. Next, the groom will enter. Please welcome him with a big round of applause. After the ceremony, you can have a meal in the banquet hall on basement level 1. Please stay and grace us with your presence until the end.
Culture note — ceremonies on a schedule. Korean wedding halls often run ceremonies back to back, so a wedding may last only thirty to forty minutes, and the formal language keeps it moving. Guests hand in an envelope of 축의금 (congratulatory money) at the reception desk, watch the ceremony, and then head to the banquet. The MC's 하십시오체 isn't stiffness — it's the sound of the occasion, the same way "Dearly beloved" signals a wedding in English.
Q1: Which is the standard way for a barista to call out an order?
Q2: You're telling the department head that your section chief is out. What does current NIKL workplace guidance recommend?
Q3: Which spelling is correct?
Q4: You want to suggest to the company president, "Let's go together."
In families you'll still hear it from some older speakers, and a few conservative workplaces keep it. But the mainstream norm — backed by the NIKL's etiquette guidance for the workplace and by the military's 2016 decision to stop requiring it — is to honour anyone above you. If you honour your 과장 in front of the 부장, almost no one will think it's wrong; if you drop the honorific, some people may think you're being rude to the 과장.
Unlike Japanese, Korean doesn't have a strong rule of lowering your own boss to outsiders. On the phone, 과장님은 지금 자리에 안 계십니다 is the normal thing to say. Some very formal businesses prefer the more neutral 김 과장님은 지금 외근 중입니다, which honours the title without adding -시-.
It's debated, but it's widely accepted as indirect honouring, because the address belongs to the customer. The clear errors are the ones where the subject is the shop's product, price or stock. If you'd like to be extra safe, 주소를 말씀해 주시겠어요? avoids the question entirely.
Both, like everyone else. Use -습니다 for greetings, reports, meetings, phone openings and anything with an audience; switch to -요 for everyday back-and-forth with colleagues. A conversation that stays 100% in -습니다 can feel distant, and one that stays 100% in -요 in a formal meeting can feel too light.
Honorifics are the part of Korean where even native speakers keep learning — new employees in Korea get etiquette training, and language columnists still argue about 사물존대. So if you hesitate between 봬요 and 뵈요, you're in good company. Every time you catch an error like 커피 나오셨습니다, you're noticing something many native speakers never think about.
You've now covered the spoken registers from 반말 all the way up to the ceremonial. Next, in Lesson 21: Reading Written Korean: 한다체, News & Headlines, you'll turn to the written style: how -ㄴ다/-는다 works in newspapers and essays, how headlines squeeze sentences into nouns, and a strategy for reading real news articles.