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What kind of words have different forms because of politeness levels?
What kind of words have different forms because of politeness levels?
I am a bit surprised with the difference between: 나 and 저. I thought that the difference in politeness levels only effected verb forms, and some standard expressions like thank you and hello. Apart from personal pronouns, verb forms and standard expression like hello, goodbye, thank you, what other words have synonyms expressing the politeness level?
It’s a whole lot more than in any Indo-Germanic language, of course. Therefore my surprise. For me as a European it seems strange and a little overkill. It’s like Koreans made a whole separate language to talk to the boss. Does he deserve such effort? ;)
nouns/substantives
adverbs/adjectives
possessive pronouns
personal pronouns
reciprocal pronouns
relative pronouns
demonstrative pronouns
articles, numerals/cardinal numbers, ordinals
prefixes, prepositions
et cetera.
I am a bit surprised with the difference between: 나 and 저. I thought that the difference in politeness levels only effected verb forms, and some standard expressions like thank you and hello. Apart from personal pronouns, verb forms and standard expression like hello, goodbye, thank you, what other words have synonyms expressing the politeness level?
It’s a whole lot more than in any Indo-Germanic language, of course. Therefore my surprise. For me as a European it seems strange and a little overkill. It’s like Koreans made a whole separate language to talk to the boss. Does he deserve such effort? ;)
Additional Details:
Additional Details:
I am actually referring to the grammatical classification of the words, which kind of words. I am not looking for examples. In Indo-Germanic languages these classifications are used. I do not know if you can apply them to Korean though:nouns/substantives
adverbs/adjectives
possessive pronouns
personal pronouns
reciprocal pronouns
relative pronouns
demonstrative pronouns
articles, numerals/cardinal numbers, ordinals
prefixes, prepositions
et cetera.
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Actually we don't make such effort, we just talk to the boss, naturally.
It's very important to consider the age of people you talk to, and the situation as well.
So, all polite expresses depend on the people you talk to and the situation -
Here are just a bit of examples :
These can be applied to talk to your friend, or people younger than you or the same age with you.
I - 나/내/내가 You/you - 너, 너희, 네가, 너희가, 너희를.../He,She 걔, They - 그 아이들, 걔들.
These should be in the sentence for showing your respect to people who are superior or someone you first meet/you don't know.
I 저/제/저희/ You/you - 당신, 당신들(pl.) 선생님(Mr/Dr...), 사장님, 부장님(title of the person's position). etc.
You can go home!
polite form : 집에 가셔도 좋습니다. (for your friend, 집에 가도 좋아.)
Do you have any question?
polite form 질문 있으신분 계십니까? 질문 있나요? (for your friend, 질문 있니?)
Would you like some coffee?
polite form 커피 드시겠습니까? (for your friend, 커피 줘?, 커피 먹을래?)
It's very important to consider the age of people you talk to, and the situation as well.
So, all polite expresses depend on the people you talk to and the situation -
Here are just a bit of examples :
These can be applied to talk to your friend, or people younger than you or the same age with you.
I - 나/내/내가 You/you - 너, 너희, 네가, 너희가, 너희를.../He,She 걔, They - 그 아이들, 걔들.
These should be in the sentence for showing your respect to people who are superior or someone you first meet/you don't know.
I 저/제/저희/ You/you - 당신, 당신들(pl.) 선생님(Mr/Dr...), 사장님, 부장님(title of the person's position). etc.
You can go home!
polite form : 집에 가셔도 좋습니다. (for your friend, 집에 가도 좋아.)
Do you have any question?
polite form 질문 있으신분 계십니까? 질문 있나요? (for your friend, 질문 있니?)
Would you like some coffee?
polite form 커피 드시겠습니까? (for your friend, 커피 줘?, 커피 먹을래?)
We have quite complicated grammar and, even native Korean we are, we make lots of mistakes. But we have 'general rules' that we follow.
When you use '높임말' meaning polite expressions, you should use the special suffixes (we call them 조사) right after the word referring the person you want to show your respect.
So, the word should be noun, pronouns and verb.
He is having dinner with her.
그 사람은 그 여자와 저녁을 먹고 있다.
-> 그 분(polite form for a person)은 그 여자와 저녁 식사(synonym of 밥)를 하고 계십니다(polite form for 있다)
You mentioned 'the grammatical classification of the words' there are some words that we don't have, though.
- relative pronouns, articles, prepositions are the things we don't have.
When you use '높임말' meaning polite expressions, you should use the special suffixes (we call them 조사) right after the word referring the person you want to show your respect.
So, the word should be noun, pronouns and verb.
He is having dinner with her.
그 사람은 그 여자와 저녁을 먹고 있다.
-> 그 분(polite form for a person)은 그 여자와 저녁 식사(synonym of 밥)를 하고 계십니다(polite form for 있다)
You mentioned 'the grammatical classification of the words' there are some words that we don't have, though.
- relative pronouns, articles, prepositions are the things we don't have.
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