Honorifics
Korean expressions and words about Honorifics, with examples and translations. Learn Korean with LearnK.
Honorifics
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부탁해 / 부탁드립니다 — Why Say '잘 부탁드립니다' When You're Not Actually Asking for Anything?
부탁해 / 부탁드립니다 (butakhae / butakdeurimnida) means "handing something that is my own burden over to you, and asking you to take good care of it." Watch Korean dram
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수고하세요 (sugohaseyo) — The Polite Greeting You Should Never Use With Your Boss
**수고하세요 (sugohaseyo)** is a greeting you hand to someone who is working right now, carrying the feeling of "you're working hard — keep it up." Stepping out the
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아프시다 (apeusida) — The One-Syllable Difference for When the Person in Pain Is Your Elder
**아프시다 (apeusida)** is the verb **아프다 (apeuda)** with the honorific ending **-(으)시- (-(eu)si-)** attached to it. You use it to speak about someone's pain — of b
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반존대 (banjondae) — Not casual, not polite: that awkward in-between temperature
**반존대 (banjondae)** means speech that mixes 존댓말 (jondaenmal, polite speech) and 반말 (banmal, casual speech) so that the speaker neither fully elevates the listen
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부장님 (bujangnim) — The Title That Stays When the Name Disappears
**부장님 (bujangnim)** means an honorific way of addressing the manager who runs a department at a company. In English it comes out as *department head*, or *gener
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처음 뵙겠습니다 (cheoeum boepgetseumnida) — The Greeting You Only Get to Use Once in a Lifetime
**처음 뵙겠습니다 (cheoeum boepgetseumnida)** means "Today I am meeting you for the first time," and it is the most formal opening greeting you can offer someone you h
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-거든요 (-geodeunnyo): The Ending That Offers Your Reasons Before Anyone Asks
**-거든요 (-geodeunnyo)** is a sentence ending that gently lays out a reason or a circumstance the listener probably doesn't know yet, in Korean's polite-but-not-f
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고생하셨습니다 (gosaenghasyeotseumnida) — The First Thing Koreans Reach For When the Day Is Done
**고생하셨습니다 (gosaenghasyeotseumnida)** is a formal, polite greeting you offer to someone who has just finished something hard — a way of saying, "I know what that
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말씀 낮추세요 (malsseum natchuseyo) — The One Line the Younger Person Says First, the Moment Ages Come Out
**말씀 낮추세요 (malsseum natchuseyo)** is how you ask someone, “Please don’t use formal speech with me — just talk to me casually.” You’ve probably had this moment:
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말씀하다 (malsseumhada) — Who Is Speaking Changes the Verb
말씀하다 (malsseumhada) is the honorific form of 말하다 (malhada) — the verb you use to raise up the act of speaking when the speaker is an elder or someone you owe re
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One Extra Letter Changes the Whole Temperature — 넵, the Reply Koreans Send More Than Any Other
**넵 (nep)** is 「네 (ne)」 clipped short and snapped shut — a "got it, on it right away" that lands with a bright, upbeat energy. On paper it looks no different fr
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오시다 (osida) — Put a Person in Front of '오다', and the Word Changes
**오시다 (osida)** is 오다 (oda) with the honorific **-시- (-si-)** attached — it means *to come*, said in a way that raises up the person who is doing the coming, wh
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실례지만 (sillyejiman) — The Safest Four Syllables for Talking to a Stranger
Today's expression is **실례지만 (sillyejiman)**. 실례지만 is what you say right before you approach someone you don't know, or right before you bring up a delicate que
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신경 쓰지 마세요 (singyeong sseuji maseyo) — "Don't Go to Any Trouble for Me": The Phrase Koreans Use Most Often to Decline
Let's say you've been invited to a Korean friend's home for the first time. The moment you sit down, your host starts shuttling between the kitchen and the livi
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반갑습니다 (bangapseumnida) — The Greeting for Moments When Meeting Itself Becomes a Joy
**반갑습니다 (bangapseumnida)** is a greeting that means "I'm glad to meet you." Once you start learning Korean, it's one of the first phrases you run into after **안
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대표님 (daepyonim) — When Two Syllables on a Business Card Become the Name People Call You
A week ago they were "에밀리 씨 (Emily-ssi)." Then they get a business card printed, and from the following week they are suddenly called by a different name. **대표님
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들어오세요 (deureooseyo) — The One Phrase That Calls the Guest at Your Door Inside
**들어오세요 (deureooseyo)** is a polite way of asking someone who is outside a door — or outside in general — to "please come in." When someone knocks on your offic
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돌아가시다 (doragasida) — The Word Koreans Speak Most Carefully
**돌아가시다 (doragasida)** is the honorific form of **죽다 (jukda)**, "to die." It means that an elder — or anyone you're expected to respect — has lost their life. E
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어르신 (eoreusin) — What Koreans Actually Say When They Address an Elder They Don't Know
Giving up your seat on the subway on the way home from work. Asking a patient's name at a hospital reception desk. Asking a friend how their father is doing. In
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저 / 나 — Korean Has Two Names for "Me"
**저 (jeo)** and **나 (na)** are both first-person pronouns — they both point at the person doing the talking. The difference is that **저** is a humble form: you
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모시다 (mosida) — The Moment You Say '모시고' Instead of '데리고'
**모시다 (mosida)** is an honorific verb. It means to attend on someone older or respected, to take such a person somewhere, or to seat them in a position of honor
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생신 (saengsin) — The Respectful Word for "Birthday": Who Gets It, and When
You hear this a lot in Korean offices: "다음 주 금요일에 연차 좀 쓰겠습니다. 어머니 생신이라서요." ("I'd like to take a day off next Friday. It's my mother's birthday.") But when that
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선생님 (seonsaengnim) — The Title You Hear More Often Outside the Classroom
**선생님 (seonsaengnim)** is the honorific word for a person who teaches students — and also a polite word you attach after someone's family name or job title to r
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손님 (sonnim) — At the Shop, At Home: The Honorific Koreans Use Ten Times a Day
**손님 (sonnim)** means a person who has come from somewhere else to see you, or — said with respect — a person who has come into a shop, an event venue, or a veh
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드리다 (deurida) — The One Word That Raises the Person Receiving
**드리다 (deurida)** is the honorific form of **주다 (juda)**, “to give” — to hand something to another person so they can have it or use it. The hand motion is exac
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괜찮으세요? — One Phrase for "Are You Okay?" and "Would You Mind?"
**괜찮으세요? (gwaenchaneuseyo?)** is a polite way of asking whether someone is all right — in body or in mind — or of checking that whatever you're about to do won'
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~해 주시겠어요? — The Temperature at Which a Request Lands: Korean's Most Careful Way to Ask
**~해 주시겠어요? (~hae jusigesseoyo?)** means making a request by first asking about the other person's willingness — "would you be willing to do that for me?" — and
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Hyeong, Nuna — Why Koreans Don't Call Each Other by Name
**형/누나 (hyeong/nuna)** is a pairing of two words: **형 (hyeong)**, what a man calls a man older than himself, and **누나 (nuna)**, what a man calls a woman older t
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잖아요 — The Sentence Ending for Bringing Up Something You Both Already Know
**잖아요 (janayo)** means "a sentence ending you attach when you bring up a fact the listener already knows, in order to confirm it with them." It isn't a way of d
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잡수시다 (japsusida) — The Highest Honorific for '먹다 (meokda),' the One That Only Comes Out at Grandma's Table
**잡수시다 (japsusida)** is the honorific form of **먹다 (meokda)**, "to eat" — the word used when an elder is having a meal and you want to raise that person as high
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저희 (jeohui) — The Word That Bows From the Very First Word
**저희 (jeohui)** is **우리 (uri)**, "we / our," taken down one notch. It is a humble form: a speaker uses it in front of someone of higher standing to refer to a g
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말씀 (malsseum) — The One Word That Raises Someone Else's Speech and Lowers Your Own
There is one sentence that every foreigner working at a Korean company ends up memorizing whole, before anything else: **확인해 보고 말씀드리겠습니다 (hwaginhae bogo malsseu
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네요 (neyo) — The Signal That You Just Found Out
**네요 (neyo)** is a polite sentence-final ending that you attach when you react — with a little surprise or admiration — to something you have just this moment l
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편찮으시다 (pyeonchaneusida) — How Korean Talks Around an Elder's Illness
**편찮으시다 (pyeonchaneusida)** is the honorific form of '아프다 (apeuda)' — to be sick. It means that someone older than you is not comfortable in their body; that is
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사장님 (sajangnim) — From Shop Owners to Strangers, the Most-Used Form of Address in Korea
One of the most common difficulties for someone who has just arrived in Korea is this: *"What am I supposed to call that person?"* You don't know their name, yo
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연락드리겠습니다 (yeollak-deurigetseumnida) — The One Line You Say When You're Holding the Answer
**연락드리겠습니다 (yeollak-deurigetseumnida)** is a promise — "I'll be the one to reach out to you" — delivered in a register that lowers the speaker and raises the li
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알겠어 / 알겠습니다 (algesseo / algetseumnida) — Why Koreans Never Answer with 압니다 (amnida)
**알겠어 / 알겠습니다 (algesseo / algetseumnida)** means that you've heard what the other person said and you intend to do it. Put into English, it's three phrases laye
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배고파 / 배고파요 (baegopa / baegopayo) — Why You Shouldn't Ask Your Boss "배고프세요?"
**배고파 / 배고파요 (baegopa / baegopayo)** means "empty enough inside that you need something to eat." The office where everyone watches the clock with ten minutes le
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뵙다 (boepda) — When the Word for "Meet" Knows Its Place
**뵙다 (boepda)** means "to meet someone senior to you." Pushing open the door into a job interview, sitting down in front of your partner's parents for the first
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할아버지 댁 (harabeoji daek) — There Are Places Where You Must Not Say “House”
**댁 (daek)** means another person's house or family, spoken with respect. In Korean dramas, the moment a holiday scene starts, there's one line you're almost gu
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들어가세요 (deureogaseyo) — The Warmest Goodbye, Offered to Someone's Back as They Walk Away
**들어가세요 (deureogaseyo)** means “please go on inside (go home) now.” It's a polite parting phrase you offer to someone's back as the two of you separate. Turning
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어디야? / 어디세요? — The One Line Koreans Send More Than Any Other, Every Single Day
**어디야? (eodiya?) / 어디세요? (eodiseyo?)** both ask the person on the other end "what place are you at right now?" The first one, **어디야?**, is 반말 (banmal), the casu
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계시다 (gyesida) — The Word You Use When an Elder "Is" Somewhere
**계시다 (gyesida)** is the honorific way of saying that a person of high standing or an elder is in — or lives in — a certain place. It's the honorific form of 있다
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진지 드세요 (jinji deuseyo) — The Highest Honorific, Saved for Grandma's Table
**진지 드세요 (jinji deuseyo)** is the most elevated way to say "please eat" — the top tier of Korean honorific speech, used when inviting an elder like a grandfathe
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존함 (jonham) — The Word That Lifts a Person's Name, and How High You Can Take It
**존함 (jonham)** is the word used to refer to another person's name with respect. Judging by meaning alone it's no different from **이름 (ireum)**, "name" — but in
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푹 쉬세요 (puk swiseyo) — The Phrase That Says “I Know You Worked Hard”
**푹 쉬세요 (puk swiseyo)** is a polite way of telling someone to rest — fully, deeply, all the way through. Pull the sentence apart and it's simple enough: the ver
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연세가 어떻게 되세요? (yeonsega eotteoke doeseyo?) — The Safest Way to Ask an Elder Their Age
**연세가 어떻게 되세요? (yeonsega eotteoke doeseyo?)** is the honorific way of asking an older person "How old are you?" If you watch enough Korean dramas, you know the
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드세요 (deuseyo) — The Korean Polite Expression You'll Hear Most Often Before a Meal
There's a phrase you're guaranteed to hear if you spend a day in Korea. At a restaurant, the owner says it as they set down the side dishes. At the pharmacy, th
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앉으세요 (anjeuseyo) — The Warmest Bit of Polite Speech You Can Offer a Guest
If you watch enough Korean dramas, there's one phrase that almost never fails to appear in a scene where a guest arrives at someone's home. It's **앉으세요 (anjeuse
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"잘 부탁드립니다" — The Korean Greeting That Opens the Door to a Relationship
One of the very first — and most frequent — phrases a newcomer to Korea will hear. On the first day of a new semester in the classroom, at the office on your fi