Korean speech levels

There are seven verb paradigms or speech levels in Korean, and each level has its own unique set of verb endings which are used to indicate the level of formality of a situation. Unlike "honorifics" – which are used to show respect towards someone mentioned in a sentence – speech levels are used to show respect towards a speaker's or writer's audience, or reflect the formality or informality of the situation.

The names of the seven levels are derived from the non-honorific imperative form of the verb hada (하다; "to do") in each level, plus the suffix che (체), which means "style". Each Korean speech level can be combined with honorific or non-honorific noun and verb forms. Taken together, there are 14 combinations.

These days, some of these speech levels are disappearing from use in everyday life. Hasoseoche, which is used only in movies or dramas set in older eras, is barely used by modern Koreans, and hageche exists almost only in novels.

Higher levels

Hasoseo-che

Name	Hasoseo-che (하소서체)
Formality	very high
Politeness	high
Currency	archaic

Very formally polite
Traditionally used when addressing a king, queen, or high official; now used only in historical dramas and religious text such as the Bible, the Koran, Buddhist scriptures, etc.

Present	Honorific Present	1st Person	2nd Person
hanaida (하나이다)	hasinaida (하시나이다)	jeo (저)	a title, e.g. imgeum (임금)

Hasipsio-che

Name	Hasipsio-che (하십시오체)
Formality	high
Politeness	high
Currency	common

Formally polite
This conversational style is generally called either the "formal" or the "formal polite."Another name for this is hapsyo-che or 합쇼체 This is a common style of speaking. A conversation with a stranger will generally start out in this style and gradually fade into more and more frequent haeyo-che. It is used

• between strangers at the start of a conversation
• among colleagues in more formal settings
• by TV announcers
• to customers
• in certain fixed expressions like 만나서 반갑습니다 mannaseo bangapseumnida "Pleased to meet you"

Present	Honorific Present	1st Person	2nd Person
hamnida (합니다)	hasimnida (하십니다)	jeo (저)	a title, e.g. seonsaengnim (선생님)

Middle levels

The middle levels are used when there is some conflict or uncertainty about the social status of one or both participants in a conversation. The hage-che and hao-che are being replaced by or merging with haeyo-che.

Haeyo-che

Name	Haeyo-che (해요체)
Formality	low
Politeness	high
Currency	common

Casually polite
This speech style is called the "polite" style in English. Like 해체 (Hae-che), it is a defective paradigm, meaning it lacks most of the expected conjugational forms. Unlike other speech styles, declarative, interrogative and imperative conjugstions are identical, only depending on intonation and context. Most Korean phrasebooks for foreigners follow this speech style due to its simplicity and proper politeness. It is remarkable in that it is used both with higher level pronouns (namely, titles) as well as the middle level second person pronoun dangsin. It is used mainly:

• In Korean phrasebooks for foreigners.
• Between strangers, especially those older or of equal age.
• Between colleagues
• By younger speakers as a less old-fashioned alternative to the hao-che.
• By men and women in Seoul as a less formal alternative to the hasipsio-che.

Present	Honorific Present	1st Person	2nd Person
haeyo (해요)	haseyo (하세요) (common), hasyeoyo (하셔요) (rare)	jeo (저)	dangsin 당신 a title, e.g. seonsaengnim (선생님)

Hao-che

Name	Hao-che (하오체)
Formality	high
Politeness	neutral
Currency	uncommon

Formally neither polite nor impolite
This conversational style is called the "semi-formal," "middle," "formal lateral," or "authoritarian" style in English. In Seoul, the 쇼 -syo ending is frequently pronounced 수 su. It was originally a refined, poetic style that people resorted to in ambiguous social situations, but, due to its over-use by authority figures during Korea's period of dictatorship, it became associated with power and bureaucracy and gained a negative connotation. Consequently, the generation of Koreans who came of age after democratization conspicuously avoid using it. It is used:

• Occasionally among the older generation, by civil servants, police officers, middle management, middle-aged people, and other people of intermediate social rank who have temporary authority over what would normally be considered their superiors
• In historical dramas, where it gives the dialogue a more old-fashioned sound.
• In the spoken form of certain dialects, such as the Hamgyŏng dialect.

Present	Honorific Present	1st Person	2nd Person
hao (하오)	hasyo (하쇼), hasio (하시오)	na (나)	dangsin (당신)

Hage-che

Name	Hage-che (하게체)
Formality	neutral
Politeness	neutral
Currency	older generation

Neither formal nor casual, neither polite nor impolite
This conversational style is called the "familiar." It is intermediate in politeness between haeyo-che and hae-che. It is not used to address children, and is never used to address blood relatives. It is used only:

• By some older people when addressing younger people or especially in-laws in a friendly manner.
• Between adult male friends, occasionally.
• In novels

Present	Honorific Present	1st Person	2nd Person
hane (하네)	hasine (하시네)	na (나)	jane (자네)

Lower levels

The hae-che and haera-che styles are frequently mixed together in the same conversation, so much so that it can be hard to tell what verb endings belong to which style. Endings that may be used in either style are:

• Question: -니?/-냐?/-느냐?
• Proposition: -자. (this is roughly equivalent to "let's" in English)
• Casual statement: -지. (this is roughly equivalent to "I suppose")
• Casual question: -지?. (this is roughly equivalent to "I wonder if" in English)
• Exclamation: -구나! -다!

Haera-che

Name	Haera-che (해라체)
Formality	high
Politeness	low
Currency	common

Formally impolite
This conversational style is generally called the "plain" style. In writing and quoting, the plain style is the equivalent of the third person. Any other written style would feel like a first person account (that is, anything else would seem to be told in the main character's own voice). It is used:

• To close friends or relatives of similar age, and by adults to children.
• In impersonal writing (books, newspapers, and magazines) and indirect quotations ("She said that...").
• In grammar books, to give examples.
• In some exclamations.

Present	Honorific Present	1st Person	2nd Person
handa (한다)	hasinda (하신다)	na (나)	neo (너)

Hae-che

Name	Hae-che (해체)
Formality	low
Politeness	low
Currency	common

Casually impolite
This conversational style is called the "intimate" in English. Like 해요체 (Haeyo-che), it is a defective paradigm, meaning it lacks most of the expected conjugational forms. Declarative, interogative and imperative conjugations are identical, only depending on intonation and context. It is used

• Between close friends and relatives.
• When talking to children.

Non-Honorific Present	Honorific Present	1st Person	2nd Person
hae (해) (in speech), hayeo (하여) (in writing)	hasyeo(하셔)	na (나)	neo (너)

See also

• Korean honorifics
• Korean pronouns

References

• 문체법 [1], (국어국문학자료사전, 1998, 한국사전연구사).