TeacherJoy

Let’s talk about honorifics.

If you’ve been learning Korean, you probably know that ‘to give’ changes depending on who you’re talking to.

I know these grammar videos aren’t exactly ‘viral hits,’ but listen—fun videos are like a tiny sprint in the marathon of language learning. I’m here to focus on the real, sometimes difficult, beauty of Korean as it is.

Let’s get to it. The subject honorific version of ‘주다’ (to give) is ‘주시다’, and its ‘요-form’ is ‘주세요’. 

f the person giving something is older or someone you need to respect, you use ‘주세요’:

• 물 좀 주세요. – Please give me some water.
• 도와 주세요. – Please help me.

Now, if you want to level up that respect, swap the subject marker ‘이/가’ with ‘께서’:

• Instead of ‘저 분이 이거 주셨어요’, say ‘저 분께서 이거 주셨어요.’ (That person gave me this.)
• Instead of ‘선생님이 한국어를 많이 가르쳐 주셨어요’, say ‘선생님께서 한국어를 많이 가르쳐 주셨어요.’ (My teacher taught me Korean a lot.)

But what if the receiver is the one you need to respect? 

In that case, we don’t use ‘주세요’. We use a different verb: ‘드리다’.

Have you heard this at a restaurant?

• 뭐 드릴까요? – What can I give/get for you?

And just like before, if you want to show extra respect to the receiver, swap ‘한테’ with ‘께’:

• 할머니께 선물 드렸어요. – I gave a gift to my grandmother.
• 선생님께 드릴 말씀이 있어요. – I have something to tell you, Teacher.

Finally, we all know ‘감사합니다’, right? To express that gratitude even more strongly, we say “감사 드립니다”.

In business emails, Koreans don’t have a direct ‘Best regards,’ but we show respect to the recipient by putting ‘드림’ (the noun form of 드리다) after our name.

For example, ‘Joy 드림’. It translates to ‘From Joy,’ but the word-for-word nuance is more like: ‘Joy humbly gives this to you, the honorable recipient.’

Respect is built into the Korean language.