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. They represent a system of honorifics in the linguistic use of the term as a grammar system, distinct from honorific titles.
The names of the seven levels are derived from the non-honorific imperative form of the verb hada in each level, plus the suffix che, 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.
Some of these speech levels are disappearing from the majority of Korean speech. Hasoseo-che is now used mainly in movies or dramas set in the Joseon era and in religious speech. Hage-che is nowadays limited to some modern male speech, whilst Hao-che is now found more commonly in the Jeolla dialect and Pyongan dialect than in the Seoul dialect.
Higher levels
Hasoseo-che
| Name | Hasoseo-che |
| Formality | very high |
| Politeness | high |
| Currency | uncommon |
Very formally polite
Traditionally used when addressing a king, queen, or high official.
When the infix op / saop, jaop or sap / jap or sao / jao is inserted, the politeness level also becomes very high. hanaida becomes haomnaida, hasinaida becomes hasiomnaida. The imperative form hasoseo also becomes haopsoseo and hasiopsoseo. It is used now:
- in historical dramas
- in religious texts such as the Bible, Buddhist scriptures, etc.
- to address royalty
| Present | Honorific Present | 1st Person | 2nd Person |
| hanaida | hasinaida | jeo | a title, e.g. imgeum |
Hasipsio-che
| Name | Hasipsio-che |
| 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; for example, in work meetings
- 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 | hasimnida | jeo | a title, e.g. seonsaengnim |
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 |
| Formality | low |
| Politeness | high |
| Currency | common |
Casually polite
This speech style is called the "polite" style in English. Like the 해체 Hae-che, it exhibits no inflection for most expected forms. Unlike other speech styles, basic conjugations for the declarative, interrogative and imperative forms are identical, depending on intonation and context or other additional suffixes. Most Korean phrasebooks for foreigners follow this speech style due to its simplicity and proper politeness. Second person pronouns are generally omitted in the polite speech styles. It is used:
- 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 | haseyo , hasyeoyo | jeo |
Hao-che
| Name | Hao-che |
| Formality | high |
| Politeness | neutral |
| Currency | less common |
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 is similar to the 하십시오체 Hasipsio-che, but does not lower oneself to show humility. It was originally a refined, poetic style that people resorted to in ambiguous social situations. Until the end of the nineteenth century, it was used widely in the ways the polite style is used now; but with the emergence of the polite style, the range of the semiformal style narrowed, and it became a style used only with inferiors. Further, 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, this style has almost completely fallen out of use in modern South Korea, and the generation of Koreans who came of age after democratization also conspicuously avoid using it. In North Korean standard Korean it is still used when talking to equals who may be addressed by 동무 dongmu. 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
- Used in written language such as signs and public notices, in which case the imperative form is used.
- In historical dramas, where it gives the dialogue a more old-fashioned sound.
- In the North Korean standard language
- In the spoken form of certain dialects, such as the Hamgyŏng dialect.
| Present | Honorific Present | 1st Person | 2nd Person |
| hao | hasyo , hasio | na | dangsin |
Hage-che
| Name | Hage-che |
| Formality | neutral |
| Politeness | neutral |
| Currency | less common |
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.
- Used for those under one's authority: by professors toward their students, by bosses toward their employees etc.
- Between adult male friends, occasionally.
- In novels
| Present | Honorific Present | 1st Person | 2nd Person |
| hane | hasine | na | jane |
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.
- Casual statement: -지.
- Casual question: -지?.
- Exclamation: -구나! -다!
Haera-che
| Name | Haera-che |
| 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. It is used:
- To close friends or relatives of similar age, and by adults to children.
- In impersonal writing and indirect quotations.
- In grammar books, to give examples.
- In some exclamations.
| Present | Honorific Present | 1st Person | 2nd Person |
| handa | hasinda | na | neo |
Hae-che
| Name | Hae-che |
| Formality | low |
| Politeness | low |
| Currency | common |
Casually impolite
This conversational style is called the "intimate" in English. Like the 해요체 Haeyo-che, it exhibits no inflection for most expected forms. Basic conjugations for the declarative, interrogative and imperative forms are identical, depending on intonation and context or other additional suffixes. It is used:
- Between close friends and relatives.
- When talking to children.
| Present | Honorific Present | 1st Person | 2nd Person |
| hae , hayeo | hasyeo | na | neo |