Learn Korean for Free | Beginner Korean Grammar #13
When speaking to a customer, teacher, or an older person, Korean often shows respect inside the verb. -(으)세요 can make a respectful statement or question about that person.
What Does A/V-(으)세요 Mean?
This lesson uses -(으)세요 as an honorific polite ending. It respectfully asks about or describes the listener’s or another respected person’s action or condition: 어디에 사세요? (Where do you live?), 선생님은 바쁘세요 (The teacher is busy).
The Rule
After most consonant-ending stems, add -으세요: 먹다 → 먹으세요. After a vowel, add -세요: 가다 → 가세요. If the stem ends in ㄹ, drop ㄹ and add -세요: 살다 → 사세요. Some verbs have special honorific forms, such as 있다 → 계세요 and 먹다 → 드세요, which you can learn gradually.
Useful Korean Words
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 살다 | to live |
| 가다 | to go |
| 읽다 | to read |
| 바쁘다 | to be busy |
| 건강하다 | to be healthy |
| 선생님 | teacher |
| 부모님 | parents |
| 어디 | where |
Korean Grammar Examples
선생님은 어디에 사세요?
Where does the teacher live?
아버지는 지금 바쁘세요.
My father is busy now.
어머니는 매일 책을 읽으세요.
My mother reads every day.
할머니는 건강하세요.
My grandmother is healthy.
교수님은 학교에 계세요.
The professor is at school.
A Short Dialogue
A: 부모님은 어디에 사세요? — Where do your parents live?
B: 부산에 사세요. — They live in Busan.
A: 두 분 모두 건강하세요? — Are they both healthy?
B: 네, 건강하세요. — Yes, they are.
A Common Mistake to Avoid
The ending can also be used for a polite request, which Lesson 17 studies directly. Context tells the difference: 어디에 가세요? asks respectfully where someone is going, while 이쪽으로 가세요 tells someone to go this way. Do not use an honorific to raise yourself: say 저는 서울에 살아요, not 저는 서울에 사세요.
Quick Quiz 🎯
Choose 으세요 or 세요 and make a respectful sentence: ① 선생님이 책을 읽다. ② 할머니가 병원에 가다. ③ 아버지가 서울에 살다. ④ 어머니가 바쁘다.
Answers and Explanation
① 선생님이 책을 읽으세요. ② 할머니가 병원에 가세요. ③ 아버지가 서울에 사세요. ④ 어머니가 바쁘세요. In 살다, ㄹ drops before -세요.
Try It in Your Own Life
Say or write two original sentences with A/V-(으)세요. Use a person, place, food, class, or daily routine that is real for you. Then change one detail and say the new sentence aloud. This small change helps you practice the grammar as a speaking tool rather than memorizing only one example.
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