께: The Honorific 에게/한테 (To Someone) | Korean Grammar

Korean deference does not stop at the subject of a sentence — it reaches the recipient too. When you give something to an honored person, tell something to them, or write to them, the ordinary "to a person" particle 에게/한테 is replaced by the honorific 께. And 께 rarely travels alone: honoring the recipient pulls the verb into the humble register as well, so 주다 ("give") becomes 드리다, 묻다 ("ask") becomes 여쭈다, 말하다 ("say") becomes 말씀드리다. This page is about that whole package.

The one-particle politeness ladder for "to someone"

Korean gives you a three-rung ladder for marking a human goal — the same slot English fills with a single "to." You climb the ladder by how much respect the recipient is owed:

Particle	Register	Recipient
한테	casual / spoken	friends, juniors, animals
에게	neutral / written	anyone, in writing
께	honorific	elders, teachers, bosses, customers

친구한테 문자 보냈어요.

chinguhante munja bonaesseoyo

I texted my friend. (한테 — casual recipient)

선생님께 선물을 드렸어요.

seonsaengnimkke seonmureul deuryeosseoyo

I gave the teacher a gift. (께 — honored recipient, and humble 드리다)

할머니께 편지를 썼어요.

halmeonikke pyeonjireul sseosseoyo

I wrote Grandma a letter. (께 — honored recipient)

Like its subject-marking cousin 께서, 께 has no batchim allomorphy — it is 께 after any noun, consonant-final or vowel-final. No 에게/한테-style choice to make.

Honoring the recipient turns the verb humble

This is the mechanism English speakers most often miss. In English, "I gave the teacher a gift" and "I gave my friend a gift" use the identical verb give. In Korean, once the recipient is honored with 께, the giving verb must switch from plain 주다 to humble 드리다. The two moves — honorific particle on the recipient, humble verb on the predicate — lock together.

부모님께 전화드렸어요.

bumonimkke jeonhwadeuryeosseoyo

I called my parents. (전화 + humble 드리다)

부모님께 자주 연락드려요.

bumonimkke jaju yeollakdeuryeoyo

I keep in touch with my parents often. (연락 + humble 드리다)

The same coupling holds for telling and asking. When the person you address is honored, "say" becomes 말씀드리다 and "ask" becomes 여쭈다/여쭤보다 — the humble verbs that lower you toward the honored recipient. (Note the direction: these humble verbs lower the speaker; they are not -(으)시- forms — see never honor yourself.)

사장님께 말씀드릴 게 있어요.

sajangnimkke malsseumdeuril ge isseoyo

I have something to tell the boss. (께 + humble 말씀드리다)

모르는 게 있어서 선생님께 여쭤봤어요.

moreuneun ge isseoseo seonsaengnimkke yeojjwobwasseoyo

There was something I didn't know, so I asked the teacher. (께 + humble 여쭤보다)

💡

께 rarely rides alone. When the recipient is honored, the verb of giving/telling/asking goes humble in the same breath: 주다 → 드리다, 말하다 → 말씀드리다, 묻다 → 여쭈다. Learn the pair, not the particle in isolation — 께 + 드리다 is a single reflex.

께 can also mark the source: "from" an honored person

With verbs of receiving and hearing, 께 also covers "from an honored person," the honorific counterpart of 에게서/한테서. Careful, formal Korean keeps 께 here; in casual speech many people say 한테서 instead. Both are understood, but 께 is the respectful choice.

그 얘기는 선생님께 들었어요.

geu yaegineun seonsaengnimkke deureosseoyo

I heard that from the teacher. (께 marks the honored source)

어머니께 용돈을 받았어요.

eomeonikke yongdoneul badasseoyo

I got pocket money from my mother. (받다 'receive' — 께 as source)

Boundary: dative 께 vs subject 께서

The two honorific particles differ by a single syllable and mark opposite roles. 께 = recipient/goal ("to whom"); 께서 = subject/doer ("who does it"). Mixing them flips the meaning of the sentence.

선생님께 여쭤봤어요.

seonsaengnimkke yeojjwobwasseoyo

I asked the teacher. (께 — teacher is the RECIPIENT of my question)

선생님께서 대답하셨어요.

seonsaengnimkkeseo daedapasyeosseoyo

The teacher answered. (께서 — teacher is the SUBJECT/doer)

Common Mistakes

1. Pairing 께 with the plain verb 주다. Honoring the recipient with 께 requires the humble giving verb 드리다.

❌ 선생님께 줬어요.

Mismatch — 께 honors the recipient but 줬어요 (plain 주다) is casual. Use humble 드리다: 선생님께 드렸어요.

✅ 선생님께 드렸어요.

seonsaengnimkke deuryeosseoyo

I gave it to the teacher.

2. Confusing dative 께 with subject 께서. "The teacher came" needs the subject particle 께서, not the dative 께.

❌ 선생님께 오셨어요.

Wrong — 께 marks a recipient, but here the teacher is the one who came (the subject). Use 께서: 선생님께서 오셨어요.

✅ 선생님께서 오셨어요.

seonsaengnimkkeseo osyeosseoyo

The teacher has arrived.

3. Using casual 한테 with an elder. To an honored recipient, climb the ladder to 께 (and the verb goes humble).

❌ 할머니한테 선물을 줬어요.

Too casual for a grandmother — 한테 + plain 주다. Use 께 + 드리다: 할머니께 선물을 드렸어요.

✅ 할머니께 선물을 드렸어요.

halmeonikke seonmureul deuryeosseoyo

I gave my grandmother a gift.

4. Marking a 'to the teacher' letter with 께서. Writing to someone is a recipient role → 께, not the subject 께서.

❌ 선생님께서 편지를 썼어요.

This says 'the teacher wrote a letter' (teacher = subject). For 'I wrote a letter TO the teacher,' use 께: 선생님께 편지를 썼어요.

✅ 선생님께 편지를 썼어요.

seonsaengnimkke pyeonjireul sseosseoyo

I wrote a letter to the teacher.

5. Inventing a batchim allomorph. 께 never changes shape — no ✗선생님에께 or ✗할머니한께.

❌ 부모님에께 전화드렸어요.

Wrong — 께 has no variants and doesn't stack on 에. Just 께: 부모님께 전화드렸어요.

✅ 부모님께 전화드렸어요.

bumonimkke jeonhwadeuryeosseoyo

I called my parents.

Key Takeaways

께 is the honorific dative — the respectful replacement for 에게/한테 ("to a person") — with no batchim allomorphy.
The ladder for "to someone": 한테 (casual) → 에게 (neutral/written) → 께 (honorific).
Honoring the recipient with 께 turns the verb humble: 주다 → 드리다, 말하다 → 말씀드리다, 묻다 → 여쭈다.
께 also marks a "from an honored person" source with 듣다/받다 (선생님께 들었어요).
Don't confuse dative 께 (recipient) with subject 께서 (doer) — one syllable, opposite roles.

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