Korean deference runs on two independent axes, and this page is about the second one. The first axis raises the subject — the person doing the action — with the honorific -(으)시- (or a suppletive like 드시다). The second axis lowers the speaker — you shrink your own action to make room for a higher-status person it is aimed at. That is 겸양 (humble) speech, and it works through a small closed set of suppletive verbs. This is the reference table for that set. Get the axis right and a whole layer of Korean politeness that English speakers usually never notice clicks into place.
The table
Each humble verb replaces a plain one; you cannot get there by adding -시- (that would honor the subject, which is you). The right-hand column flags the particle the target takes — a real point of divergence within the set.
| Plain verb | Meaning | Humble stem | 해요체 humble | Target particle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 주다 | give | 드리다 | 드려요 deuryeoyo | 께 (recipient) |
| 보다 · 만나다 | see · meet | 뵙다 · 뵈다 | 봬요 (뵈어요) bwaeyo | 을/를 (object) |
| 묻다 (ask) | ask a question | 여쭙다 · 여쭈다 | 여쭤요 yeojjwoyo | 께 (goal) |
| 데리다 | take (a person) along | 모시다 | 모셔요 mosyeoyo | 을/를 (object) |
| 말하다 | tell / say | 말씀드리다 | 말씀드려요 malsseumdeuryeoyo | 께 (recipient) |
Notice the particle column is not uniform. You give to and tell to a superior, so 드리다 and 말씀드리다 mark the recipient with the honorific dative 께. But you see and accompany a superior directly, so 뵙다 and 모시다 take a direct object, 을/를 — never 께. And 여쭙다 "ask (a question)" points the question at someone, so it climbs to 께. Matching the wrong particle is one of the commonest errors, so let the meaning pick it.
이건 부장님께 드릴 선물이에요.
igeon bujangnimkke deuril seonmurieyo
This is a gift for the manager. (주다 → 드리다, recipient marked 께)
그럼 내일 오후에 뵙겠습니다.
geureom naeil ohue boepgetseumnida
Then I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. (보다/만나다 → 뵙다, formal set phrase)
제가 부장님께 한번 여쭤볼게요.
jega bujangnimkke hanbeon yeojjwobolgeyo
I'll go ahead and ask the manager. (묻다 → 여쭙다, goal marked 께)
이번 주말에 부모님을 모시고 여행 가요.
ibeon jumare bumonimeul mosigo yeohaeng gayo
This weekend I'm taking my parents on a trip. (데리다 → 모시다, object marked 을/를)
The two axes, side by side
The clearest way to feel the second axis is to watch one verb — 주다 "give" — take three shapes depending on who acts:
| Situation | Verb | Which axis |
|---|---|---|
| I give → an equal / junior | 주다 (줘요) | neutral — no honorification |
| A superior gives → me | 주시다 (주세요/주셨어요) | subject-honorific: raise the giver |
| I give → a superior | 드리다 (드려요) | humble: lower my own giving |
Same act of handing something over; three different verbs, chosen entirely by the social vector. This is why 드리다 is the humble twin of the honorific 주시다 — and why confusing their directions is the mistake to guard against. -시- (주시다) honors the giver; if the giver is you, honoring yourself is exactly backwards, so you humble instead (드리다).
선생님께서 저에게 책을 주셨어요.
seonsaengnimkkeseo jeoege chaegeul jusyeosseoyo
The teacher gave me a book. (superior gives → 주시다, subject-honorific)
그래서 저도 답례로 선물을 드렸어요.
geuraeseo jeodo damnyero seonmureul deuryeosseoyo
So I gave a gift back in return. (I give upward → 드리다, humble)
The tricky forms: 뵈다 and 여쭈다
Two members have two stems each, and both stems are standard — which is exactly why they confuse people.
뵈다 is a ㅚ-stem and conjugates precisely like 되다: wherever 되다 gives 돼요 / 됐어요, 뵈다 gives the parallel 봬요 / 뵀어요. The separate stem 뵙- surfaces in the fixed deferential phrases 처음 뵙겠습니다 ("pleased to meet you") and 뵙고 싶습니다 ("I'd like to see you"). The commonest slip — made by natives too — is writing ×뵈요 for the contraction of 뵈어요; because 뵈 + 어요 must fuse to 봬요 (just as 되어요 → 돼요), the bare ×뵈요 is wrong.
여쭈다 is the everyday stem (여쭈 + 어 → 여쭤: 여쭤요, 여쭤봤어요), while 여쭙- appears before certain consonant endings (여쭙겠습니다, 여쭙고). The form you will actually hear most is 여쭤보다 — 여쭈 plus the "try" auxiliary -어 보다 — softening the question the way casual Korean softens 묻다 into 물어보다.
다음 주에 또 봬요.
daeum jue tto bwaeyo
See you again next week. (뵈어요 → 봬요, parallel to 돼요)
뭐 하나만 여쭤봐도 될까요?
mwo hanaman yeojjwobwado doelkkayo
Could I ask you just one thing? (the everyday 여쭤보다, softened request frame)
제가 공항까지 모셔다 드릴게요.
jega gonghangkkaji mosyeoda deurilgeyo
I'll take you all the way to the airport. (모시다 + humble 드리다, stacked)
자세한 건 이따 말씀드릴게요.
jasehan geon itta malsseumdeurilgeyo
I'll tell you the details later. (말하다 → 말씀드리다)
The mirror image keeps you honest
Every humble verb has a plain-verb-plus-시 counterpart used when the direction reverses. You ask up with 여쭙다 (no -시-), but when a superior asks you, the superior is the subject, so it is plain 물어보다 + -시- → 물어보셨어요. You give up with 드리다, but a superior gives to you with 주시다. The humble verb is only ever for you acting toward a superior.
교수님께서 저한테 뭐라고 물어보셨어요.
gyosunimkkeseo jeohante mworago mureobosyeosseoyo
The professor asked me something. (superior asks → 물어보시다, not 여쭙다)
How this differs from English
English handles deference with word choice that is optional and register-neutral — you may say "I presented it to the director" instead of "I gave it to the director," but "gave" is fine. Korean makes the humble verb obligatory once your action targets someone above you: a service worker who says 도와줄게요 (friend-level "I'll help") to a customer instead of 도와드릴게요 (humble) sounds subtly rude. And there is no rank-neutral middle option for some of these — Korean has no bland "bring a person along," only 모시다 (up) or 데리다 (down), so not choosing is impossible.
Common Mistakes
1. Plain 주다 to a superior. Once the recipient outranks you, the verb must go humble.
❌ 부장님께 선물을 줬어요.
Mismatch — 께 honors the recipient, but plain 줬어요 is for equals. Use 드렸어요.
✅ 부장님께 선물을 드렸어요.
bujangnimkke seonmureul deuryeosseoyo
I gave the manager a present.
2. Writing ×뵈요 instead of 봬요. The contraction of 뵈어요 is 봬요, parallel to 되어요 → 돼요.
❌ 다음에 또 뵈요.
Spelling error — the contraction of 뵈어요 is 봬요, not 뵈요.
✅ 다음에 또 봬요.
daeume tto bwaeyo
See you again next time.
3. Marking the person seen or accompanied with 께. 뵙다 and 모시다 take a direct object (을/를), not a dative.
❌ 사장님께 모시고 왔어요.
Wrong particle — 모시다 is transitive; use 을/를: 사장님을 모시고 왔어요.
✅ 사장님을 모시고 왔어요.
sajangnimeul mosigo wasseoyo
I brought the president (with me).
4. Using 여쭙다 when a superior asks you. Humble 여쭙다 lowers your asking; a superior's asking is honored with 물어보시다.
❌ 교수님께서 저한테 여쭤보셨어요.
Wrong direction — 여쭙다 humbles the asker, but here the professor asks. Use 물어보셨어요.
✅ 교수님께서 저한테 물어보셨어요.
gyosunimkkeseo jeohante mureobosyeosseoyo
The professor asked me.
Key Takeaways
- Humble verbs lower the speaker to elevate a higher-status target — a separate axis from subject-honorific -(으)시-.
- The set: 주다→드리다, 보다/만나다→뵙다/뵈다, 묻다→여쭙다/여쭈다, 데리다→모시다, 말하다→말씀드리다.
- 주다 has three faces by who acts: 주다 (neutral), 주시다 (a superior gives — honorific), 드리다 (I give up — humble).
- Particles differ: give/tell → 께; see/accompany → 을/를; ask → 께.
- 뵈다 conjugates like 되다 (봬요, not ×뵈요); the deferential set phrases use the 뵙- stem (처음 뵙겠습니다).
- Mirror image: reverse the direction and you switch back to plain verb + -시- (물어보시다, 주시다).
Now practice Korean
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Start learning Korean→Related Topics
- Honorific Suppletive Verbs (특수 높임말): Plain → Honorific TableTOPIK 2 — The lookup table for the high-frequency verbs whose subject-honorific form is a separate word, not just stem + -(으)시- — 먹다 → 드시다, 자다 → 주무시다, 있다 → 계시다, 죽다 → 돌아가시다, 말하다 → 말씀하시다 — plus the 계시다 vs 있으시다 split that trips up even advanced learners.
- Conjugation Sheet: 주다 (give / do for someone)TOPIK 2 — The full look-up sheet for 주다 — the ㅜ-stem that contracts to 줘요 (주 + 어 → 줘) — with the three-way deference split 줘요 / 주세요 / 드려요 and the benefactive auxiliary -아/어 주다 that overtly marks an action as a favour: 도와줘요, 해 주세요, 해 드릴게요.
- Address Terms & Title Suffixes (호칭·-님/-씨): Reference TableTOPIK 1 — The words Korean uses to address and refer to people in place of 'you' — the deferential suffix -님 (선생님, 사장님, 고객님), the polite-neutral -씨 on a name (민수 씨), the all-purpose 선생님, group 여러분, and kin-as-address (형님, 어머님). Includes the surname trap (×김 씨) and why 당신 is NOT a neutral 'you.'
- 드리다: To Give (Humble) — vs 주다 and 주시다TOPIK 2 — 드리다 is the humble 'give' you use when YOU give something to a superior — the third point of Korean's give-system alongside 주다 (give to an equal/junior) and 주시다 (a superior gives to you), because Korean picks the verb by the social direction of the transfer, not just the act.
- 뵙다 / 뵈다: To See or Meet a SuperiorTOPIK 3 — 뵙다/뵈다 is the humble verb for meeting or seeing someone above you, replacing 만나다/보다 — an example of OBJECT honorification, where you can't use -시- (which would honor the subject, i.e. yourself) so you switch verbs to lower your own act of meeting toward the respected person.