합니다체: The Formal-Polite Conjugation Table

합니다체 (also called 하십시오체) is Korean's formal-polite register — the crisp, public voice of news broadcasts, presentations, flight announcements, the military, formal introductions, and customer-facing service. It is fully polite, just like 해요체, but it adds formal distance rather than warmth: 갑니다 and 가요 mean the identical thing ("I go / am going"), yet one sounds like a podium and the other like a café table. This page is the look-up grid for its four moods.

The one formation rule: listen for the batchim

Everything in 합니다체 hinges on whether the stem ends in a vowel or a consonant — the same -(으) logic that runs through Korean conjugation:

• Vowel-final stem → -ㅂ니다 / -ㅂ니까. The ㅂ attaches as a batchim: 가- → 갑니다, 오- → 옵니다.
• Consonant-final stem → -습니다 / -습니까. 먹- → 먹습니다, 좋- → 좋습니다.

If you can hear a final consonant, you already know which ending to use. The one wrinkle is ㄹ-stems, which drop their ㄹ and pattern like vowel stems: 살다 → 삽니다, 만들다 → 만듭니다, 알다 → 압니다 (never ×살습니다).

The full paradigm

Columns compare a vowel-stem action verb (가다), a consonant-stem action verb (먹다), and an adjective (좋다). The adjective has no command or proposal cell — you cannot order or suggest a state.

Two reading notes. The past 갔 / 먹었 ends in a neutralized [t] before the ㅅ of 습니다 (갔습니다 → gatseumnida, 먹었습니다 → meogeotseumnida), and 겠 before a consonant is -get- (가겠습니다 → gagetseumnida). For the command, 먹으십시오 is the mechanical form; in practice Koreans use the honorific suppletive 드십시오 ("please eat," from 드시다) or 잡수십시오, since offering food to someone you address in 합니다체 calls for the honorific — see suppletive honorific verbs. A very common consonant-stem command is 앉으십시오 ("please sit," anjeusipsio).

Why it is pronounced [-mnida]

The spelling says 갑니다, but you hear [gamnida] — with an m, not a p. A ㅂ batchim nasalizes to ㅁ before ㄴ (ㅂ + ㄴ → ㅁ + ㄴ), so 갑니다 → [감니다], 합니다 → [함니다], and the ending 습니다 → [슴니다]. Revised Romanization reflects this, which is why every reading above has an m (gamnida, meokseumnida), never a hard p. Pronouncing a crisp [p] there is the surest way to sound like a textbook rather than a broadcaster.

The forms in real sentences

Because 합니다체 is a register, these examples live where the register does — announcements, introductions, service, formal address.

When to reach for it — and holding the level

합니다체 and 해요체 are both 존댓말 (polite speech); they differ in formality, not in respect. Stand-up-straight situations take 합니다체 — an audience, a superior, a first formal meeting, a written notice. Across-the-table situations take 해요체 — a friendly clerk, a coworker, everyday adult talk. The register also expects consistency: a newscaster does not drift between 갑니다 and 가요, and an interview answered half-formal, half-polite sounds unsteady. Pick the level for the setting and stay in it. For the everyday register this contrasts with, see the 해요체 table; for the wider map, 해요 vs 합니다.

How this differs from English

English has no grammaticalized politeness level — it signals formality through word choice ("I'd be delighted to" vs "sure"). Korean bakes formality into the verb ending itself and, unlike English, splits the statement and the question into different endings (갑니다 vs 갑니까?), where English keeps one verb and merely inverts or adds do. That clean statement/question cut is part of what gives 합니다체 its crisp, official feel. The habit to build is choosing a level deliberately and sustaining it, rather than mixing formality sentence by sentence the way English lets you.

Common Mistakes

1. Attaching -습니다 to a vowel stem (×가습니다). Vowel stems take -ㅂ니다.

2. Forgetting the ㄹ-drop (×삽니다 → written ×살습니다). ㄹ-stems drop the ㄹ and take -ㅂ니다.

3. Using the statement ending for a question (×갑니다?). 합니다체 has a dedicated question ending -ㅂ니까/습니까.

4. Mixing 합니다체 and 해요체 in one formal stretch. Hold one register.

Key Takeaways

• 합니다체 = formal-polite: -ㅂ니다 after a vowel/ㄹ stem, -습니다 after a consonant stem; ㄹ-stems drop the ㄹ (삽니다, 만듭니다).
• Dedicated question ending -ㅂ니까/습니까 (갑니까?, 먹습니까?) — unlike 해요체's intonation-only questions.
• Command -(으)십시오 (가십시오, 앉으십시오), proposal -(으)ㅂ시다 (갑시다, 먹읍시다); adjectives have neither.
• Pronounced [-mnida] — the ㅂ nasalizes to [m] before ㄴ (갑니다 = [감니다]).
• Same meaning as 해요체 (갑니다 = 가요); the difference is formal distance vs warmth — choose one level and stay in it.