One Verb, Four Speech Levels: Master Comparison Table | Korean Grammar

This is the one grid the whole speech-level section is built to install. Korean marks politeness not with an optional "please" but by reconjugating the verb — the same action comes out four different ways depending on whom you are addressing. Instead of learning those four systems separately, learn to read them off a single chart. Below, the verb 가다 ("to go") is declined across all four common levels. There are two ways to read it, and both are the point: read across a row to hear the same meaning at four politeness settings, and read down a column to see which moods a single level offers. Build that two-axis reflex and the rest of the section becomes lookup, not memorization.

Grid 1: the action verb 가다

Mood / Tense	합니다체 (formal polite)	해요체 (polite)	반말 (intimate)	한다체 (plain/written)
Present statement	갑니다 (gamnida)	가요 (gayo)	가 (ga)	간다 (ganda)
Present question	갑니까? (gamnikka)	가요? (gayo)	가? (ga)	가냐?·가니? (ganya · gani)
Past	갔습니다 (gatseumnida)	갔어요 (gasseoyo)	갔어 (gasseo)	갔다 (gatda)
Imperative	가십시오 (gasipsio)	가세요 (gaseyo)	가 (ga)	가라 (gara)
Propositive	갑시다 (gapsida)	(같이) 가요 (gachi gayo)	가자 (gaja)	가자 (gaja)

Reading across the present-statement row, 갑니다 → 가요 → 가 → 간다 is one and the same event — "goes / is going" — at four settings: crisp-formal, warm-polite, intimate, and impersonal-written. Reading down the 해요체 column, you see everything 해요체 can do: state (가요), ask (가요?), narrate the past (갔어요), command (가세요), and propose ((같이) 가요). Two of those 해요체 cells are the very same word — 가요 does statement, question, and "let's" all by itself, sorted out by intonation and context.

부장님, 지금 회의실로 갑니다.

bujangnim, jigeum hoeuisillo gamnida

Director, I'm heading to the meeting room now. (합니다체 — to a superior at work)

저 이제 집에 가요.

jeo ije jibe gayo

I'm heading home now. (해요체 — the everyday polite default)

나 먼저 가.

na meonjeo ga

I'm off first. (반말 — to a close friend)

주인공은 말없이 문을 열고 밖으로 나간다.

juingong-eun mareopsi muneul yeolgo bakkeuro naganda

The protagonist silently opens the door and goes outside. (한다체 — novel narration)

The two invisible cues: 요 and the batchim

Two mechanical facts make the whole grid predictable.

First, 해요체 is 반말 plus 요. Every 해요체 cell is its intimate neighbor with the politeness tag 요 clipped on: 가 → 가요, 갔어 → 갔어요. Strip the 요 and you drop one level; add it and you climb one. That single toggle covers half the table.

💡

The fastest way to switch between 반말 and 해요체 is not to relearn the verb — it is to add or drop 요. 갔어 ↔ 갔어요, 뭐 해 ↔ 뭐 해요. Keep the stem; move the 요.

Second, the 합니다체 and 한다체 forms are the ones that actually change shape, and they change by the batchim (final consonant) of the stem — which is why a look-up table earns its keep. 갑니다 has -ㅂ니다 on a vowel stem; a consonant stem would take -습니다 (먹습니다). The full 합니다체 table and 한다체 table work through that allomorphy in detail.

Grid 2: the adjective 좋다 — and the empty cells

Now the same grid for a descriptive verb (adjective). Watch the bottom two rows go blank.

Mood / Tense	합니다체	해요체	반말	한다체
Present statement	좋습니다 (joseumnida)	좋아요 (joayo)	좋아 (joa)	좋다 (jota)
Present question	좋습니까? (joseumnikka)	좋아요? (joayo)	좋아? (joa)	좋으냐?·좋니? (jo-eunya · jonni)
Past	좋았습니다 (joatseumnida)	좋았어요 (joasseoyo)	좋았어 (joasseo)	좋았다 (joatda)
Imperative	—	—	—	—
Propositive	—	—	—	—

Every imperative and propositive cell is empty, at every level. This is not a gap in the chart; it is a fact about meaning. You cannot command someone to be good, and you cannot propose that a group jointly be good — those are states, not actions. Adjectives (descriptive verbs) therefore have no imperative or propositive anywhere. The same blank rows would appear for 크다, 예쁘다, 비싸다. Only action verbs fill the bottom two rows — which is exactly the divide the 한다체 present exposes (좋다 stays bare, 간다 takes -ㄴ다).

여기 경치가 정말 좋습니다.

yeogi gyeongchiga jeongmal joseumnida

The scenery here is really lovely. (합니다체)

날씨가 참 좋아요.

nalssiga cham joayo

The weather's really nice. (해요체)

와, 여기 진짜 좋아.

wa, yeogi jinjja joa

Wow, this place is so nice. (반말)

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Before you try to give an "adjective command" like ×행복하세요 as a rule, remember: adjectives have no imperative. A handful of well-wishes (행복하세요, 건강하세요) are fixed idioms that borrow the command shape — treat them as memorized phrases, not a productive pattern.

One level per stretch of speech — don't mix

The deepest habit this grid should build is consistency. Pick the level the situation calls for and stay in it. The classic beginner slip is to open a sentence in one level and finish it in another — a polite 합니다체 frame with a 반말 verb tacked on, or a string of 해요체 sentences with one bare 반말 verb that leaks out. To a Korean ear that is not a small stumble; it sounds like you addressed the person respectfully and then abruptly stopped, mid-breath.

선생님, 어디 가세요?

seonsaengnim, eodi gaseyo

Teacher, where are you going? (consistent 해요체 — honorific 가세요)

Which level to choose is its own topic — see choosing a speech level — but the table's job is narrower and firmer: whatever you pick, keep the whole utterance in that column.

Common Mistakes

1. Mixing two levels in one sentence. A polite frame with an intimate verb reads as a jarring drop.

❌ 선생님, 저 이제 집에 가.

Clashing levels — 선생님 sets a polite frame, but 가 is 반말. Say 가요 or 갑니다.

✅ 선생님, 저 이제 집에 가요.

seonsaengnim, jeo ije jibe gayo

Teacher, I'm heading home now.

2. Using 한다체 as if it were a polite spoken level. 간다 addresses no one; to a person, it sounds blunt.

❌ (손님에게) 저기로 간다.

Wrong — 한다체 isn't polite speech. To a customer, say 가세요 / 가시면 됩니다.

✅ (손님에게) 저기로 가시면 돼요.

jeogiro gasimyeon dwaeyo

You can go over there. (polite, to a customer)

3. Trying to form an adjective imperative. No level has one — the cell is empty.

❌ 너 좀 좋아라.

Impossible — 좋다 is an adjective; you can't command a state.

✅ 너 기분 좀 풀어라.

neo gibun jom pureora

Cheer up a bit. (a real action verb — 풀다 → 풀어라)

4. Reaching for 합니다체 with a close friend. Formal-polite between intimates sounds cold or sarcastic.

❌ (친한 친구에게) 밥 먹었습니까?

Oddly stiff to a close friend — it reads as cold or mocking. Say 밥 먹었어?

✅ (친한 친구에게) 밥 먹었어?

bap meogeosseo

Did you eat? (intimate — the natural register between close friends)

Key Takeaways

Read across a row for one meaning at four politeness settings; read down a column for the moods available inside a single level.
해요체 = 반말 + 요. The fastest level switch is adding or dropping 요 (갔어 ↔ 갔어요).
The 합니다체 and 한다체 forms change shape by the stem's batchim — that is what the full single-level tables are for.
Adjectives have no imperative or propositive at any level — you cannot command or jointly undertake a state.
Stay in one level per utterance. Mixing levels — a polite frame with an intimate verb — is a real and audible error.

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