You met the honorific infix -(으)시- as an abstract slot. This page covers the three concrete endings it fuses into — the ones you will actually say and hear dozens of times a day: -(으)세요, -(으)십니다, and -(으)십시오. All three carry -(으)시- inside them (so all three honor the subject), but they differ in speech level and in what they do — statement, question, or command. Getting the three straight, and knowing which room each belongs in, is what makes your honorific speech sound natural rather than like a textbook.
The allomorphy is the same throughout: 으 appears after a consonant-final stem (읽으세요, 앉으십시오), and drops after a vowel or ㄹ-stem (가세요, 사세요).
-(으)세요: the workhorse
-(으)세요 is -(으)시- + the polite -어요, contracted. It is the 해요체 (informal-polite) honorific — the default respectful register for everyday life: shops, taxis, meeting someone's parents, talking to a teacher after class. It is by far the most common honorific ending, and you should think of it as your everyday setting.
어디 가세요?
eodi gaseyo
Where are you off to? (asking someone you respect)
주말에 보통 뭐 하세요?
jumare botong mwo haseyo
What do you usually do on weekends?
안녕히 주무세요.
annyeonghi jumuseyo
Good night. (sleep well — with the suppletive 주무시다)
-(으)세요 is doubly loaded
Here is the fact that surprises every learner: -(으)세요 is both the honorific present tense and the standard polite request form. The very same 하세요 can mean "you (respected) do" or "please do," split only by context and intonation. English keeps these apart — "you are doing" versus "please do" are different sentences — but Korean lets one ending carry both.
커피 드세요.
keopi deuseyo
Have some coffee. (a request / offer)
지금 커피 드세요?
jigeum keopi deuseyo
Are you having coffee right now? (a question about the subject)
조심히 들어가세요.
josimhi deureogaseyo
Get home safe. (a parting request — lit. go in carefully)
Falling intonation and an imperative context give you the "please do" reading; a genuine question or a plain statement gives you the present-tense reading. This is why -(으)세요 is the gentle, respectful way to ask someone to do something — it is treated more fully as the request imperative.
-(으)십니다 / -(으)십니까: the formal-polite honorific
-(으)십니다 is the 합니다체 (formal-polite) honorific declarative — -(으)시- followed by the formal -ㅂ니다. This is the register of the workplace, the news, formal introductions, and any setting that calls for crisp deference toward the listener and respect toward the subject. The matching question ending is -(으)십니까?
사장님께서 잠시 후에 오십니다.
sajangnimkkeseo jamsi hue osimnida
The president will arrive shortly. (formal statement)
부장님은 지금 회의 중이십니다.
bujangnimeun jigeum hoeui jung-isimnida
The manager is in a meeting right now. (copula 이다 + 시 → 이십니다)
사장님, 이 서류 보셨습니까?
sajangnim i seoryu bosyeotseumnikka
Sir, have you seen these documents? (formal question, past + 시)
The difference between -(으)십니다 and -(으)세요 is purely how formal you are toward the listener: both honor the subject with -시-. In a meeting you might say 오십니다; texting a friend about the same boss you'd say 오세요. See 해요체 vs 합니다체 for the full contrast.
-(으)십시오: the formal command
-(으)십시오 is the formal-polite honorific command — "please do (X)," at the highest everyday level of deference. This is the language of public announcements, service staff, signs, and ceremony. It sounds crisp and official; it is what a flight attendant, a department-store greeter, or a subway announcement uses.
이쪽으로 오십시오.
i jjogeuro osipsio
This way, please. (service / guiding)
안녕히 가십시오.
annyeonghi gasipsio
Goodbye. (formal — to someone leaving)
잠시만 기다려 주십시오.
jamsiman gidaryeo jusipsio
Please wait a moment. (formal request, e.g. on the phone)
Because -(으)십시오 is so formal, using it in casual conversation lands like reading an announcement aloud — see the mistakes below.
The command ladder
Korean's "please do X" rises through three clear rungs, each more deferential than the last. Choosing the right rung is really choosing the room you're in:
| Level | Ending | "sit down" | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| 반말 (intimate) | -아/어 | 앉아 | close friends, kids, family juniors |
| 해요체 (polite) | -(으)세요 | 앉으세요 | everyday respect: shops, elders, teachers |
| 합니다체 (formal) | -(으)십시오 | 앉으십시오 | announcements, service, ceremony |
여기 앉으세요.
yeogi anjeuseyo
Please sit here. (polite — the everyday choice)
어서 오십시오.
eoseo osipsio
Welcome. (formal — a shop greeting customers)
Common Mistakes
1. Using -(으)십시오 in casual conversation. It sounds like a PA announcement between friends.
❌ 야, 밥 먹으십시오.
Wrong register — to a friend this is comically formal; say 밥 먹어 (반말) or 밥 먹자.
✅ 야, 밥 먹자.
ya bap meokja
Hey, let's eat.
2. Using -(으)세요 about yourself. -(으)세요 always contains -시-, so it can never describe your own action.
❌ 저는 먼저 가세요.
Wrong — -세요 honors the subject; about yourself it's 갈게요 / 가요.
✅ 저는 먼저 갈게요.
jeoneun meonjeo galgeyo
I'll head off first.
3. Misspelling -십시오 as ×-십시요. The formal command ends in -시오, not -시요 — a spelling error even natives make.
❌ 안녕히 가십시요.
Wrong spelling — the ending is -십시오, not ×-십시요.
✅ 안녕히 가십시오.
annyeonghi gasipsio
Goodbye. (formal)
4. Dropping the 으 after a consonant stem. -(으)세요 needs its buffer after a batchim.
❌ 이 책 좀 읽세요.
Wrong — 읽다 is consonant-final and needs 으 → 읽으세요.
✅ 이 책 좀 읽으세요.
i chaek jom ilgeuseyo
Please read this book.
Key Takeaways
- All three endings carry -(으)시-, so all three honor the subject; they differ in speech level and function.
- -(으)세요 — informal-polite (해요체), your everyday setting; it is both the honorific present and the polite request.
- -(으)십니다 / -(으)십니까 — formal-polite (합니다체) statement / question, for work, news, and formal settings.
- -(으)십시오 — the formal command, for announcements and service speech; too stiff for casual chat.
- Command ladder: -아/어 (반말) → -(으)세요 (polite) → -(으)십시오 (formal) — usually pick the middle rung.
- Watch the traps: ×저는 가세요 (self), ×-십시요 (spelling), ×읽세요 (missing 으).
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Start learning Korean→Related Topics
- Subject Honorific -(으)시-: Raising the SubjectTOPIK 1 — -(으)시- is a verbal infix that shows respect toward the grammatical SUBJECT — inserted between stem and ending: 가시다, 읽으시다, 사시다. It honors whoever the sentence is about, never yourself, and is completely independent of the speech level (해요체/합니다체) you address the listener with.
- 합니다체: The Formal Polite Style (-(스)ㅂ니다)TOPIK 1 — The formal-polite declarative -(스)ㅂ니다 — its batchim allomorphy, the ㄹ-drop, the [슴니다] pronunciation trap, and why 합니다체 is a distinct register, not just 'more polite 해요체.'
- Polite Commands & Requests: -(으)세요 / -(으)십시오TOPIK 1 — -(으)세요 is the everyday courteous 'please do X': it commands while raising the addressee, because it hides the honorific -시- inside. Its crisp formal sibling -(으)십시오 is the language of announcements and service. Includes the suppletive honorifics 드세요, 주무세요, 계세요.
- Honorific Past -(으)셨-: 가셨어요, 읽으셨습니다TOPIK 2 — The honorific past is not a separate morpheme — it is the honorific stem -(으)시- fed into the ordinary past machinery, where -시었- always contracts to -셨-.
- The Six Speech Levels 상대높임법: An OverviewTOPIK 1 — Traditional Korean grammar counts six addressee speech levels, each self-named by how the verb 하다 ends in it — but only four (합니다체, 해요체, 한다체, 해체) are alive in everyday use; 하오체 and 하게체 survive mainly in period dramas and old speech.