[Grammar] Honorific verb particle -(으)시

Honorific verb particle (으)시

 

When you talk to Koreans, you should consider two things which are (1)”Who are you talking to?” and (2)”Who are you talking about(subject)?”.  In situation (1), you have to consider if you should use “polite ending” or “informal ending”.  On the other hand, in situation (2), you should think about if you should add the honorific verb particles “-(으)시” in the verb or adjective.

Let me show you what is the polite ending and what is honorific ending.

Verb/Adjective	Honorific particle	Polite ending	Actual speech
가다	시	어요	가세요
보다	시	ㅂ니다	보십니다
예쁘다	시	었어요	예쁘셨어요
많다	으시	었습니다	많으셨습니다
읽다	으시	ㄹ 거예요	읽으실 거예요
받다	으시	ㄹ 겁니다	받으실 겁니다

You already know the polite endings which are -요 or -(스)ㅂ니다.  If you don’t know you can review the polite endings here.

 

Let’s get back to the honorific particle. If you are talking about a person(subject) who is older than you, you should use the honorific particle.

★ How to use?
 Verb/Adjective(vowel ending)        +     시   + verb ending
 Verb/Adjective(consonant ending) + 으시   + verb ending

V/A	Honorific particle	verb ending(friendly)	Actual speech
가다	시	어요	★가셔요(old)	가세요(now)
오다	시	었어요	오셨어요
주다	시	ㄹ 거예요	주실거예요
읽다	으시	어요	★읽으셔요(old)		읽으세요(now)
받다	으시	었어요	받으셨어요
닫다	으시	ㄹ 거예요	닫으실거예요

You can see there is ★ symbol in the table and it says “old”.  If -(으)시 combine with  어요, it should be -(으)셔요; however, it is in the 50’s or 60’s expression.  We use -(으)세요 these days.

Let’s put the honorific particle and the polite ending together.

-(으)시+어요 => -(으)세요
-(으)시+었어요=> -(으)셨어요
-(으)시+ㄹ 거예요=> -(으)실 거예요

e.g) 아버지가 내일 부산에 가세요.           My father is going to Busan tomorrow.
할머니가 집에 오셨어요.                    My grandmother came home.
할아버지가 선물을 주실 거예요.        My grandfather will give me a gift.
선생님이 책을 읽으세요.                    The teacher is reading a book.
어머니가 편지를 받으셨어요.             My mother got a letter.
아주머니가 창문을 닫으실 거예요.     The lady will close the window.

You can listen to the pronunciation here.

You can also put the formal verb ending like this.

V/A	Honorific particle	Verb ending(formal)	Actual speech
가	시	ㅂ니다	가십니다
오	시	었습니다	오셨습니다
주	시	ㄹ겁니다	주실겁니다
읽	으시	ㅂ니다	읽으십니다
받	으시	었습니다	받으셨습니다
닫	으시	ㄹ겁니다	닫으실겁니다

Put the honorific particle and the verb ending together!

-(으)시 + ㅂ니다 => -(으)십니다
-(으)시 + 었습니다 => -(으)셨습니다
-(으)시 + ㄹ 겁니다 => -(으)실 겁니다

I hope this is the end of the honorific particle, but unfortunately, there are more. I will post it more in the next one.  If you have any questions, please reply here.

아자아자!!!