Easy Korean Level 4 - Unit 20: Formal language / -ㅂ/습니다

Congratulations on making it to Lesson 20 of Level 4!

So far, we have mostly used the polite, standard ending -아/어/여요. This is what you will use 80% of the time in daily life. However, in formal situations—such as news broadcasts, military, business meetings, presentations, or when speaking to a large audience—Koreans use the Formal Polite ending: -ㅂ/습니다.

Conjugation Rules (Present Tense)

Statements

• Verb stems ending in a vowel: Add -ㅂ니다.
• 가다 -> 갑니다 (I go)
• 하다 -> 합니다 (I do)
• Verb stems ending in a consonant: Add -습니다.
• 먹다 -> 먹습니다 (I eat)
• 좋다 -> 좋습니다 (It is good)

Questions

When asking a question, you replace "다" with "까?". - Verb stems ending in a vowel: Add -ㅂ니까? - 가다 -> 갑니까? (Do you go?) - 하다 -> 합니까? (Do you do it?) - Verb stems ending in a consonant: Add -습니까? - 먹다 -> 먹습니까? (Do you eat?) - 좋다 -> 좋습니까? (Is it good?)

Past and Future Tense

To use this with past or future tenses, you attach -습니다 / -습니까 to the tense markers (-았/었/였 or -겠 / -(으)ㄹ 거). Note: Tense markers always end in a consonant, so they will always take -습니다!

Past Tense: - 가다 -> 갔습니다 / 갔습니까? (Went / Did you go?) - 먹다 -> 먹었습니다 / 먹었습니까? (Ate / Did you eat?)

Future Tense: - 가다 -> 가겠습니다 (I will go) - 하다 -> 할 것입니다 / 할 겁니까? (I will do / Will you do?)

Examples

• 만나서 반갑습니다. (Nice to meet you. -> Very standard formal greeting!)
• 저는 학생입니다. (I am a student. -> Noun + 이다 -> 입니다)
• 어디에 가십니까? (Where are you going? -> Using the honorific -시-)
• 오늘 날씨가 아주 좋습니다. (The weather is very good today.)