8 phrases that show when to use 요 and 니다: Korean honorifics for beginners
Korean verbs end differently depending on who is listening, and that is the first thing a learner has to get right. There are two polite levels you will use every day, 요 and 니다, one casual level (반말) you will earn with friends, and, on top of all three, honorific words that raise the person you are talking about. It sounds like four systems; in practice it is a handful of habits.
These eight phrases are chosen as pairs and contrasts so you can hear the levels side by side. The first six show the same meaning at different levels; the last two show honorific vocabulary, where the word itself changes rather than the ending.
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안녕하세요.
annyeonghaseyo.
Hello.
Literally: Are (you) at peace?
Polite 요 speech, and the greeting that works with almost everyone: neighbours, shop staff, coworkers, a friend's parents. The -세요 ending already carries the honorific 시, which is why it is respectful without being stiff.
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안녕하십니까.
annyeonghasimnikka.
Good day.
The same greeting in formal 니다 speech. You will hear it from news anchors, soldiers, hotel staff and people opening a presentation. Using it with a friend sounds like a joke, which is sometimes the point.
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맞아요.
majayo.
That's right.
요 speech is the everyday polite level: conversation with people you are not close to, at any age. It is also what most Koreans use with coworkers face to face, even when their emails are in 니다 form.
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맞습니다.
matseumnida.
That is correct.
니다 speech, for announcements, customer service, interviews, the military and anything written formally. It is not more polite than 요 so much as more public; it puts distance between speaker and listener.
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알겠습니다.
algesseumnida.
Understood.
Literally: (I) will know.
What you say to a boss, a customer or an officer. The 요 form 알겠어요 is for a colleague or a friend's parent, and the casual 알았어 is for friends. Same verb, three relationships.
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어디 가세요?
eodi gaseyo?
Where are you headed?
Literally: Where go (honorific)?
The honorific 시 is a separate layer from speech level: it raises the subject of the verb. 어디 가요? is polite without raising them; 어디 가세요? is polite and raises them; 어디 가? is casual, for friends. Beginners mix the first two freely and get corrected on the third.
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드세요.
deuseyo.
Please eat.
Some verbs change entirely in honorific form: 먹다 (eat) becomes 드시다, 자다 (sleep) becomes 주무시다, 있다 (be) becomes 계시다. 드세요 is what a host says to guests and what you say to anyone older before a meal; 먹어요 to your friend's father is a small but noticed slip.
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성함이 어떻게 되세요?
seonghami eotteoke doeseyo?
May I ask your name?
Literally: How does (your) honourable name become?
Nouns have honorific versions too: 성함 for 이름 (name), 연세 for 나이 (age), 댁 for 집 (home). 이름이 뭐예요? is fine for a peer; to anyone clearly older or in a service setting, this is the version. You never use honorific nouns about yourself.
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If you take one thing from this: 요 speech is your home base. It is correct with nearly everyone, and the mistakes of staying in 요 too long are far smaller than the mistakes of dropping to 반말 too soon. Move up to 니다 when the setting is formal or written, and down to 반말 only when the other person has suggested it, usually with 말 편하게 해요 (speak comfortably).