3 · Verb endings and speech levels
Humble words: 저, 드리다, 뵙다
lowering yourself instead of raising others
Korean shows respect from the other side too: you lower yourself, your words and your actions towards the person you respect.
The humble pronouns are the first step: 저 instead of 나 (I), 제 instead of 내 (my), 제가 instead of 내가, and 저희 instead of 우리 (we). 저희 always leaves the listener out — it is "we, on this side" — and is used for your own family, company or shop when talking to an outsider: 저희 회사, 저희 가게.
A handful of verbs have humble forms that lower the doer and so raise the person the action is aimed at: 주다 → 드리다 (give to), 보다 and 만나다 → 뵙다 (see, meet), 묻다 → 여쭤보다 (ask), 말하다 → 말씀드리다 (tell), and taking someone along → 모시다. The doer is you or someone on your side; the respect goes to the other person, who usually takes the particle 께, "to".
Much of polite everyday Korean is built from these words: 처음 뵙겠습니다 (how do you do), 잘 부탁드립니다 (I am in your hands), 내일 뵙겠습니다 (see you tomorrow), 제가 말씀드릴게요 (I will tell you). 말씀 is unusual in working both ways: it is the honorific word for another person's words and the humble word for your own.
Two things trip English speakers up. First, a humble verb about yourself never takes -시-: honouring and lowering the same person in one word cancels out. Second, 우리 for your own company sounds too familiar to a customer, while 저희 for a group that includes the listener sounds as if you were shutting them out.
The form
| I, my, we | 저, 제, 저희 |
| give to someone above you | 주다 → 드리다 |
| see, meet | 보다, 만나다 → 뵙다 |
| ask | 묻다 → 여쭤보다 |
| tell | 말하다 → 말씀드리다 |
| take along | 데리고 가다 → 모시고 가다 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Use 저 and 저희 for yourself and your own group when speaking to someone above you or to an outsider.
저희 회사는 서울에 있습니다.Our company is in Seoul.
Giving to someone you respect is 드리다, and the person receiving takes 께.
어머니께 꽃을 드렸어요.I gave my mother flowers.
Seeing or meeting someone you respect is 뵙다.
내일 사무실에서 뵙겠습니다.I will see you at the office tomorrow.
Asking and telling become 여쭤보다 and 말씀드리다.
그건 선생님께 여쭤볼게요.I'll ask the teacher about that.
A humble verb lowers its subject, so it never takes -시- when the subject is you.
제가 나중에 다시 말씀드릴게요.I will tell you again later.
A closer look
저희 and 우리
저희 is "we" seen from below: it shuts out the listener and bows to them. A hotel says 저희 호텔 to its guests, an employee 저희 회사 to a client. Two colleagues talking about their own firm say 우리 회사, because the listener belongs to the "we".
A country is the one case where the humble word is not used: 우리나라, written as one word, is the standard way to say "our country", whoever the listener is, because a nation is not something one lowers before another person. 우리 is also the everyday word in 우리 엄마 or 우리 집, where English says "my": the family is felt as shared.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
-
you talk about your own parents to someone else
Korean still honours them with -(으)시-, even when speaking to a stranger: 저희 아버지는 은행에서 일하세요.
저희 어머니는 선생님이세요.My mother is a teacher.
In everyday Korean, respect follows the person's age and standing rather than whose side they are on, so your parents keep their honorific.
How to spot it
- 저
- 저희
- 드리다
- 뵙다
- 여쭤보다
- 말씀드리다
- 께
Example sentences
처음 뵙겠습니다. 김지수입니다.How do you do. I am Kim Jisoo.
할아버지께 선물을 드렸어요.I gave Grandfather a present.
주말에 부모님을 모시고 바다에 갔어요.At the weekend I took my parents to the seaside.
사장님께 이 일을 말씀드렸어요?Have you told the president about this?
저희 가게는 일요일에 쉽니다.Our shop is closed on Sundays.
하나 여쭤봐도 될까요?May I ask you something?
8 more example sentences
선생님, 내일 다시 찾아뵙겠습니다.I will come and see you again tomorrow.
부장님께 보고서를 드렸습니다.I handed the report to the head of department.
제가 할머니를 모시고 병원에 갈게요.I will take Grandmother to the hospital.
저희 집에 한번 놀러 오세요.Do come and visit us at home some time.
잘 부탁드립니다.I look forward to working with you.
부모님께 전화를 드렸어요.I phoned my parents.
교수님께 시험 날짜를 여쭤봤어요.I asked the professor when the exam is.
제 생각에는 이 방법이 좋겠습니다.In my view this approach would work well.
Worth knowing (1)
-
Doing something for someone above you
After a verb in -아/어, 드리다 means doing something for a person you respect, the humble twin of -아/어 주다. Offering help this way is one of the politest things a customer or a guest hears.
제가 가방을 들어 드릴게요.Let me carry your bag for you.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
말씀드리다 already lowers the speaker before the teacher. Adding -시- would raise the same speaker again — and -세요 here even sounds like an order. About your own actions, use the humble verb with an ordinary ending.
Raise the other person with si, or lower yourself with jeo, deurida and boepda — polite Korean does both at once.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.