2 · Verb endings and speech levels
The formal style: 갑니다, 먹습니다
the formal polite ending
The ending of announcements, the news, presentations and first meetings — a final p-sound and 니다 after a vowel, 습니다 after a consonant.
The formal style is built in two ways. After a consonant the stem takes -습니다: 먹습니다, 있습니다, 좋습니다. After a vowel the stem closes with a p-sound, written as the bottom consonant of its last syllable, and takes 니다: 가다 → 갑니다, 마시다 → 마십니다, 하다 → 합니다. A stem in l loses the l and is then treated like a vowel stem: 살다 → 삽니다, 만들다 → 만듭니다.
Questions end in -니까 instead of -니다: 갑니까?, 있습니까?. "To be" is 입니다 after every noun, vowel or consonant alike: 학생입니다, 의사입니다; its negative is 아닙니다. The past adds the usual past syllable first: 갔습니다, 먹었습니다.
This is the style of news readers, announcements on trains and planes, presentations, speeches, the army, written notices and formal meetings with people you have just met. A handful of fixed phrases in it are used by everybody every day: 감사합니다, 죄송합니다, 반갑습니다, 알겠습니다.
It is more formal, not simply "more polite". A whole conversation in it sounds stiff, like a report; most people open a first meeting in this style and slip into -아요/어요 as soon as the ice is broken. English speakers tend either to avoid it completely or to use it everywhere. Note the pronunciation: the p before 니다 is said as an m, so 합니다 sounds [함니다].
The form
| after a vowel | 갑니다, 마십니다, 합니다 |
| after a consonant | 먹습니다, 있습니다, 좋습니다 |
| stem in l: the l drops | 삽니다, 만듭니다 |
| to be | 학생입니다, 의사입니다 |
| question | 갑니까? 먹습니까? |
| past | 갔습니다, 먹었습니다 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
After a vowel stem, add a final p and 니다.
열차가 곧 출발합니다.The train is about to depart.
After a consonant stem, add -습니다.
회의실에 사람이 많이 있습니다.There are many people in the meeting room.
A stem in l loses the l first: 살다 becomes 삽니다.
저는 서울에서 삽니다.I live in Seoul.
Questions end in -니까.
여기가 회의실입니까?Is this the meeting room?
"To be" is 입니다 after every noun.
저는 김민수입니다.I am Kim Minsu.
A closer look
Mixing the two polite styles
In real conversation the formal and the everyday polite style are not two separate worlds. A shop assistant greets you with 어서 오세요 and thanks you with 감사합니다; a colleague gives a report in the formal style and answers a question about it in -아요/어요. Openings, thanks, apologies and conclusions lean formal; the talk in between leans everyday.
Written texts addressed to the public — instructions, notices, letters from a company — use the formal style throughout. A good rule for a learner: use it for fixed phrases, for anything said to a group, and for the first sentences with someone important, and let the other person's style guide you after that.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
-
the subject is someone you respect
the honorific -(으)시- goes in first, and the ending becomes -십니다: 오십니다, 읽으십니다.
사장님께서 곧 오십니다.The company president will be here shortly.
The formal ending is about the listener; the honorific is about the person the sentence is about. A formal announcement about a guest needs both.
How to spot it
- -습니다
- -니다
- -습니까
- -니까
- 입니다
Example sentences
처음 뵙겠습니다. 저는 박지영입니다.How do you do. My name is Park Jiyoung.
이번 정류장은 시장 앞입니다.The next stop is the market.
오늘 회의는 세 시에 시작합니다.Today's meeting starts at three.
도와 주셔서 감사합니다.Thank you for your help.
질문 있습니까?Are there any questions?
늦어서 죄송합니다.I am sorry I am late.
8 more example sentences
잠시 후 열차가 도착합니다.The train will arrive shortly.
저희 회사는 컴퓨터를 만듭니다.Our company makes computers.
오늘 수업은 여기까지입니다.That is all for today's class.
어디에서 오셨습니까?Where have you come from?
지금부터 발표를 시작하겠습니다.I will now begin the presentation.
만나서 반갑습니다.Nice to meet you.
내일은 전국에 비가 옵니다.Tomorrow it will rain across the country.
이 문제는 조금 어렵습니다.This problem is a little difficult.
Worth knowing (1)
-
How it sounds
Before the 니 of the ending, the p turns into an m: 합니다 is said [함니다] and 먹습니다 [먹씀니다]. The romanisation under each word shows it.
감사합니다.Thank you.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
살- ends in a consonant, so -습니다 seems the obvious choice. But a stem in l loses its l before this ending and then behaves like a vowel stem: 삽니다, 만듭니다, 압니다.
After a vowel -mnida, after a consonant -seumnida, and a final l simply drops away: salda, samnida.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.