What are Politeness Levels? | Korean FAQ

[@KoreanJream]

Yay! The course will be up soon, I see! Looking forward to seeing them! 😃 And yes, you would use the polite ending and the subject honorific suffix to calm them down as in 살려 주세요 "Please let me live." 😭

[@바보Queen]

your channel is amazing!

[@kalebchoi6372]

As a person who is Korean, but born and raised in the US, I know a good amount of Korean(I can't read well tho). However, I wasn't ig embraced into direct culture as much. I have a rough idea of where these are used, but I think it would be much easier if there were examples.

[@Tinyy-Bubbles]

Looking forward to your new series! 😊 Politeness levels are just so confusing.

[@aaylarosee]

this makes so much sense when i think about how people address each other in some of the kdramas i watch!

[@raiyouniverse]

another day another post from billy! thank you for posting daily content billy!

[@myraccoonkisses]

You don’t understand, this is exactly the type of video that I needed!! 😃 I have a solid grip on how to study Korean, but I’ve wanted to learn about how saying a sentence different ways/mixing politeness levels can give off different personality types and how Koreans would feel about each one. I want my unique personality to show through in my Korean speech, but that’s what I’m not sure how to do. This might be covered in the future playlist, but could you cover how different real life personalities would sound in a situation you might come across in day to day life? And then do multiple situations? And also I’m curious to learn about subtext! How saying something can imply something else. Does that make sense? Anyway lol thanks again for all your hard work on these videos, truly helpful!! 🥰

[@farahholland3886]

thank you so much for this !! i'm currently learning korean and i couldn't find a video that helped me understand korean politness levels but this summary did :)

[@monikamansour4779]

Great video. I'm really looking forward for the course about politness levels. Thanks for your great work to teach us this beautiful language 👍😊

[@koreanimmersion3938]

Yaaaassss I'm so hype for that course, Billy!!! I love learning about politeness levels! Like you said, the feeling is really important to focus on! I love experiencing all the different feels from the subtle nuances in someone's speech. One of the most fun parts of Korean imo. Thank you again!!! Edit: I would use polite ending in the beginning to try befriending them (think Iroh from ATLA) but if they got rough then I would deffo stop being polite XD.

[@Kaipinaut]

Great Video, thank you!

[@learnkoreanwithKorean]

한국어 존댓말 정말 어려운 부분이죠. 선생님 설명 아주 명확합니다.

[@user-langlearning]

Thank you sooooo much for this summary of the politeness levels! It helped me kind of get a big picture!

[@myes7799]

정말 감사합니다 I am very excited for the course

[@josefinepetavraki]

I really liked this video, thank you! It would be nice if you took some verbs and showed how to make all the forms, like transforming one verb to all the politeness levels and honorific/humble speech😊

[@GoBillyKorean]

My new "Master Politeness Levels" series will have plenty of examples of all of these, and a lot more :)

[@esteb6544]

Awesome summary!

[@teshi1424]

Great explanation

[@nathanhipple1555]

감사합니다 선생님. Is this reddit question serious? Lol. Okay. In America, I would suggest redirection, so you draw attention away from the "attacker"/avoid establishing a power dynamic. That's what CPI classes taught us in Cali. Redirection is pretty sweet. (Rhetorical thought: I wonder how an author might portray a Korean character with autism, a condition that affects communication, in a book or a movie, by the way that character uses/misuses politeness levels.

[@spawn6000]

Something that confuses me about when you as well as other teachers describe the 요 form is the adjective "soft". But what does that actually even mean? What exactly does "softening" language mean? When is softening a bad thing? etc. I'd love to hear some clarification on the use of "soft" as it's a bit vague to me.

[@GoBillyKorean]

Softening could be bad when you don't want to sound like that way. For example, if you're upset with someone you used to be close with, then speaking in a polite and soft tone could seem distant, compared to speaking "friendly" with them (using casual speech).

[@eve-la-fee]

Hi Billy! I'm looking forward for the course! About humble form, I think it would be good to have some explanations about the pronoun "저" (as opposed to "나"). Usually in beginner courses, they explain that "저" goes with formal and polite levels, whereas "나" goes with casual. I think these explanations are a bit misleading, because it's true most of the time but it's not mandatory like a grammar rule. Also, it gets very confusing when applied to "우리" vs "저희". Like why you shouldn't say "저희 회사" when talking about your company with your boss, even if you talking in formal or polite level. It took me some time to understand that "저" and "저희" are humble forms, and I'm still a bit confused about "나" and "우리" in writing, or the fact Koreans sometime use them along with polite level when talking to someone younger. I would be glad if you planed a video on that topic!

[@GoBillyKorean]

Yes, I explain all of those in the course :D I also explain how even though 저희 is "humble" that it's not as commonly used as just 우리 even when speaking politely.

[@eve-la-fee]

@@GoBillyKorean Great! I was already looking forward for the course, but even more now that I know it'll cover things that are usually overlooked in other resources :D

[@Audem96]

Something I'm always wondering about is when to use the honorifics equivalent of 에게 For instance if I'm a student and my sentence is "the teacher called a student", "the student called the teacher", or "the teacher called another teacher" I'm not sure when to use 시, 에게, 께

[@GoBillyKorean]

I explain that sort of stuff in my upcoming free course :) But you can also search my channel for "께" or "씨" (and others) and I have a few videos. You can use 께 together with honorific speech.

[@baum-jd6zj]

Thanks! The video was more for beginner but even for me a nice summary. It would be great if you could add the korean words too next time! For example the word for honorific speech, etc. And could you also do a video about 격식체, 비격식체 and the historical usage of all the different formal levels and where you still can find them today. For example 아/어라 is 해라체, not 해체, etc.

[@baum-jd6zj]

And a video about 사이시옷 would fit perfect into this series! Not only what it is (there are many video on yt) but also where it comes from. (Middle korean origin, etc.)

[@GoBillyKorean]

Here you go~ kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmqyc2Oha51rqs0

[@GoBillyKorean]

My new "Master Politeness Levels" series answers all of those questions :)

[@baum-jd6zj]

@@GoBillyKorean Oh thanks! But it doesn't get recommended when I search 사이시옷 on youtube. :O You might miss it in the tags

[@letstrytobekind]

I've long had a question about honorifics which is a bit similar to the "imminent murderer" question that inspired this video. If someone has had bad parents in some way (they were abused, abandoned, etc.), and felt no personal respect toward their parents, I've always assumed that the children would still use honorifics when speaking about those parents (or abusive bosses, grandparents, corrupt politicians, other authority figures, etc.) because the culture itself respects the higher social position, even if the speaker does not respect the actual person being spoken about. It almost feels like it would be rude or at least awkward to the listener (if they were Korean, anyway) to speak disrespectfully about someone in a higher social position, even if it expressed the speaker's honest feelings that the person is not actually worthy of respect. I'm interested in the nuances of what it would mean to use or not use honorifics when speaking about a president who has been impeached, for example. The topic is so complex! Thank you for helping us understand it better!

[@pancake7417]

Are there any other politeness levels used in Korean, other than the 요 form, Casual Speech, the 니다 form and the plain form?

[@화이팅-t2q]

There's much more. Korean has 7 politeness levels in total. These include 하소서, 하십시오, 하오, 하게, 해라(하렴), 해요, 해 forms. But 하소서, 하오 and 하게 are becoming obsolete nowadays.

[@ivailodobrev2321]

I can use formal speech in Bulgarian to keep a sort of healthy distance with people I don't want get closer with. Is it possible to use politeness levels in Korean for something like that. In general is it only and always about showing respect and being polite/or not or there are also some other colours and shades

[@pancake7417]

опа как сме

[@ivailodobrev2321]

Дето се вика- бутам я някак си

[@pancake7417]

@@ivailodobrev2321 какъв е шанса да срещна друг българин в коментарите на Били хахха

[@ivailodobrev2321]

@@pancake7417 доста голям. Всеки втори българин учи корейски на английски в Ютюб. Просто всички си мълчим по въпроса и никой не подозира, че и другите го правиме. Иначе прав си- шанс. Мисля, че има и някой от Варна

[@pancake7417]

@@ivailodobrev2321 그런 거 같지 않은데요

[@thoughtguru670]

🥰🥰🥰🥰Thank you so much 🥰 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@imnayeon9583]

I have a question TWICE speaks casually with each other regardless of age (Tzuyu to Nayeon vlog) but why does enhypen speak in yo form?

[@GoBillyKorean]

I'll actually be answering that exact sort of question in the new series (including about how celebrities might speak differently with each other), but it will take several months before the whole series is uploaded.

[@바보Queen]

Billy you didn't talk about the lowest level.. 냐, 니, 아/어라 i rarely seen resources for these.. but they use it so we should learn it

[@GoBillyKorean]

Those are covered in detail in my new free video course :)

[@x0habiib0x]

….are you writing backwards in Korean on that board?

[@GoBillyKorean]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJ7JYWZ-ndF4bKc

[@TheRainbowDragoness]

I'm not sure I would use anything but a stream of obscenities if I was getting attacked.

[@mwataclient2847]

maybe some examples would be useful

[@GoBillyKorean]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWa6c2lpltR2kNE

[@Jihwani_TV]

Formal speech sooooo gooddd lecture!!

[@glassartist1726]

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[@palomac4408]

I'm not made for Korean politeness lol, when you said honorific speech is for people we see as above us I was like "so... no one ?" Idk for me if you didn't do anything to earn my humble respect I'm not respecting you more that anyone

[@GoBillyKorean]

It can be a bit tricky to wrap your head around coming from a Western culture where we're taught to view everyone as being equals. Instead, imagine someone who you look up to (but aren't super close friends with), or someone who you would speak politely toward. For example, you would naturally try speaking more politely toward a stranger who you're asking a question toward, than you would toward a close friend. If you were asking someone else for help, how would you speak to them? To a friend, "Hey, one second I need something." To a stranger, "Excuse me, could I ask you...." We do these sorts of things in English too, but not using these sort of verb endings that are used in Korean.

[@palomac4408]

@@GoBillyKorean oh thank you, I think I found a way to explain it that makes sense to me, also the word respect can have multiple meanings so it's complicated, but I think I get the 요 ending, because it's like in French (I'm French, we use plural "you" to be more polite) when I say plural "you" to my teachers it's not because I respect them more than other people but just because they're my teachers so a minimum of politness and mutual respect is needed, and it puts some distance, and when I say singular "you" to my friends or people my age it's not because I respect them less, but I don't have to put this polite distance, is it that ? I have no idea if that makes sense I'm sorry 😭

[@GoBillyKorean]

I also studied French, and yes it's kind of like that :)

[@CassandraJacqueline]

7:05 thank me later 😉

[@AmbrushiJadhav1950]

First view!!