LEARN + KOREAN / Note 31 TOPIK I
When It Counts (-습니다)
a
The rule itself you already know by feel: consonant-ending stems take -습니다 (statement) or -습니까? (question); vowel-ending stems take -ㅂ니다 or -ㅂ니까?. What’s been missing is when a real person actually reaches for it.
In Real Life
This is the register for job interviews, formal presentations, news broadcasts, the military, and speaking to a boss or someone significantly senior for the first time. Everyday friendships, even respectful ones, mostly live in polite -요 speech. Formal isn’t “more polite than polite,” it’s a different social mode: distance and structure rather than warmth.
ne, oneureun hanguk sikdangeseo babeul meogeosseoyo.
Yes, I ate at a Korean restaurant today.
anna ssineun jumare hanguk chingureul mannayo.
Anna meets a Korean friend on the weekend.
In Real Life
You’ll read this register far more than you’ll speak it. Train announcements, product packaging, official notices, and museum placards are almost always written in -습니다/-ㅂ니다, because it reads as neutral and authoritative rather than personal, exactly the tone a sign is going for.
Vocabulary
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
natda | to be low |
jjalda | to be short |
gilda | to be long |
annae | announcement, guidance |
hoeui | meeting |
balpyo | presentation |
myeonjeop | interview |
sajangnim | boss, company president |
sonnim | guest, customer |
chulgeunhada | to go to work, to commute in |
toegeunhada | to leave work, to clock off |
yageun | working overtime, night shift at the office |
sangsa | boss, superior |
eommu | work duties, tasks |
peurojekteu | project |
magam | deadline |
seungjinhada | to be promoted |
wolgeup | salary |
samusil | office |
chuljang | business trip |