...한곡어! Week 2 Lesson 2: Verbs and conjugation

In previous lessons I have provided both the polite and deferential forms of each expression. I've decided that it would be most beneficial to explain what exactly these forms of expression are, and what other types of expressions there are, as well as how to form them.

Forewarning: this post can get dense. If you are not interested in learning the intricacies of the Korean language, then please feel free to skip over this post.

In Korean, verbs (as well as some adjectives) undergo a series of morphological processes to show certain aspects of the verb, such as tense, mood, and politeness. In English we call this conjugation. In fact, one conjugated verb can contain a lot of information, and can be rather long. It is also important to realize that a sentence in Korean can merely contain a single conjugated verb, as subjects are oftentimes implied, as is the case in Japanese.

Conjugation generally takes what is called the "dictionary form" of the verb, or the form of the verb you find when looking in a dictionary, and removing the final -다 and then attaching the necessary suffix.

So far, we have seen 2 forms: the deferential and the polite forms. There are 2 other forms, as well: the intimate style and the plain (or casual) style.

The polite style is the most often used style, which is less formal but just as polite as the deferential style. Both of these styles can be used to address equals or superiors, but the polite style is used generally among close adult friends. In fact, in most situations, both the polite and deferential styles can be heard from the same speaker in the same conversation. Introductions generally are done in the deferential style, as the remaining conversation continues into the polite form. News reports and public lectures are some examples of where the deferential style is required throughout.

The intimate level is used by an adult to a student, by a child of preschool age to his or her family members or between childhood friends.

The plain style is used by any speaker to any child, to younger siblings, to a daughter-in-law, between close adult friends, and in writing for a general audience.

Below is a quick summation of how to form the different styles. I will only cover how to conjugate a verb in the present tense, as a declarative statement at this time. Other moods and tenses will be covered in later lessons. The verbs in the examples are 받다 (to receive) and 가다 (to go), and each example translates to the present tense (I/you/he/she/we/they go) :

Deferential: -습/ㅂ니다
                    -(으)십니다
Example: 받습니다
                갑니다

Polite: -아요/어요*
            -(으)세요
Example: 받아요
                 가요

Intimate: -아/어
Example: 받아
                 가

Plain: -다*
Example: 받는다.
                 간다

*There are morphophonemic processes that change how the suffix sounds and is written. I will go over this when I cover the present tense.

Honorific subject marker

In the deferential and polite styles, there is what is called the honorific subject marker, which denotes respect toward the subject of the verb. This can be done toward any subject, as long as the subject is not the speaker himself. To do so, the suffix -(으)시 is added before the deferential marker:
받으십니다
가십니다

or -(으)세before the 요 of the polite marker:
받아세요
가세요.

You can see this in the phrase 안녕하세요?

From here on out, I will only be using the polite style of speech (with honorifics as necessary), unless a context requires the deferential style.