Skip to content
Zorg Space Open the app

Learning Korean

Which Korean speech level should I use?

3 min readPublished 9 October 2026

Short answer

For most learners in most situations, use the polite -요 style (해요체): it is respectful without being stiff, and it is what you use with strangers, shop staff, colleagues, acquaintances and older people in everyday conversation. Use the formal -ㅂ니다 / -습니다 style (합니다체) for presentations, formal business, announcements, interviews and formal self-introductions. Use casual speech (반말) only with close friends, younger people who agree to it, and children — and usually only after it has been offered.

Korean shows politeness mainly through verb endings, so the same sentence changes its ending depending on whom you are talking to.

The three levels you need

Formal (합니다체)Polite (해요체)Casual (반말)
to do합니다해요해
to go갑니다가요가
to eat먹습니다먹어요먹어
to be (copula)학생입니다학생이에요학생이야
question합니까?해요?해?

  • 감사합니다.

    Thank you.

    formal — very common, even in everyday life

  • 고마워요.

    Thank you.

    polite

  • 고마워.

    Thanks.

    casual, to a close friend

The polite -요 style: your default

해요체 is the style learners use most, and the one most courses teach first. It works in shops, restaurants, taxis, at work with colleagues, with neighbours and with most people you meet. It sounds friendly and respectful at the same time.

The formal style: when it counts

합니다체 is used in news broadcasts, announcements, presentations, job interviews, military contexts and formal business. Many fixed expressions are formal even in casual settings: 감사합니다, 안녕하십니까, 죄송합니다. When you introduce yourself to a group, the formal style is a good choice: 안녕하십니까. 저는 김지수입니다.

Casual speech: when it is offered

반말 is for close friends of similar age, people younger than you who are comfortable with it, family members (depending on the family), and children. Using it with a stranger or an older person without permission can sound rude.

The switch is often explicit:

  • 말 놓아도 돼요?

    May I speak casually (with you)?

  • 편하게 말해요.

    Feel free to speak casually.

Honorifics are a separate layer

The speech level shows respect to the listener. The honorific -시- shows respect to the subject of the sentence — often the same person, but not always:

  • 어디 가요?

    Where are you going?

    polite, no honorific

  • 어디 가세요?

    Where are you going?

    polite + honorific 시: more respectful to “you”

  • 할머니가 주무세요.

    Grandma is sleeping.

    special honorific verb (주무시다 for 자다)

You can be polite to your friend while being honorific about their grandmother.

Matching pronouns

Use 저 (humble “I”) with the polite and formal styles, and 나 with casual speech. Mixing them sounds odd: 저는 학생이야 or 나는 학생입니다 mismatch the levels.

Common mistakes

  • Not: Using 반말 with a shop assistant or an older stranger.

    Better: Use 해요체: 이거 얼마예요?

  • Not: 나는 학생이에요. (to a teacher)

    Better: 저는 학생이에요.

  • Not: Speaking only in 합니다체 with friends.

    Better: 해요체 or 반말 with friends — formal style can sound distant.

  • Not: Dropping -요 when tired or rushed.

    Better: Keep -요 until the other person offers casual speech.

In short

  • Default: polite 해요체 (-아요/-어요).
  • Formal 합니다체 for presentations, interviews, announcements and fixed phrases.
  • Casual 반말 only with close friends, younger people who agree, and children.
  • Honorific -시- respects the subject; 저 goes with polite styles, 나 with casual.

Lessons on this in the library

Practise it in Zorg Space

Reading an answer is the first step. In the app, the same grammar becomes exercises with instant correction, new words come back for review just before you would forget them, and you listen and speak as well.

Practise in Zorg Space

← All questions