-(으)세요

Build it

When to use it

As a request: 여기 앉으세요 (please sit here). As an honorific statement: 선생님께서 신문을 읽으세요 (the teacher is reading the newspaper). The subject tells you which reading applies — no subject means you are addressing the listener.

It is built from the honorific marker -(으)시- plus the polite ending, which is why the same form covers both. Attachment follows the consonant rule and the ㄹ drops: 만들다 gives 만드세요.

A handful of everyday verbs have their own honorific words, and using the regular form instead is one of the most audible learner errors: 먹다 → 드세요, 자다 → 주무세요, 있다 → 계세요, 말하다 → 말씀하세요. Never use any of this about yourself.

How to attach it

In use

1. 여기 앉으세요.

   Please sit here.

2. 많이 드세요.

   Please help yourself. (at a meal)

3. 조심해서 가세요.

   Take care on your way.

4. 할아버지께서는 지금 주무세요.

   Grandfather is sleeping now.

5. 이름을 여기에 쓰세요.

   Please write your name here.

6. 부모님은 부산에 계세요.

   My parents are in Busan.

Compared with

• -(으)십시오

  The formal counterpart, used in announcements, signs, and service settings. -(으)세요 is what you use with people face to face.

  이쪽으로 오세요. (everyday)  /  이쪽으로 오십시오. (announcement)

• -아/어 주세요

  -(으)세요 tells someone to do something; -아/어 주세요 asks them to do it for you. When you are the beneficiary, the second is the courteous choice.

  문을 여세요. (open the door)  /  문을 열어 주세요. (please open it for me)

• -지 마세요

  The negative. 않다 cannot form a request, so prohibitions are built on 말다.

  여기에 앉으세요.  /  여기에 앉지 마세요.

Watch out

• 저녁을 만들으세요.

  저녁을 만드세요.

  Stems ending in ㄹ drop it before this ending, as they do with -(으)니까 and -ㅂ니다.

• 많이 먹으세요.

  많이 드세요.

  먹다 has its own honorific word. 먹으세요 is understandable but noticeably plain when offering food to a guest or an elder.

• 저는 지금 집에 가세요.

  저는 지금 집에 가요.

  Honorifics raise other people, never the speaker. Use the plain polite ending for anything about yourself.

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