Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 4 - Intermediate Korean #1 (Lessons 91 to 120) ᚛ Lesson 114 - Honorific particles in Korean [께서] [께서는] [께]
Honorific particles in Korean [께서] [께서는] [께]
In Korean, there are particles that allow us to honor the person we are talking about, just like the honorific style in -(으)시다. These particles allow us to show respect towards the people they are attached to.
Note that these particles are used to honor a person, no matter who we are talking to and no matter which speech level is used, exactly as was the case with the verb ending -(으)시다.
The honorific subject particle
When we want to express respect towards the person who is the subject of our sentence, we do not use the subject particle 이 / 가. Instead, we use the particle
께서 in the following manner:
[Subject]께서
선생님께서 전화하셨어.
→ The teacher called.
고모께서 용돈을 주셨어요.
→ My aunt gave me some pocket money.
아버지께서 물어보셨어요.
→ My father asked.
선생님께서 "꿈을 크게 가져."라고 하셨어요.
→ The teacher said: "Dream big."
할아버지께서 주신 시계입니다.
→ This is a watch that my grandfather gave me.
할머니께서 밥 먹었냐고 물어보셨어.
→ Grandma asked if I had eaten.
어머니께서 "숙제부터 끝내고 놀아."라고 하셨어.
→ My mother said: "Finish your homework first, then play."
The honorific topic particle
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The honorific giver and receiver particle
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Exercises
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