Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 3 - Korean for Beginners #2 (Lessons 61 to 90) ᚛ Lesson 84 - Strong suggestion in Korean [-자] [-(으)ㅂ시다]

Strong suggestion in Korean [-자] [-(으)ㅂ시다]

In this course: 자 / ㅂ시다 / 읍시다

In Korean, to strongly suggest acting, it is possible to use the suffixes -자 and -(으)ㅂ시다. That allows one to propose doing something, emphasizing heavily the fact of acting. In English, we use the structure "let's [verb]".

A strong suggestion in the casual style with -자

To strongly suggest acting in the casual style, one uses the suffix -자 in the following manner:
[Stem]자

남산에 가자.
→ Let's go to Namsan.

그 식당에서 밥 먹자.
→ Let's eat (a meal) at this restaurant.

이번 주말에 집 청소하자.
→ Let's clean the house this weekend.

Strong, negative suggestion with -자

Strong suggestion with -(으)ㅂ시다

To make a strong suggestion, we can attach the suffix -(으)ㅂ시다 to verbs in the following manner:

• If the stem ends in a vowel: [Stem]ㅂ시다
• If the stem ends in a consonant: [Stem]읍시다

열심히 공부합시다.
→ Let's study hard.

저녁은 요리해서 먹읍시다.
→ This evening, let's cook, then eat.

새 옷을 입고 사진을 찍읍시다.
→ Let's wear our new clothes and take a photo.

그 레스토랑으로 갑시다.
→ Let's go to this restaurant.

The -(으)ㅂ시다 form has many exceptions. These are the same as those for the honorific structure with -(으)시다.

• ㄹ verbs : 살다 (= to live) → 삽시다
• ㅂ verbs : 돕다 (= to help) → 도웁시다
• ㄷ verbs : 듣다 (= to hear) → 들읍시다
• ㅅ verbs : 짓다 (= to build) → 지읍시다

-(으)ㅂ시다 is a special suffix that can be used in the polite style or in formal situations, but generally towards people of the same level or lower in the social hierarchy, to suggest a collective action. The -(으)ㅂ시다 form is generally not used towards a single person and must not be used towards a group of people containing at least one person who is superior, hierarchically speaking. Basically,  -(으)ㅂ시다 is an imperative form and would be uncomfortable to use. In this case, it's better to make a suggestion in the form of a question, rather than strongly suggesting.

Strong negative suggestion with -(으)ㅂ시다

Summary table of structure

Exercises

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