The intimate speech level and the plain speech level

The intimate speech level

The intimate speech level is in general used in the following situations: by adults when addressing children, by parents when addressing their kids, by children when addressing their peers, and by adult friends when addressing their childhood friends (or friends whose relationships are close enough to switch to the intimate level from the polite level).
The intimate speech level ending is ~어/아. The choice of ~어 or ~아 is the same with that of the polite speech level ending ~어요/아요. ~아 is used after a stem that ends in a bright vowel, 오 or 아, while ~어 is used with the stem that ends in any other vowels. Consider the following examples:

As seen above, one can generate the intimate speech level from the polite speech level, simply by removing 요. One exception is that the copula 이다/아니다 takes slightly different forms: 이다 instead of 이에, and 아니야 instead of 아니에.
Just like the polite speech level ending ~어요/아요, the intimate speech level ending ~어/아 is used for all sentence types: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and propositive. For instance, consider the following:

Koreans use contextual elements as well as intonation to figure out what intimate speech level ending ~어/아 is used for a specific sentence type.

The plain speech level

The plain speech level ending sounds more blunt and direct than other speech levels: deferential, polite, and intimate. The plain speech level is primarily used in the following three contexts: When one addresses a child, his/her childhood friends, or younger siblings; when the speaker talks to himself/herself or wants to draw the listener’s attention to information that is noteworthy or provoking; when one writes.
Unlike the intimate and the polite speech levels that use the same endings for different sentence types, the plain speech level has different endings for different sentence types, as shown below.

Declarative
~는/ㄴ다 (for verb stems)

~다 (for adjective and copula stems)

~었/았다 (for all predicate stems in the past tense)

Interrogative
~니/(으)냐? (for all predicate stems)

~었/았니/(으)냐? (for all predicate stems in the past tense)

Imperative (only for verb stems)
~아라 (after a stem that ends in 오 or 아)
~어라 (after a stem that ends in any other vowels)

Propositive (only for verb stems)
~자

Note that the plain speech level imperative ending ~어라/아라 and propositive ending ~자 are used only for verb stems, and they are not conjugated for the tense.

* Click to read related posts.
Grammar for Intermediates
Endings of Sentences
The Deferential Speech Level
The Polite Speech Level

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The Polite Speech Level

In the previous post, we study about the deferential speech level. In this Post, we are going to study about the polite speech level.

The Polite Speech Level

The polite speech level is the informal counterpart of the deferential speech level. As the most commonly used speech level regardless of age or gender, the polite speech level is broadly used in any situation where polite language is called for. It is used when addressing someone of senior status in a casual, non-formal, and everyday types of conversations; it is used with friends if their friendship began in adulthood; it is the most
common speech level used toward strangers.
The polite speech level endings have two forms: -어요 and -아요. When the last syllable  of the stem has either 아 or 오, -아요 is used. On the other hand, -어요 is used when the last syllable of the stem has any other vowels.

* two forms of the polite speech level

And there are some examples of the polite speech level endings.

* examples of the polite speech level endings

You probably wonder why some verbs or adjectives such as 가다 is not 가아요, but 가요. This is attributed to the vowel contraction in Korean: when similar or the same two vowels appear together, the vowels tend to be contracted.
The endings -어/아요 are used for all sentence types: declarative, imperative,
interrogative, and propositive. For instance, consider the following:

Koreans use contextual elements as well as intonation to figure out what sentence type the ending is used for.

Mixed use of the deferential and polite speech levels

Koreans frequently use the deferential speech level as well as the polite speech level together even in formal conversational settings. One possible scenario is when you meet a person for the first time. The speakers may introduce themselves using the deferential speech level(using the aforementioned fixed expressions). However, once identified, they may switch to the polite speech level. The use of the polite speech level ending generates an effect of making a dialogue sound less formal, even in formal conversational contexts.

* click to read related posts.
Grammar for Beginners
Endings of Sentences
The Deferential Speech Level
Negation (부정문)

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The Deferential Speech Level

In English, there are times when you have to take alternative words or phrases, depending on various social factors involved in conversation, such as the formality of the situation, politeness, and familiarity with the addressee. For instance, in a certain situation, you can greet someone by saying “Hey, what’s up!” but in another situation by saying “Good morning, Sir!”
Korean has different speech level endings for serving these purposes. As already emphasized in the previous post, the use of speech level endings is mandatory all the time, since verb or adjective stems cannot stand alone. However, for Korean language learners, choosing an appropriate speech level ending for every verb and/or adjective is challenging because its selection is determined by various contextual factors involved in interaction, such as who you are talking to, whether you know the addressee or not, how formal the situation is, and so on.

The Deferential Speech Level

The deferential speech level is used for public and/or formal communication settings, such as broadcasting, public speech, business-related meetings, conference presentations, and so forth. The deferential speech level has four different endings for each sentence type: -습니다/-ㅂ니다(declarative), -습니까/-ㅂ니까(interrogative), -(으)십시오(imperative), and -(으)십시다(propositive).

* the Deferential speech level

Declarative

For the declarative(statement), -습니다 is used when the stem ends in a consonant, as in 먹 + 습니다 = 먹습니다(someone eats). However, when the stem ends in a vowel, -ㅂ니다 is used, as in 가 + ㅂ니다 = 갑니다(someone goes).

* Declarative

Because the deferential speech level indicates a sense of formality, many formulaic/fixed expressions are made of this speech level ending:

Interrogative

For the interrogative(question), the ending is -습니까 for the stem ending in a consonant, as in 먹습니까?(do you eat?) However, it is -ㅂ니까 for the stem ending in a vowel, as in 갑니까?(do you go?) Here are more examples.

* Interrogative

Imperative

For the imperative(command), the ending is -으십시오 for the stem ending in a consonant, as in 먹으십시오(eat). However, the ending is -십시오 for the stem ending in a vowel, as in 가십시오(go). Here are more examples.

* Imperative

Propositive

For the propositive(suggestion), the ending is -으십시다 for the stem ending in a consonant, as in 먹으십시다(let us eat). However, it is -십시다 for the stem ending in a vowel, as in 갑시다(let us go). Here are more examples.

* Propositive

* Click to read related posts.
Grammar for Beginners
Endings of Sentences
The Polite Speech Level
Negation (부정문)


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