Casual vs Polite Korean: Can I Say It to My Boss? | SingSay Korean
Can I say it
to my boss?
Every song on our albums teaches the casual form.
That is how friends talk.
Here is what to say to everyone else.
Korean has different ways of speaking
depending on who is listening.
You do not need all of them.
Three levels cover almost every situation.
Who gets which level?
Age matters more in Korean than in English.
Someone a few years older often gets the polite form,
even if you are friends.
Most words: just add ‘요’
This is the easy part.
Put ‘요’ (Yo) at the end, and a casual word becomes polite.
Questions work the same way. Lift the end:
‘진짜요?’ sounds just like ‘진짜?’, only politer.
When ‘요’ is not enough
Some words change completely at the polite level.
These are the ones worth memorizing.
these two
‘감사합니다’ and ‘죄송합니다’ are the two lines you will use most in Korea.
Shops, taxis, offices, strangers on the street.
Neither one can be too polite.
Keep these for friends
A few words have no polite version at all.
They are reactions, and reactions are casual.
‘헐’ and ‘대박’ are not rude.
They just sound like a teenager talking to a friend.
Not sure? Go polite
Koreans switch to casual speech together, usually after someone asks.
If a friend says ‘말 놓아도 돼’ (Mal Noado Dwae), it means “You can talk casually with me.”
Until then, keep the ‘요’.
Start here
Each of these lessons has a full polite section.
Want the polite forms on one card?
Save the word cards on TikTok @singsaykorean
or Instagram @singsaykorean.
Watch the full songs on YouTube @SingSayKorean.
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