# Reply to 안녕하십니까



## Hyperpolyglot

I know 안녕하십니까? is the formal version of 안녕하세요, and it is always a question, I wonder how one would reply back, can they say back 안녕하십니까  or is it 안녕하십니다?


----------



## mink-shin

'안녕하십니다' makes sense but I would never use it. Not only does it sound weird but kind of rude to me as, if I used '안녕하십니다', '-ㅂ니다' would make '안녕하십니다', the subject of which is me, honorific. I would never use any honorific ending for myself.

I would just say back, "네", and ask back the same question.
"네, 안녕하십니까?"


----------



## Hyperpolyglot

mink-shin said:


> '안녕하십니다' makes sense but I would never use it. Not only does it sound weird but kind of rude to me as, if I used '안녕하십니다', '-ㅂ니다' would make '안녕하십니다', the subject of which is me, honorific. I would never use any honorific ending for myself.
> 
> I would just say back, "네", and ask back the same question.
> "네, 안녕하십니까?"



Thanks for the reply! Been waiting for days.
Now, if I reply back 안녕하십니까, shouldn't I use the formal 예 instead of 네, since 안녕하십니까 is formal?


----------



## mink-shin

I don't find any difference between 예 and 네.

I don't think 예 sounds more formal than 네.


----------



## Rance

Only 예 was originally 표준어 until 네, due to its popularity in Seoul, became accepted as 표준어 in 1988.

Technically, there should be no difference in meaning, but I believe there is some difference in usage of those two.
For example, if you do google search for 국립국어원 on twitter, it almost exclusively answered questions with 네 assuming yes is the answer for the question..
I am not sure why such strong bias exists, but one possibility is that the sound is softer with 네 and makes listener feel more comfortable.
Or maybe the operators are mainly from Seoul where 네 is popular.

One the other hand, when one interrogates another, the interrogator almost exclusively uses the expression, "예 아니오로만 대답하시오".
Again such bias might be due to the expression being such a cliche, but it's also possible due to the reason I just mentioned.

Also the bias exists depending on the region one is from.
I read somewhere people from Gyungsangdo prefer 예 over 네 as they have harder time pronouncing 네.

Punchline is that there _should_ be no difference in meaning, but the bias in the usage can be found in many places for different reasons.
For the sake of learning Korean as beginner, it's not worth trouble to differentiate those two.


----------



## sowon

mink-shin said:


> I don't find any difference between 예 and 네.
> 
> I don't think 예 sounds more formal than 네.



I think 네 is said more because it's more formal? I'm not sure, though. I'm still in the middle of learning Korean. A lot of Koreans use '네' to answer to questions and I just assume that 네 is more formal than 예, and it is also used more than 예


----------



## veily

sowon said:


> I think 네 is said more because it's more formal? I'm not sure, though. I'm still in the middle of learning Korean. A lot of Koreans use '네' to answer to questions and I just assume that 네 is more formal than 예, and it is also used more than 예


There's no difference 'at all'. They are both honorifics and you can use both in the same way.
(fyi, i've just checked National Institute of Korean Language)
예 might have been considered polite long time ago but I doubt that it still does.

Anyway, in informal situation you can say 응 or 어.
응 is standard while 어 is way spoken (couldn't find in dictionary)

e.g.
당신은 학생입니까? / 네. or 아니오.
너는 학생이니? / 응. or 아니.


----------



## veily

forgot to say,



sowon said:


> A lot of Koreans use '네' to answer to questions



Yes, I agree that 네 is more prosperous than 예 in spoken. There could be several reasons.



Rance said:


> I am not sure why such strong bias exists, but one possibility is that the sound is softer with 네 and makes listener feel more comfortable.


I think ㅖ is subtly pickier to pronounce than ㅔ and this makes us feel like this.
(I think there's no right answer tho.)



sowon said:


> I just assume that 네 is more formal than 예


I'd say 예 has refined and elegant 'nuance' than 네
I assume that this can be related to the sound point of view above.

Still, it is just the matter of 'nuance' and you can use either of two - whichever you like.


----------

