# Formal polite style



## popotla

I know a bit of Korean (have been "around it" for many years and now intend to learn it well. To help me do this, I have a book called "Korean Grammar in Use: Beginning."

This tells me that the "formal polite" style ("kamnida"//"Kamnikka?") "is used most in formal or public situations, including the military, news reporting, presentations, meetings and lectures."

Textual examples which follow are (Sorry, I should be using Hangul, I know, but I type with one finger at the best of times and don't know where the Korean letters are on my keyboard):

chuh-nun hakyo-e kamnida and chuh-nun bbang-ul muksumnidah. 

Then we have "hakyo-e kamnikka?2 and "bang-ul muksumnikka?"

In a following chapter on "the present tense", given examples of the "formal polite" style (-nida // -nikka?), include their use on the TV news (that seems right to me), in a primary school classroom (I'm uncertain about that) and at a work meeting (appropriate, I'd say). Other examples include a picture of someone eating a hamburger (the learner is supposed to fill in the blank with "hambuhguh-rul muksumnikka?". There are also pics of one young person writing and another reading; the learner is asked to complete the blanks with the "-nidda" // "-nikka?" forms.

I ask myself whether "I go to school" / "I eat bread" / "Is he eating a hamburger?" /" .....reading?" / "....writing?" are appropriate examples of the use of this "formal polite" style. (Are they correct, in other words?)

Using this "formal polite" style, _who might be speaking to whom_ in these above situations about school, what one eats, what one does? For example, in the one about school, the accompanying picture is of two children speaking to each other. Surely they don't use this "formal polite" style to each other. And if I'm asking my elderly Korean auntie whether she eats bread, do I say "bbang-ul *jabsu-sim-nikka*?"

I suspect, though don't know enough about this, that the authors of this book, in their wish to demonstrate grammatical FORM, might be neglecting, in the examples I've mentioned, the crucial (crucial) matter of CONTEXT (who is speaking to whom, for example). If so, this will be disappointing because the book will be misleading.

Would someone please help by commenting on the above?

Thanks.


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## collie

popotla said:


> I suspect, though don't know enough about this, that the authors of this book, in their wish to demonstrate grammatical FORM, might be neglecting, in the examples I've mentioned, the crucial (crucial) matter of CONTEXT (who is speaking to whom, for example).



You are quite right. Unfortunately, the book seems only to focus on grammar.

When learning a foreign language, I don't like this kind of approach. Some people consider grammar and speaking separately. So they think learning grammar is one thing, and speaking another.  But leaners should learn grammar to speak.


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## popotla

_When learning a foreign language, I don't like this kind of approach. Some people consider grammar and speaking separately. So they think learning grammar is one thing, and speaking another. But learners should learn grammar to speak. _

Yes, I agree absolutely with you. In language-learning textbooks-and in the whole field of language acquisition/learning (crucial distinction between these two)-there is so much misunderstanding as to how language acquisition/learning probably actually occurs.

I had a look at something on the internet that laid out rather well, I thought, the matter of register/speech styles:

Korean speech levels - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Environmentalist

I understand that it is very difficult for foreigners lreaning Korean to grasp the difference in the verb conjugation in terms of formality. The verb usage can vary depending on who you are talking to or what circumstances you are under. 

I don't know what Korean textbooks usually say about formal and polite forms, but we only use a small segment of them in daily conversations. 

I will take the verb 먹다 for example.
The most commonly used forms are 먹다 and 들다 (the one you use to talk to older people). 
Sample sentences.
과자를 먹어. (먹다)
점심 드세요. (들다)

잡수다 is kind of an old and 'too formal' form, and elderly people often use it.
No one would judge you if you say that word but I'd say it can sound too formal so that people might think you seem a little standoffish with others (but not always. You may say it to older people). You can use it if you really wanna show respect but I'd like you to know it is never a commonly used word.

It will take you a long time to fully understand the polite forms of Korean verbs. Even harder to absorb different connotations of the verb forms. I suppose there is the answer in contexts.


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## i5369

popotla said:


> I know a bit of Korean (have been "around it" for many years and now intend to learn it well. To help me do this, I have a book called "Korean Grammar in Use: Beginning."
> 
> This tells me that the "formal polite" style ("kamnida"//"Kamnikka?") "is used most in formal or public situations, including the military, news reporting, presentations, meetings and lectures."
> 
> Textual examples which follow are (Sorry, I should be using Hangul, I know, but I type with one finger at the best of times and don't know where the Korean letters are on my keyboard):
> 
> chuh-nun hakyo-e kamnida and chuh-nun bbang-ul muksumnidah.
> 
> Then we have "hakyo-e kamnikka?2 and "bang-ul muksumnikka?"
> 
> In a following chapter on "the present tense", given examples of the "formal polite" style (-nida // -nikka?), include their use on the TV news (that seems right to me), in a primary school classroom (I'm uncertain about that) and at a work meeting (appropriate, I'd say). Other examples include a picture of someone eating a hamburger (the learner is supposed to fill in the blank with "hambuhguh-rul muksumnikka?". There are also pics of one young person writing and another reading; the learner is asked to complete the blanks with the "-nidda" // "-nikka?" forms.
> 
> I ask myself whether "I go to school" / "I eat bread" / "Is he eating a hamburger?" /" .....reading?" / "....writing?" are appropriate examples of the use of this "formal polite" style. (Are they correct, in other words?)
> 
> Using this "formal polite" style, _who might be speaking to whom_ in these above situations about school, what one eats, what one does? For example, in the one about school, the accompanying picture is of two children speaking to each other. Surely they don't use this "formal polite" style to each other. And if I'm asking my elderly Korean auntie whether she eats bread, do I say "bbang-ul *jabsu-sim-nikka*?"
> 
> I suspect, though don't know enough about this, that the authors of this book, in their wish to demonstrate grammatical FORM, might be neglecting, in the examples I've mentioned, the crucial (crucial) matter of CONTEXT (who is speaking to whom, for example). If so, this will be disappointing because the book will be misleading.
> 
> Would someone please help by commenting on the above?
> 
> Thanks.



Hi popotla,

I've been talking with some other British friends about the content of Korean language textbook. Sometimes, some books' explanations don't provide proper contexts.

At first, I'll just write down your example sentences in Korean as below:
chuh-nun hakyo-e kamnida (저는 학교에 갑니다) and chuh-nun bbang-ul muksumnidah. (저는 빵을 먹습니다)

The formal polite style in the above examples is descriptive expression, which is appropriate in situations, for example, when someone is explaining his/her pictures in a classroom.

However, I would recommend using '어요 [uh-yo]' to make a sentence into a formal form, which is more proper in a colloquial language.

If someone senior than you asks the question "Where are you going? (너 어디로 가고 있어?)", then a possible answer in a formal polite style will be "저는 학교에 가고 있어요." In addition, if he/she asks "What are you eating? (너 무엇을 먹고 있어?)", then we can say "저는 빵을 먹고 있어요."

Hope this'll be helpful, and let me know if you've got another question(s).


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