A Friendly Introduction - KoreanClass101.com Blog (2024)

This Lesson adds more vocabulary and grammar to help you introduce yourselves.

Vocabulary

• 씨 – (Mr., Ms., Mrs.)

• 연 주 씨. 안녕하세요. – Honam is a student.

• 선생님 – teacher

• 유라 씨는 선생님입니다. – Yura is a teacher

• 이 다 – To be

• 우와! 한국이다! – Wow! It`s Korea

The Honorific Suffix – 씨

• In Korean 씨 (ssi) is the honorific suffix. Just as the title suggests, it gestures respect to the name it is suffixed to.

• It can be used to respect anybody. It is unisex and can be used regardless of age.

• It is used more frequently than the English titles, Mister, Misses, and Miss. If two people are not on casual terms, they will typically suffix 씨 (ssi) to the other person’s name.

• It is only used when referring to someone else. One cannot use 씨 (ssi) for their own name.

• When it is suffixed to a name, it must be suffixed to a person’s given name. If the honorific suffix is attached to only the person’s family name, it can sometimes be seen as demeaning.

The Affirmative Copula – 이다

• The affirmative copula in Korean is 이다 (ida). This verb generally translate as “to be.” This means it can be used to express equation, definition, identification, and description. But it is not existential. Korean has a separate verb to express existence.
  

Formal Politeness Level Conjugation (-ㅂ/습니다)

• 입니다 (imnida) is the copula conjugated into the present tense, and in the formal politeness level. To conjugate 이다 (ida) we take the dictionary form of the copula 이다 (ida) and remove 다 (da) to get the verb stem, 이 (i). From there we add -ㅂ 니다 (-mnida). 이 + ㅂ 니다 = 입니다 (i + mnida = imnida).

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