Statement endings (평서형 종결어미) are used to make declarative statements - telling facts, describing situations, or conveying information. Korean has different statement endings based on formality level and politeness.
Speech Levels Overview
Korean has multiple speech levels, but the most commonly used are:
- 합니다체 (hamnida-che): Formal polite
- 해요체 (haeyo-che): Informal polite (standard polite)
- 해체 (hae-che): Casual/informal (banmal)
해요체 (Standard Polite): -아/어요
Most Common in Daily Life
Used with: Friends, colleagues, people of similar age/status
Formation Rules
Verb Stems with ㅏ or ㅗ: -아요
Add -아요:
- 가다 → 가요 (go/goes)
- 오다 → 와요 (come/comes)
- 보다 → 봐요 (see/sees)
- 자다 → 자요 (sleep/sleeps)
- 좋다 → 좋아요 (is good)
- 작다 → 작아요 (is small)
Verb Stems with Other Vowels: -어요
Add -어요:
- 먹다 → 먹어요 (eat/eats)
- 서다 → 서요 (stand/stands)
- 입다 → 입어요 (wear/wears)
- 크다 → 커요 (is big)
- 없다 → 없어요 (there isn't)
하다 Verbs: -해요
하다 becomes 해요:
- 공부하다 → 공부해요 (study/studies)
- 일하다 → 일해요 (work/works)
- 사랑하다 → 사랑해요 (love/loves)
- 운동하다 → 운동해요 (exercise/exercises)
Vowel Contraction Rules
When stem ends in vowel + 아/어:
- 가 + 아요 → 가요 (not 가아요)
- 오 + 아요 → 와요 (오아요 contracts)
- 보 + 아요 → 봐요 (보아요 contracts)
- 서 + 어요 → 서요 (not 서어요)
- 크 + 어요 → 커요 (크어요 contracts)
Common Examples
Action verbs:
- 먹어요 (eat)
- 마셔요 (drink)
- 읽어요 (read)
- 써요 (write)
- 만들어요 (make)
- 배워요 (learn)
Adjectives:
- 좋아요 (is good)
- 예쁘요 → 예뻐요 (is pretty)
- 크요 → 커요 (is big)
- 작아요 (is small)
- 재미있어요 (is interesting)
- 맛있어요 (is delicious)
Existence verbs:
- 있어요 (there is/have)
- 없어요 (there isn't/don't have)
합니다체 (Formal Polite): -습니다/ㅂ니다
More Formal Settings
Used in: Presentations, news, formal speeches, with elders/superiors, formal writing
Formation Rules
After Vowels: -ㅂ니다
Add -ㅂ니다 when stem ends in vowel:
- 가다 → 갑니다 (go/goes)
- 오다 → 옵니다 (come/comes)
- 하다 → 합니다 (do/does)
- 배우다 → 배웁니다 (learn/learns)
- 주다 → 줍니다 (give/gives)
After Consonants: -습니다
Add -습니다 when stem ends in consonant:
- 먹다 → 먹습니다 (eat/eats)
- 읽다 → 읽습니다 (read/reads)
- 입다 → 입습니다 (wear/wears)
- 좋다 → 좋습니다 (is good)
- 있다 → 있습니다 (there is)
- 없다 → 없습니다 (there isn't)
Common Examples
Action verbs:
- 공부합니다 (study)
- 일합니다 (work)
- 먹습니다 (eat)
- 마십니다 (drink - ㅂ irregular)
- 만듭니다 (make - ㄹ irregular)
- 듣습니다 (listen/hear)
Adjectives:
- 좋습니다 (is good)
- 큽니다 (is big)
- 작습니다 (is small)
- 예쁩니다 (is pretty)
- 아름답습니다 (is beautiful)
Existence:
- 있습니다 (there is/exists)
- 없습니다 (there isn't/doesn't exist)
해체 (Casual): -아/어
Informal Speech with Close Friends
Used with: Close friends, younger siblings, children (banmal)
Formation Rules
Same as 해요체 but Drop 요
Simply remove 요 from 해요체:
- 가요 → 가 (go)
- 먹어요 → 먹어 (eat)
- 해요 → 해 (do)
- 좋아요 → 좋아 (is good)
- 있어요 → 있어 (there is)
Common Examples
With friends:
- 뭐 해? (What are you doing?)
- 밥 먹어 (Eat food / Let's eat)
- 좋아 (It's good / I like it)
- 재미있어 (It's fun)
- 알아 (I know)
- 몰라 (I don't know)
Contractions:
- 뭐 해 → 뭐해 (What are you doing?)
- 그래 (That's right / OK)
- 아니야 (It's not / No - from 아니에요)
Past Tense Statements
해요체 Past: -았/었어요
Add past marker then -어요:
- 갔어요 (went)
- 먹었어요 (ate)
- 했어요 (did)
- 좋았어요 (was good)
- 있었어요 (there was)
합니다체 Past: -았/었습니다
Add past marker then -습니다:
- 갔습니다 (went)
- 먹었습니다 (ate)
- 했습니다 (did)
- 좋았습니다 (was good)
- 있었습니다 (there was)
해체 Past: -았/었어
Add past marker then -어:
- 갔어 (went)
- 먹었어 (ate)
- 했어 (did)
- 좋았어 (was good)
Future/Intention Statements
-(으)ㄹ 거예요 (Going to)
Informal polite future:
- 갈 거예요 (will go / going to go)
- 먹을 거예요 (will eat / going to eat)
- 할 거예요 (will do / going to do)
- 볼 거예요 (will see / going to see)
-(으)ㄹ 겁니다 (Formal future)
Formal polite future:
- 갈 겁니다 (will go)
- 먹을 겁니다 (will eat)
- 할 겁니다 (will do)
-겠습니다 (Formal intention/supposition)
Polite formal:
- 가겠습니다 (I will go)
- 하겠습니다 (I will do)
- 먹겠습니다 (I will eat)
Often used for: Promises, intentions, formal announcements
Negative Statements
안 + Verb (Don't/Not)
해요체:
- 안 가요 (don't go / not going)
- 안 먹어요 (don't eat / not eating)
- 안 해요 (don't do / not doing)
- 안 좋아요 (not good)
합니다체:
- 안 갑니다 (don't go)
- 안 먹습니다 (don't eat)
- 안 합니다 (don't do)
Verb + -지 않다 (Don't/Not)
More formal or emphatic:
- 가지 않아요 (don't go)
- 먹지 않아요 (don't eat)
- 하지 않아요 (don't do)
- 좋지 않아요 (not good)
Formal:
- 가지 않습니다 (don't go)
- 먹지 않습니다 (don't eat)
못 + Verb (Cannot)
Inability:
- 못 가요 (can't go)
- 못 먹어요 (can't eat)
- 못 해요 (can't do)
Verb + -지 못하다 (Cannot)
Formal inability:
- 가지 못해요 (cannot go)
- 먹지 못해요 (cannot eat)
- 하지 못해요 (cannot do)
With Different Verb Types
Action Verbs
해요체:
- 읽어요 (read)
- 써요 (write)
- 걸어요 (walk)
- 달려요 (run)
합니다체:
- 읽습니다 (read)
- 씁니다 (write)
- 걷습니다 (walk)
- 달립니다 (run)
Descriptive Verbs (Adjectives)
해요체:
- 아름다워요 (is beautiful)
- 행복해요 (is happy)
- 슬퍼요 (is sad)
- 기뻐요 (is glad)
합니다체:
- 아름답습니다 (is beautiful)
- 행복합니다 (is happy)
- 슬픕니다 (is sad)
- 기쁩니다 (is glad)
Existence Verbs
있다/없다:
- 있어요 / 있습니다 (there is / exists)
- 없어요 / 없습니다 (there isn't / doesn't exist)
이다/아니다 (to be):
- 이에요/예요 (is - 해요체)
- 입니다 (is - 합니다체)
- 아니에요 (is not - 해요체)
- 아닙니다 (is not - 합니다체)
Example Sentences
해요체 (Standard Polite)
- 저는 학생이에요 (I am a student)
- 한국어를 공부해요 (I study Korean)
- 책이 재미있어요 (The book is interesting)
- 내일 친구를 만나요 (I'm meeting a friend tomorrow)
- 날씨가 좋아요 (The weather is good)
합니다체 (Formal Polite)
- 저는 학생입니다 (I am a student)
- 한국어를 공부합니다 (I study Korean)
- 책이 재미있습니다 (The book is interesting)
- 내일 친구를 만납니다 (I'm meeting a friend tomorrow)
- 날씨가 좋습니다 (The weather is good)
해체 (Casual)
- 나는 학생이야 (I'm a student)
- 한국어를 공부해 (I study Korean)
- 책이 재미있어 (The book is interesting)
- 내일 친구를 만나 (I'm meeting a friend tomorrow)
- 날씨가 좋아 (The weather is good)
Example Dialogues
Dialogue 1: Standard Polite (해요체)
A: 주말에 뭐 해요?
(What do you do on weekends?)
B: 보통 친구들을 만나요.
(I usually meet friends.)
A: 어디서 만나요?
(Where do you meet?)
B: 카페에서 만나요.
(We meet at a cafe.)
Dialogue 2: Formal (합니다체)
A: 무슨 일을 하십니까?
(What work do you do?)
B: 저는 교사입니다.
(I am a teacher.)
A: 어디서 가르치십니까?
(Where do you teach?)
B: 중학교에서 가르칩니다.
(I teach at a middle school.)
Dialogue 3: Casual (해체)
A: 뭐 해?
(What are you doing?)
B: 공부해.
(I'm studying.)
A: 힘들어?
(Is it hard?)
B: 응, 좀 힘들어.
(Yeah, a bit hard.)
Special Considerations
Choosing the Right Level
합니다체: Formal situations, presentations, strangers (very respectful) 해요체: Standard polite, most common in daily interactions 해체: Only with close friends, younger people, or family
Switching Levels
Be careful: Using casual speech with someone who expects polite speech is very rude Safe choice: When in doubt, use 해요체
Regional Variations
Different regions may have variations, but 해요체 and 합니다체 are understood everywhere
Common Mistakes
❌ Incorrect: 좋습니다요
Mixing 합니다체 and 해요체
✅ Correct: 좋습니다 OR 좋아요
Use one speech level consistently
❌ Incorrect: 먹습니다요
Adding 요 to 합니다체
✅ Correct: 먹습니다
합니다체 already polite, no 요 needed
❌ Incorrect: 가ㅂ니다 (wrong spacing)
Attachment error
✅ Correct: 갑니다
Ending attaches directly to stem
Summary Table
| Speech Level | Present | Past | Future | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 합니다체 | 갑니다 | 갔습니다 | 갈 겁니다 | 안 갑니다 |
| 해요체 | 가요 | 갔어요 | 갈 거예요 | 안 가요 |
| 해체 | 가 | 갔어 | 갈 거야 | 안 가 |
Formation Summary
| Ending | After Vowel | After Consonant | 하다 Verbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 합니다체 | -ㅂ니다 | -습니다 | -합니다 |
| 해요체 | -아/어요 | -아/어요 | -해요 |
| 해체 | -아/어 | -아/어 | -해 |
Key Takeaways
- ✅ Three main levels: 합니다체 (formal), 해요체 (standard polite), 해체 (casual)
- ✅ 해요체 most common: Used in most daily interactions
- ✅ 합니다체 for formality: Presentations, news, formal settings
- ✅ 해체 for intimacy: Only with close friends and younger people
- ✅ Consistent usage: Don't mix speech levels in same conversation
- ✅ Past tense: Add -았/었- before endings
- ✅ Future: Use -(으)ㄹ 거예요/겁니다 or -겠습니다
- ✅ Be respectful: When in doubt, use 해요체 or higher
Mastering statement endings is fundamental to Korean communication. Start with 해요체 for most situations, learn 합니다체 for formal contexts, and only use 해체 with people you're close to. The right speech level shows respect and helps you communicate appropriately in Korean society!