Korean grammar · Level 2 · 2급
-(으)십시오
Formal requests
The formal way to ask or tell someone to do something. You'll hear it from staff, in shops and in announcements. After a vowel add -십시오, after a consonant -으십시오. With 주다 in front (-아/어 주십시오) it sounds more like a request than an instruction.
| When | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ends in a vowel | -십시오 | 가다 → 가십시오 · 기다리다 → 기다리십시오 |
| ends in a consonant | -으십시오 | 앉다 → 앉으십시오 · 읽다 → 읽으십시오 |
| as a request | -아/어 주십시오 | 기다려 주십시오 · 전해 주십시오 |
Examples
잠시만 기다려 주십시오.
Please hold on a moment.
여기에 앉으십시오.
Please sit here.
안녕히 가십시오.
Goodbye. (to someone leaving, formal)
Practise it in context · Level 2, Unit 6
Hello, may I speak to Ms Kim?
A dialogue with audio, practice that checks itself, Hoya’s mistakes, a reading and a writing task.
Open the unit →