haru Korean › Grammar › Level 1A › V-(으)세요
V-(으)세요 — please … — polite requests and instructions
Please … — polite requests and instructions. Korean grammar for beginner learners — Level 1A, lesson 9: 이거 주세요, 얼마예요? (This one, please. How much is it? — shopping and counting).
What it means
-(으)세요 makes a polite request or instruction — 'please …'. Take 다 off the verb and look at the last syllable: after a 받침 add -으세요 (읽다 → 읽으세요, 찾다 → 찾으세요); after a vowel add -세요 (보다 → 보세요, 쓰다 → 쓰세요, 공부하다 → 공부하세요). The 주세요 you learned whole in Lesson 4 is this ending on 주다 'give': 카드 주세요 means 'your card, please'. Teachers, shop staff and signs use it all the time, and it is polite enough for anyone, even someone older than you. It asks another person to do something now or later, so it has no past form. 먹다, 마시다 and 자다 have special polite forms that come in Level 1B, so leave them out for now.
Forms
| Pattern | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -으세요 | 받침 O | 읽다 + 으세요 → 읽으세요 |
| -세요 | 받침 X | 보다 + 세요 → 보세요 |
Key points
- V-(으)세요 — 'please …': 으세요 after a 받침 (읽으세요) · 세요 after a vowel (보세요)
- 주세요 = 주다 + 세요 — teachers and shop staff use it all the time: 여기를 보세요 · 카드 주세요
Examples
- 보다 → 보세요. 쓰다 → 쓰세요. 공부하다 → 공부하세요.
- 읽다 → 읽으세요. 찾다 → 찾으세요.
- 여러분, 책을 읽으세요. 단어를 쓰세요.
- 주다 → 주세요. 카드 주세요.
Where university textbooks teach it
This point also appears in: Seoul National University Korean 1A, lesson 6; Yonsei University Korean 1-2, lesson 12; Sogang University Korean 1A, lesson 5; Ewha Womans University Korean 1-1, lesson 4; Hanyang University Korean 1-1, lesson 4.
Also in this lesson
- N 개 · 병 · 잔 · 권 · 명 — counting things — noun + native Korean number + counter
- N도 — also, too — 도 takes the place of 은/는 · 이/가 · 을/를
- 돈 읽기 — reading prices — Sino-Korean numbers + 원, and asking how much