haru Korean › Grammar › Level 1B › V-(으)십시오
V-(으)십시오 — formal requests and instructions — 'please …'
Formal requests and instructions — 'please …'. Korean grammar for beginner learners — Level 1B, lesson 8: 회사에서 일합니다 (I work at a company — formal speech).
What it means
-(으)십시오 is the formal way to ask someone to do something — the formal partner of -(으)세요. Staff say it to guests and customers (여기 앉으십시오), and you read it on notices, on signs and in test instructions. After a consonant, add 으십시오: 앉으십시오, 읽으십시오. After a vowel, add 십시오: 가십시오, 하십시오. A stem that ends in ㄹ drops the ㄹ: 열다 → 여십시오, and ㄷ verbs change ㄷ to ㄹ: 듣다 → 들으십시오. For 'please don't', use -지 마십시오: 담배를 피우지 마십시오. To a senior, it sounds polite in an offer or a greeting (여기 앉으십시오 · 안녕히 가십시오) but like an order in an instruction, so keep it for formal situations.
Forms
| Pattern | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -으십시오 | 받침 O | 앉다 + 으십시오 → 앉으십시오 |
| -십시오 | 받침 X · ㄹ 받침 (the ㄹ drops) | 가다 + 십시오 → 가십시오 |
Key points
- -으십시오 after a consonant, -십시오 after a vowel or ㄹ (the ㄹ drops): 앉으십시오 · 기다리십시오 · 여십시오
- The formal partner of -(으)세요 — for guests, customers, notices and announcements; 'please don't' is -지 마십시오
Examples
- 앉다 → 앉으십시오. 읽다 → 읽으십시오.
- 가다 → 가십시오. 기다리다 → 기다리십시오. 하다 → 하십시오.
- 열다 → 여십시오. 듣다 → 들으십시오.
- 손님, 여기 앉으십시오. 잠깐만 기다리십시오.
- 여기에서 담배를 피우지 마십시오.
Where university textbooks teach it
This point also appears in: Yonsei University Korean 1-1, lesson 6; Ewha Womans University Korean 1-2, lesson 11; Hongik University Korean 1B, lesson 12.
Also in this lesson
- A/V-습니다/습니까 — the formal style — statements and questions with -습니다 · -습니까?
- V-(으)ㅂ시다 — formal suggestions — 'let's …'
- V-겠- — polite intention — 'I will …'