Polite Suffix '요' — Korean Grammar

The suffix (yo) indicates the polite informal speech level in Korean. This is the most versatile and widely used speech style in daily life. It is appropriate for talking to strangers, colleagues, older people, or acquaintances where a respectful but friendly tone is required.

Position and Attachment

(yo) always appears at the very end of a sentence. It attaches to the conjugated stem of a verb or adjective. While the verb stem carries the meaning, the (yo) ending carries the social context of politeness. Without this suffix, the sentence becomes casual ( (pan·malban·malpan·malpan·mal)), which can sound rude if used with the wrong person.

가요.
ka·yo.ga·yo.ka·yo.ka·yo.
I go / I am going.
먹어요.
mŏ·gŏ·yo.meo·geo·yo.mŏ·gŏ·yo.me·ke·yo.
I eat / I am eating.
좋아요.
cho·a·yo.jo·a·yo.cho·a·yo.co·a·yo.
It is good.

Asking Questions

Unlike many European languages, Korean does not change the word order to form a question. To turn a polite statement into a question, you simply maintain the (yo) ending and raise your intonation at the end of the sentence. In writing, this is indicated by a question mark.

가요?
ka·yo?ga·yo?ka·yo?ka·yo?
Are you going?
바빠요?
pa·bba·yo?ba·bba·yo?pa·ppa·yo?pa·ppa·yo?
Are you busy?
공부해요?
kong·bu·hæ·yo?gong·bu·hae·yo?kong·bu·hae·yo?kong·pu·hay·yo?
Do you study?

Politeness in Fragments

A unique feature of (yo) is that it can be attached to nouns, adverbs, or sentence fragments to make a short answer polite. In English, this is similar to adding "please" or "sir/ma'am" to a single word answer. Using a word without (yo) when answering a superior or stranger is considered too casual.

커피요.
kʰŏ·pʰi·yo.keo·pi·yo.k'ŏ·p'i·yo.khe·phi·yo.
Coffee, please. (Answering "What do you want?")
저요?
chŏ·yo?jeo·yo?chŏ·yo?ce·yo?
Me?
내일요.
næ·il·yo.nae·il·yo.nae·il·yo.nay·il·yo.
Tomorrow.
왜요?
wæ·yo?wae·yo?wae·yo?way·yo?
Why?

Exceptions and Variations

While most verbs end directly in (yo) after conjugation, the verb "to be" (copula) takes a slightly different form based on whether the preceding noun ends in a vowel or a consonant.

If the noun ends in a vowel: (ye·yoye·yoye·yoyey·yo)
If the noun ends in a consonant: (i·e·yoi·e·yoi·e·yoi·ey·yo)

Additionally, when using higher honorifics (extra respect), the ending often changes to (se·yose·yose·yosey·yo) or (ŭ·se·yoeu·se·yoŭ·se·you·sey·yo), which still retains the polite (yo) at the end.

사과예요.
sa·gwa·ye·yo.sa·gwa·ye·yo.sa·gwa·ye·yo.sa·kwa·yey·yo.
It is an apple.
학생이에요.
hak·sæng·i·e·yo.hak·saeng·i·e·yo.hak·saeng·i·e·yo.hak·sayng·i·ey·yo.
I am a student.
안녕하세요.
an·nyŏng·ha·se·yo.an·nyeong·ha·se·yo.an·nyŏng·ha·se·yo.an·nyeng·ha·sey·yo.
Hello.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Korean course

19 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 96. A few of them, with the words “Polite Suffix '요'” is about in bold:

우리 딸은 어디 있어요? - 학교에요.
u·ri ttar·ŭn ŏ·di iss·ŏ·yo? - hak·gyo e yo.u·ri ddar·eun eo·di iss·eo·yo? - hak·gyo e yo.u·ri ttar·ŭn ŏ·di iss·ŏ·yo? - hak·gyo e yo.u·li ttar·un e·ti iss·e·yo? - hak·kyo ey yo.
Where is our daughter? - She's at school.
Lesson 242

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