Foreigners' mistakes in saying YOU in Korean

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BETTER NOT TO SAY "YOU" IN KOREA

 

Different from English sentence, natural Korean dialogue tends not to mention "you". That's because a  general word indicating anyone in 2nd person CANNOT exist in Korea. In English users' eyes, the Korean society would look hierarchical. By age difference, positions at work or roles in family, you need to choose right word to say "you". Despite of this cultural background, online translators would interprete “you” in several ways such as “너”, “당신” in Korean. It’s not wrong grammatically, but hearing of them could discomfort native Koreans.

 

 

HOW “너” COULD DISCOMFORT

 

 

You can upset Koreans by calling them “너” in 3 seconds. That’s because “너” is very informal word for “you”.  It disregards listeners’ age and social position. “너” can be used only under two conditions. First, the person is NOT older than you(strict!), while the second is you two are close “friends”. “Closer friends” means it’s not first time you met the person, as well as you two have no difficult relations - “coworker” is not “friend” at first place. Both conditions - age & friendship - must be met together. Well, to make it simple, better not say “너” most of time.

 

One exception is, adults can call little children “너” because the age gap is large. (You could look like a child in the elderly’s eyes)

 

 

“당신” IS EITHER “YOUR SPOUSE” OR “ENEMY”

 

 

 

You can address your spouse “당신”. On top of them, some people use this word when they are in battle mode - well, saying “너” is much more aggressive than that. Originally “당신” is respectful expression for “oneself”(except for “myself”). For example, you might find “어머니 당신께서는..” kinds statement in books. That means “(my) mother herself...”. Remember, the most common situation you would say “당신” is when you mention your spouse herself/himself, or when you want to fight.

 

 

 

 

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HOW TO ADDRESS SOMEONE IN KOREAN PROPERLY

 

 

GIVE UP “YOU”

 

Koreans skip “you” usually in their dialogue. Speaking which, better not speak out “you” in Korean culture. Removing subject part would feel like loosing the head for English speakers, but you can practice to get rid of it.

 

 

 

CALL “TITLE” INSTEAD

 

If you “have to” mention “you”, you can replace the part with the person’s title. 

 

사장님 = Mr/Mrs. BOSS
매니저님 = Mr/Mrs. MANAGER
팀장님 = Mr/Mrs. TEAM LEADER
어머님 = Mr/Mrs. MOTHER
아버님 = Mr/Mrs. FATHER
박사님 = Mr/Mrs. DOCTOR (PhD)
의사 선생님 = Mr/Mrs. MEDICAL DOCTOR 

 

Even though they are neither your boss or father, you can call them so.

 

 

 

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HOW TO ADDRESS SOMEONE YOU MEET ON THE STREET

 

 

 

선생님 teacher

 

선생님’s primary meaning is teacher. However, it also can indicate someone who can give you any lessons. For that, polite Koreans like to call someone “선생님” until they set different relationship. This is gender-neutral expression. Also has wide braket in age coverage.

 

선생님 = teacher
선생님 = anonymous lesson holders

 

 

 

사장님 middle aged man

 

As you already saw above, 사장님's primary meaning is "boss". However, as a respectful way, some people call middle aged man you like this. 

 

사장님 = boss
사장님 = anonymous middle-aged man

 

 

아주머니 married woman

 

Interesting to say that general title for middle-aged woman (you wold meet on the street) is  "아주머니" commonly. This might be a kind of gentle way addressing married woman in 3rd person, but not formal. If the lady is your boss' wife, or someone important, forget about this word.

 

 

할아버지 old man

할머니 old lady

 

Family titles of "grandfather" and "grandmother" are used for the elderlies generally. If they are obvious old man or lady, 할아버지(man) / 할머니(lady) could be their common title.

 

 

저기요 (+ NO TITLE)

for ATTENTION

 

You might not need to call service workers “선생님” to catch their attention. "저기요" which means “Excuse me” would be the most natural. If having any questions to them, just remove “you”s from your questions. That might be the most comfortable.

 

저기요 = Excuse me (attention)

저기요, 지갑 떨어뜨리셨어요 ~ = Excuse me, (you) dropped (your) wallet !
저, 추천 해주실 수 있나요? = Well, would (you) recommend me something?

 

 

 

 

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SUMMARY

 

1. Avoid to say “너”
2. “당신” is either your spouse of enemy
3. Give up “you”s in Korean dialogue
4. Call titles instead
5. “선생님” can be a general title
6. “Excuse me” with no title can be natural in casual situation