You have been making polite requests in Korean since your first lesson. 안녕하세요 has it. 주세요 has it. The ending -(으)세요 is hiding inside both, and once you can see it, almost any verb becomes a gentle "please do this." This beginner-friendly guide shows you how to build them yourself instead of memorizing them one by one.
What does -(으)세요 mean in Korean?
-(으)세요 (-(eu)seyo) is the polite way to ask or tell someone to do something. Attach it to a verb stem and 가다 (to go) becomes 가세요, "please go." It is soft enough for a stranger and respectful enough for your boss, which is why it is the request form Koreans reach for all day long.
The stem is what is left after you remove 다 from the dictionary form: 가다 → 가, 앉다 → 앉. If that stem ends in a vowel, add 세요. If it ends in a consonant, add 으세요, because 으 is the little vowel that keeps two consonants from crashing into each other.
| Dictionary form | Stem ends in | Polite request | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 가다 (to go) | vowel | 가세요 | gaseyo | Please go |
| 오다 (to come) | vowel | 오세요 | oseyo | Please come |
| 보다 (to look, see) | vowel | 보세요 | boseyo | Please look |
| 하다 (to do) | vowel | 하세요 | haseyo | Please do |
| 앉다 (to sit) | consonant | 앉으세요 | anjeuseyo | Please sit |
| 읽다 (to read) | consonant | 읽으세요 | ilgeuseyo | Please read |
| 씻다 (to wash) | consonant | 씻으세요 | ssiseuseyo | Please wash |
| 받다 (to receive; with 전화, to answer) | consonant | 받으세요 | badeuseyo | Please take it / pick up |
| 열다 (to open) | ㄹ (drop it) | 여세요 | yeoseyo | Please open |
| 만들다 (to make) | ㄹ (drop it) | 만드세요 | mandeuseyo | Please make it |
Look at the ㄹ rows. Stems ending in ㄹ behave like vowel stems: no 으, and the ㄹ itself quietly drops before 세요. 살다 (to live) → 사세요, 놀다 (to play) → 노세요. It looks wrong for a week, then you stop noticing.
Hear polite requests in Korean from a native speaker
Here is the part textbooks bury. -(으)세요 is not only a request. It also describes what a respected person is doing: 어머니가 요리하세요 means "my mother is cooking," no command anywhere. The clue is the subject. If the sentence names someone else (어머니가, 선생님이), it is a description; if it is aimed at you, it is a request. Both come from the honorific marker 시, the one behind Korean honorifics.
Why does 주세요 mean "please"?
주세요 (juseyo) is simply 주다 (to give) with -세요 on it, so it literally means "please give." Put a noun in front and you have the most useful request in the language: 물 주세요, "water, please." That is why it lands as "please" in a shop or a restaurant.
The second pattern is the one that makes you sound like you actually speak Korean. Take any verb, put it in its 아/어 form, and add 주세요: 말하다 → 말해 주세요, "please say it (for me)." The 주다 inside marks the action as a favor to you, exactly the tone you want from a stranger.
| Pattern | Example | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| noun + 주세요 | 물 주세요 | mul juseyo | Water, please |
| noun + 좀 + 주세요 (softer) | 물 좀 주세요 | mul jom juseyo | Could I get some water, please? |
| verb 아/어 + 주세요 | 천천히 말해 주세요 | cheoncheonhi malhae juseyo | Please speak slowly |
| verb 아/어 + 주세요 | 사진 찍어 주세요 | sajin jjigeo juseyo | Please take a photo (for me) |
| verb 아/어 + 주세요 | 도와주세요 | dowajuseyo | Please help me |
| verb 아/어 + 주세요 | 여기에서 내려 주세요 | yeogieseo naeryeo juseyo | Please let me off here |
So which do you pick, 하세요 or 해 주세요? Ask who benefits. 앉으세요 is "please sit," an instruction a host gives you. 도와주세요 is "please help me," an action done for your benefit, so 주다 goes in. When the request is a favor to you, 주세요 keeps it from sounding like an order.
How do you say "please don't" in Korean?
Swap -(으)세요 for -지 마세요 (-ji maseyo). It attaches straight to the stem with no 으 to think about: 가다 → 가지 마세요, "please don't go." 마세요 comes from 말다, "to stop doing," so you are literally saying "stop going." Every verb takes it the same way, consonant or vowel.
| Verb | Please do | Please don't | Romanization and meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 가다 (to go) | 가세요 | 가지 마세요 | gaji maseyo — don't go |
| 넣다 (to put in) | 넣으세요 | 넣지 마세요 | neochi maseyo — don't put it in |
| 앉다 (to sit) | 앉으세요 | 앉지 마세요 | anji maseyo — don't sit |
| 잊다 (to forget) | 잊으세요 | 잊지 마세요 | itji maseyo — don't forget |
| 걱정하다 (to worry) | (nobody asks you to) | 걱정하지 마세요 | geokjeonghaji maseyo — don't worry |
In a restaurant, -지 마세요 is your allergy and spice shield: 고추 넣지 마세요 (no chili, please), 땅콩 넣지 마세요 (no peanuts, please). Pair it with our guide to ordering food in Korean and you can eat anywhere with confidence.
Common mistakes with -(으)세요
Six slips that come up constantly: two mechanical, three about matching the verb to the person in front of you, and one pronunciation trap.
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 앉세요 | 앉으세요 | 앉 ends in a consonant, so it needs the 으 bridge. Only vowel stems (and ㄹ stems) go straight to 세요. |
| 만들으세요 | 만드세요 | ㄹ stems drop the ㄹ and skip 으. Same with 살다 → 사세요 and 열다 → 여세요. The ㄹ returns in other forms (만들어요), which is why it feels like it belongs. |
| 먹으세요 (to your boss or grandmother) | 드세요 | 먹으세요 is grammatical, but Korean swaps in a respectful verb for eating: 드시다. 맛있게 드세요, "enjoy your meal," is what every server says. Same swap: 자다 → 주무세요 (sleep well), 있다 → 계세요 (please stay). |
| 안녕히 가세요 (to a host who is staying) | 안녕히 계세요 | 가세요 is "go," 계세요 is "stay." Say 가세요 to the one leaving and 계세요 to the one staying. Mix them up and you have just told someone to leave their own house. |
| 앉으세요 (to a close friend your age) | 앉아 | -(으)세요 carries the honorific 시 inside it, so it is a level too polite for 반말 friends. With them the plain 아/어 form is the request: 앉아, 와, 봐. Our guide to [formal vs informal Korean](/blog/formal-vs-informal-korean) covers when each is safe. |
| Reading 읽으세요 as "ik-eu-seyo" | Say "il-geu-seyo" | The double final consonant ㄺ splits: ㄹ stays on the first syllable and ㄱ jumps onto 으. A similar shift hits 넣지 마세요, where ㅎ and ㅈ merge into a ㅊ sound: "neo-chi," not "neot-ji." |
Polite Requests in Korean — Quick Check
1. Your host points at a chair. Which is the correct polite "please sit"?
2. You want the server to speak more slowly. What do you say?
3. You're leaving your host family's apartment and they're staying home. What do you say at the door?
That is the whole system: stem + 세요 after a vowel, 으세요 after a consonant, ㄹ drops, 주세요 when the favor is yours, and -지 마세요 to say don't. Three special verbs, 드세요, 주무세요 and 계세요, cover the people you most need to be polite to.
Now try it. Take three verbs you already know and say the request out loud: 가세요, 앉으세요, 만드세요. Then practice the real 주세요 lines with native audio from the restaurant unit, where nearly every line is one of the polite requests in Korean you will actually use this week.
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