TOPIK I · LEVEL 1
-ㅂ니까/습니까
Asks a question in the formal polite style (하십시오체): interviews, announcements, customer service, presentations, the military.
문장 끝·말투Endings & speech styleHan: Rising intonation does not turn -ㅂ니다 into a question; formal questions need -ㅂ니까/습니까.
Examples
이 버스는 시청까지 갑니까?Does this bus go to City Hall?
손님, 주문하시겠습니까?Are you ready to order, sir/madam?
실례지만, 화장실이 어디에 있습니까?Excuse me, where is the restroom?
Don’t mix up
-ㅂ니까/습니까vs-아요/어요?-아요/어요? is the everyday polite question; -습니까 sounds official: 어디 가요? (to a classmate) vs 어디로 가십니까? (staff to a customer).
-ㅂ니까/습니까vs-(으)ㄹ까요?-(으)ㄹ까요? asks for an opinion or makes a proposal; -습니까 asks for a fact: 같이 갈까요? 'Shall we go together?' vs 같이 갑니까? 'Are you going together?'How to build it
V/A (vowel stem)+ㅂ니까
V/A (consonant stem)+습니까
N+입니까
가다 → 갑니까?; 먹다 → 먹습니까?; 살다 → 삽니까?; 학생 → 학생입니까?; 가다 (past) → 갔습니까?
- Vowel stem → -ㅂ니까, consonant stem → -습니까; ㄹ-stems drop ㄹ: 만들다 → 만듭니까, 알다 → 압니까.
- After 았/었 and 겠 it is always -습니까: 했습니까?, 하시겠습니까?
- For extra respect to the listener add -(으)시-: 어디에 가십니까? Answers normally stay in the same style: 네, 갑니다.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 회의는 몇 시에 시작합니다?
Right: 회의는 몇 시에 시작합니까?
Rising intonation does not turn -ㅂ니다 into a question; formal questions need -ㅂ니까/습니까.
Practise -ㅂ니까/습니까 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)시--(으)시- goes inside a verb or adjective to show respect to the person doing the action (the subject).
- -(으)세요-(으)세요 is the polite honorific ending: it shows respect to the subject in statements and questions (선생님은 책을 읽으세요), and with action verbs it politely tells or asks the listener to do something (앉으세요).
- -(으)ㅂ시다-(으)ㅂ시다 suggests doing something together: 'let's …' in a formal, polite style.
- -(으)ㄹ까요?Use -(으)ㄹ까요? to suggest something ("Shall we…?"), offer help ("Shall I…?"), or ask someone's guess ("Do you think…?").
- -이/가 아니다Negates a noun: 'is not N'. It is the negative of 이다 and conjugates like an adjective: 아니에요, 아닙니다, 아니야.
- -이다이다 is the copula 'to be': attached to a noun, it says what something is (X is Y). It conjugates like an adjective into every speech style.
- -아요/어요-아요/어요 is the everyday polite ending: add it to a verb or adjective stem to speak politely to almost anyone, about the present or habits.
- -이에요/예요-이에요/예요 means 'to be' and links a noun to the subject in polite everyday speech, as in 'X is Y.'
- -ㅂ니다/습니다-ㅂ니다/습니다 ends a statement in the formal polite style (하십시오체), as in news, speeches, presentations and when talking to strangers or superiors.