TOPIK I · LEVEL 2
-(으)십시오
-(으)십시오 is the formal, polite way to tell or ask someone to do something: 'please do …'.
문장 끝·말투Endings & speech styleHan: 조용하다 is an adjective; turn it into an action (조용히 하다) before making a request.
Examples
다음 역에서 내리십시오.Please get off at the next station.
여기에 성함을 적어 주십시오.Please write your name here.
안녕히 가십시오.Goodbye (to someone leaving).
Don’t mix up
-(으)십시오vs-(으)세요-(으)세요 is the polite everyday request; -(으)십시오 is more formal and official: 앉으세요 vs 앉으십시오.How to build it
V(vowel or ㄹ)+십시오
V(consonant)+으십시오
오다 → 오십시오, 앉다 → 앉으십시오, 열다 → 여십시오
- Used in announcements, signs, news and formal situations.
- Only with verbs; ㄹ-stems drop ㄹ (열다 → 여십시오).
Classic mistake
Wrong: 조용하십시오.
Right: 조용히 해 주십시오.
조용하다 is an adjective; turn it into an action (조용히 하다) before making a request.
Practise -(으)십시오 on real TOPIK questions
Hannim plans each day up to your exam date: questions on this pattern, reviews, full mock papers and graded writing. 7 days free, no card.
Start 7-day free trialMore level 2 grammar
All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㄹ 것Ends a written instruction or rule with a noun-like command: 'do X; X is to be done'. Impersonal and firm; used in notices, exam instructions, memos and rule lists.
- -(으)ㄹ게요-(으)ㄹ게요 is how you tell someone 'I'll do it': a promise or decision you make with the listener in mind.
- -(으)ㄹ래요?Use it to ask what the listener wants to do ("Do you want to…?") or to say what you yourself want to do ("I'll… / I want to…") in a friendly, polite way.
- -(으)ㄴ가요?/-나요?-(으)ㄴ가요?/-나요? make a soft, gentle polite question.
- -자-자 is the casual way to say "let's (do something)" to close friends or people younger than you.
- -지Casual (반말) sentence ending that, depending on intonation, seeks agreement ('…, right?'), states something as obvious, asks oneself a question, or makes a soft suggestion ('why don't you…'). Its polite form is -지요/죠.
- -지 말다-지 말다 is the negative used in commands, suggestions and wishes: 'don't', 'let's not', 'not A but B', 'told me not to'. Plain 안/-지 않다 cannot be used there.
- -지 마세요Add -지 마세요 to a verb to politely ask someone not to do something.
- -고요-고요 adds one more point to what was just said, in a friendly spoken way: 'and also …'.
