하소서체 is more polite than 합쇼체/합시다체 and was used a long time ago when talking to gods and kings. Now this form can only be found in prayers in churches and Bible verses or in some historical dramas.
Declarative: 나이다 (Future form is -리이다)
당신의 종이 여기에서 일하고 있었던 것을 아시나이다. = You know that your servant worked here. 내일 이곳에서 기다리이다. = I’ll wait for you here.
Interrogative: -나이까?
여기에서 무엇을 하시나이까? – What are you doing here? 주여, 어디로 가시나이까? – Lord, where are you going?
Imperative: -소서 (sounds more pleading than commanding)
내가 주의 법규들을 지키오리니 오 나를 아주 버리지 마옵소서. = I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. (Psalms 119:8) 전하, 통촉하여 주시옵소서. = Your Majesty, please stop.
Let’s: -사이다
여기에 집을 짓고 함께 거하사이다. = Let’s build a house here and live here. 마침 잔치가 있으니 함께 참여하사이다. = There is a party here. Let’s participate.
You start by speaking formally to almost everyone, because you don’t know them. The exception of course is if the person is obviously much younger than you (like a child), but this isn’t always the same for every person in every situation either. A lot of parents/family speak formally to very young children because they want the child to learn how to use formal language themselves. That being said, you can still pretty much always speak informally to a young child. Another exception to this rule is when there is another intercepting power dynamic, such as when the obviously younger person is a customer and the obviously older person is a cashier. But even this is based on situation. A cashier at a chain store will almost always speak formally to their customers, but a cashier at a non-chain may speak informally to some younger and/or familiar customers.
PS I heard that in Japanese you should always speak formally to a stranger, even if they are a child, maybe someone can confirm this, I thought it was funny. Another factoid about the difference between Japanese and Korean formalities: the most formal level (~습니다) is used much more by males than by females in Korea, while in Japan, speaking with high formality is considered to be more feminine and thus used much more by females.
It is somewhat common that people will state their ages promptly after meeting someone new. At this point, given it is not a formal gathering, it is OK to use 반말 to those who are younger/the same age as you. But even then some people will not immediately speak informally to those younger than them, because they are still an unfamiliar person. It depends on the speaker’s personality and on the situation in which they met said person. For example, in some schools/workplaces/institutions, rank is based not on age but on title or year of entrance. So in that situation, people may ask you that information instead and you should base your formality off of that.
If someone is the same age as you, you can suggest that you speak informally to each other. If someone is older than you, you can tell them that it’s ok to speak informally to you. They may suggest that both of you speak informally to each other, in the case that the age difference between you isn’t that large. At that point it’s totally ok to speak to someone older than you informally, but you shouldn’t ever speak informally to someone older if they don’t tell you to do so. Continuing to speak formally to someone who asks you to speak informally can come across as a bit cold as well. So the basic rule of thumb is: the older person is in charge. If you are the younger person, follow whatever the older person asks you to do. If you are the older person, feel free to tell the younger person how you want them to speak to you. It could be a bit awkward to demand 반말 from someone who is a near stranger to you, or someone who you hardly ever see (although some people do this, generally very outgoing types who want to become closer to the other person quickly).
If you are speaking to a group of people, you should speak formally if even one person in said group is higher than you in age/rank. You may also speak formally to a group even if they are all younger/below you, depending on the setting and on your personality. For example, it would be bizarre to give a speech to an audience in informal language, even if said audience were all younger/below you. When it comes to a teacher or professor in a class, some will choose to address their students formally and call their names with -씨, while other more laid-back or friendly teachers/professors may use informal language and refer to their students as -군/-양 or even -아/-야.
Also, I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Koreans consider speech to be more casual than writing, so in some cases they will speak to a person informally but write to them formally. You can see this a lot in how Koreans communicate with their parents: talk in 반말, text in 존댓말. So when writing to people in an unsure situation, it’s best to play it safe and write formally.
So in summary, there are five determining factors: age, rank, familiarity, personality, situation. It’s a hard thing to navigate. I’m still unsure a lot and even Koreans don’t know what they are doing sometimes lol.
As a beginner, 반말 and 존댓말 is really all you need to know^^
And if you’re a beginner you really don’t need to read the rest of this answer because it’s me getting way too in depth. But you can if you’re interested haha
^Here is a chart with the levels of formality, but only 해체 해요체 and 합쇼체 are common in modern Korean. You may hear elder people use 해라체/하게체, while 하오체 is basically only used when people are being jokingly formal (in my experience).
It’s helpful to know all of them if you want to understand historical dramas/movies.
Even with only the three main levels, 높임법 is tricky, even for advanced speakers, and even for native Koreans at times.
It’s difficult for foreigners because not only does it sometimes involve different endings (-요) and particles (-시) but many of the nouns/verbs differ depending on who is speaking and who is being spoken to.
The nouns are simple enough, if you memorize them.
집>댁, 나이>연세, 밥>진지, 사람>분 etc
The verbs are a little more complicated.
to give: 주다(speaker respecting neither side over the other), 드리다 (speaker respecting receiver), 주시다(speaker respecting giver)
All the ways to ask someone if they ate:
밥 먹었어? (familiar, listener is below/at same level of speaker)
밥 먹었어요? (unfamiliar, listener is below/at same level of speaker)
식사하셨어요? (listener is above speaker, like a parent)
진지 잡수셨어요? (listener is even more above speaker, like a grandmother)
The verb changes based on whether the formality is direct/indirect.
아버지 집에 계시니? : 직접 높임 (direct) > notice how this isn’t 해요체, but it still uses -계시다(formal version of -있다) to respect the subject.
집에 키우는 개가 있으세요? : 간접 높임 (indirect) > notice how grammatically the subject is the dog, which is why -계시다 is not used, but the -시 particle is still used to respect the person who has the dog.
할머니 어디가 편찮으세요? : 직접 높임 (direct) > 편찮다 is used as the formal version of 아프다 to respect the subject.
치아가 아프세요? : 간접 높임 (indirect) > notice how grammatically the subject is the tooth, which is why -편찮다 is not used, but the
-시 particle is still used to respect the person who has the tooth.
This can be difficult for even Koreans because the extent of indirect formality isn’t clear. For example, many Koreans would be appalled at a sentence like “음료가 나오셨습니다” while others insist it’s indirect formality.
And then there’s particles like -께서(는) and -께, which seem simple enough (replacing -는 and -한테 when attached to subject that is above speaker), until you’re in a situation like this:
There’s also this funny thing where Koreans make writing more formal than speech. For example, some Koreans will speak to their parents in mostly 반말 but text them in 존댓말. Or talk to their professors in 해요체 but email them in only 합쇼체.
Sutdy-Korean 