Yes, Teacher -세요

At the classroom door, you ask a guest to come in: 들어오세요. The -세요 ending can make an instruction polite or show respect to the person doing the action. Tone and relationship shape how it lands.

The Classroom Suffix

Use -세요 after a vowel stem and -으세요 after most consonant stems: 가세요, 앉으세요. A ㄹ stem drops ㄹ: 만들다 → 만드세요. The formal instruction ending is -(으)십시오. A casual request uses the conjugated -아/어 form, such as 앉아 or 봐, rather than the bare stem 앉- or 보-. Tone can make any of these sound gentler or firmer.

Please Give Me

There’s a second command pattern built on 주다 (to give): attach 주세요 to a noun, or to a verb’s connective -아/어 form, to mean “please give me [noun]” or “please [verb] for me.” It’s the single most useful phrase in the language for anything from ordering food to asking a classmate for help.

Thank You, I’m Sorry

고맙다 and 미안하다 give the familiar sets 고맙습니다 / 고마워요 / 고마워 and 미안합니다 / 미안해요 / 미안해. 감사합니다 and 죄송합니다 are also common respectful choices. 감사해요 and 죄송해요 exist too; choose the word and ending together for the relationship and situation. Formal and polite endings are speech styles, rather than separate vocabulary items.

Checking For Understanding

The two phrases every classroom actually runs on.

Vocabulary