In short

To honor the person you are talking about, slip -(으)시- into their verb, upgrade the subject particle 이/가 to 께서, and add -님 to their title. A handful of everyday verbs swap for special honorific words instead - 있다 -> 계시다 (be present), 먹다 -> 드시다 (eat), 자다 -> 주무시다 (sleep) - and you never point any of this at yourself.

The rule

Korean marks respect on two independent axes: the ending honors the listener (that is 해요체, lesson 12), and -(으)시- honors the subject - the person the sentence is about. This lesson is the second axis. They stack: 가요 (polite to the listener) vs 가세요 (polite to the listener and respectful of the goer).

Step 1 - Insert -(으)시- into the stem, choosing the allomorph by 받침

The honorific marker sits on the stem, in front of the tense and the final ending. Which shape it takes depends on the stem’s last sound - exactly the 은/는, 이/가 logic you already know:

Vowel-final stem + -시- / 받침-final stem + -으시- / ㄹ-stem: drop the ㄹ, then -시-

• 가다 -> 가시- -> 가세요 (gaseyo, [respected person] goes)
• 읽다 -> 읽으시- -> 읽으세요 (ilgeuseyo, reads) - the stem ends in a 받침, so 으 appears
• 살다 -> 사시- -> 사세요 (saseyo, lives) - the ㄹ drops before 시, just as in 사세요/삽니다 from lesson 17

The everyday present is -(으)세요 (from -(으)시- + -어요). It is the same shape as the polite request in lesson 21; context and intonation tell a statement (가세요.) from a request (가세요!) apart.

Step 2 - -(으)시- stacks under every other ending

Because 시 lives on the stem, every tense and connective simply builds on top of 가시-:

• Past: 가셨어요 (gasyeosseoyo, went) - 가시- + -었- + -어요
• Future/intention: 가실 거예요 (gasil geoyeyo, will go)
• Connectives: 가시고 (gasigo, goes and), 가시니까 (gasinikka, since [they] go)
• Formal 합쇼체 (lesson 27): 가십니다 (gasimnida)

Step 3 - Upgrade the subject particle to 께서, and the title with -님, 분

When the subject is honored, its particle rises too. 이/가 -> 께서, and 은/는 -> 께서는:

Honored noun + 께서 + … -(으)세요

• 할아버지께서 신문을 읽으세요. (Harabeojikkeseo sinmuneul ilgeuseyo.) - Grandfather is reading the newspaper.

Add -님 to a title or role to raise the person (선생님 teacher, 사장님 boss, 부모님 parents, 손님 guest), and count respected people with the honorific counter 분 instead of 명 (손님 세 분, three guests). 분 also stands alone as an honorific “person”: 이분, 그분.

Step 4 - Some verbs are replaced outright (special 높임말)

A small, very frequent set does not just take -(으)시-; the whole verb is swapped for a special honorific word. The single most important trap: 있다 splits in two. For a person being present it becomes 계시다, but for possession (having something) it stays 있다 and only adds -으시-, giving 있으시다:

• 선생님께서 교실에 계세요. (… gyosire gyeseyo.) - The teacher is in the classroom. (presence -> 계시다)
• 시간 있으세요? (Sigan isseuseyo?) - Do you have time? (possession -> 있으시다, never *시간 계세요). Note what the subject of that sentence is: not the listener but 시간. -(으)시- goes on the predicate of whatever belongs to the honored person - their time, their name (성함), their age (연세) - and the respect reaches the person through it; the negative is 없으세요. Where that line falls - a person’s age yes, a shop’s coffee no - is lesson 67.

Step 5 - Lower yourself: the humble (겸양) set

Respect has a matching downward move. When you act toward a superior, you use humble verbs about yourself: 주다 -> 드리다 (give), 보다/만나다 -> 뵙다/뵈다 (meet), 묻다 -> 여쭙다 (ask), 데리고 가다 -> 모시고 가다 (escort). And the pronoun 나 drops to 저, 말 (my words) to 말씀. Crucially, you never honor yourself: *저는 가세요 is wrong - about yourself it is always 저는 가요.

Forms & patterns

-(으)시- allomorph, chosen by the stem:

-(으)시- under every ending (base 가다 -> 가시-):

Special honorific verbs (memorize as a set):

Honorific nouns:

Humble (겸양) forms - used about yourself toward a superior:

Examples

Common mistakes

• 저는 지금 가세요. (Jeoneun jigeum gaseyo.) -> 저는 지금 가요. (Jeoneun jigeum gayo.) - Honorifics point at someone else. Never apply -(으)시- to yourself; about yourself use the plain form.
• 교수님, 시간 계세요? (Gyosunim, sigan gyeseyo?) -> 교수님, 시간 있으세요? (Gyosunim, sigan isseuseyo?) - Possessing something is 있으시다 (있- + -으시-). 계시다 is only for a person being present.
• 할아버지께서 신문을 읽세요. (… sinmuneul ikseyo.) -> 할아버지께서 신문을 읽으세요. (… ilgeuseyo.) - 읽다 ends in a 받침, so the marker is -으시- / -으세요, not bare -세요.
• 선생님이 오세요. (Seonsaengnimi oseyo.) -> 선생님께서 오세요. (Seonsaengnimkkeseo oseyo.) - When the subject is honored, the particle upgrades: 이/가 -> 께서 (and 은/는 -> 께서는).
• 할아버지께서 밥을 먹어요. (… babeul meogeoyo.) -> 할아버지께서 진지를 드세요. (… jinjireul deuseyo.) - A respected subject takes the suppletive verb 드시다 and the honorific noun 진지, not plain 먹다/밥.

Tips

• Two dials, set separately. The ending honors the listener; -(으)시- honors the subject. 가세요 turns both up; 가요 only the listener dial. The full contrast is lesson 45.
• -(으)세요 is doing two jobs. Here it is the honorific statement/question; in lesson 21 the same shape is a polite request. One form, told apart by context - not two things to memorize.
• Drill the special verbs as a rhyme - eat 드세요, sleep 주무세요, be-here 계세요, speak 말씀하세요. They are high-frequency because you use them about parents, teachers and elders every single day.
• Respect comes in a matched pair. Raise the other person (-(으)시-, 께서, -님, 드시다) and lower yourself (저, 드리다, 뵙다, 여쭙다). Putting an honorific on yourself, or a humble verb on your elder, both sound wrong.