Lesson 27
In our previous lesson, we looked at how to tell someone to do something. This could be said in a nice or polite way but, when you want to be nicer and ask for a favor, there is another verb ending you can use.
Instead of just adding -(으)세요 after the verb stem, if you add -아/어/여 + 주세요, the sentences have the nuance of asking for a favor or asking the other person to do something “for you”.
Examples:
오세요. = Please come.
와 주세요. = Please do me a favor and come.
하 세요. = Do it.
해 주세요. = Please do me a favor and do it for me.
Changing -세요 to -아/어/여 주세요 does not only make the sentence more polite, but it also adds the meaning of “for me”, so even if you are using the same verb and even if you don’t literally say the words “for me (lit. 저를 위해서)” in Korean, just using -아/어/여 주세요 at the end will automatically make the sentence mean “do it for me, please.”
For example, if you just want to say “아이스크림 사세요(= Buy ice cream)”, it can mean “buy yourself some ice cream” or “buy some ice cream for your friends”, but in Korean if you say 아 이스크림 사 주세요 using the -아/어/여 주세요 form, you mean “Please buy me some ice cream” or if you are the one who’s selling the ice cream, you could mean “Please buy some ice cream from me if you want to help me.”
Often at times, when you want to ask for help, it is more natural to add -아/어/여 주세요 at the end. For example, it’s not very natural to say “저를 도우세요!” (from the irregular verb, 돕다, to help) when you mean “Help me!”. You need to say “저를 도와 주세요” or just “도와 주세요” to sound more natural.
Let’s look at some more examples of how -세요 and -아/어/여 주세요 can be used in contrast.
- 가르치다 [ga-reu-chi-da] = to teach
가르치세요 [ga-reu-chi-se-yo] = Teach. / Please teach. (to whom is unknown) 가르쳐 주세요 [ga-reu-cheo ju-se-yo] = Please teach me.
경은 씨한테 가르쳐 주세요 [gyeong-eun ssi-han-te ga-reu-cheo ju-se-yo] = Please teach 경은 (how to do that).
- 보다 [bo-da] = to see
보세요 [bo-se-yo] = See it. / Please see it.
봐 주세요. [bwa ju-se-yo] = Please see it, and I’d appreciate it. / Please be kind and see it.
Now if you’ve become somewhat familiar with this 주세요 ending, let us take a closer look at what 주세요 means.
주세요 comes from 주다 [ju-da], which means “to give”, so by adding 주세요 after a verb, you add the meaning of “give me the act of” doing something, so it means “do it for me.” And -아/어/여 is just a connecting part for make the pronunciation a little softer.
Sample sentences
- 영어를 배우고 있어요. 도와주세요.
[yeong-eo-reul bae-u-go i-sseo-yo. do-wa-ju-se-yo.]
= I’m learning English. Please help me.
- 도와 줄 수 있어요?
[do-wa jul ssu i-sseo-yo?]
= Can you help me?
- 배고파요. 김밥 사 주세요.
[bae-go-pa-yo. gim-ppap sa ju-se-yo.]
= I’m hungry. Buy me some kimbap.
- 무서워요. 같이 가 주세요.
[mu-seo-wo-yo. ga-chi ga ju-se-yo.]
= I’m scared. Please go with me.