드시다, 주무시다, 계시다: The Korean Honorific Verb Swap List
A small set of everyday Korean verbs skip the honorific 시 suffix entirely and turn into a different word: 먹다/마시다 → 드시다, 자다 → 주무시다, 있다 (of a person) → 계시다, 말하다 → 말씀하시다. There's also a reverse set — 드리다, 뵙다, 여쭙다 — that lowers *you*, used when you're the one giving, seeing, or asking a respected person something.
Every Korean grammar chapter on honorifics leads with the same line: add 시 before the ending and you've elevated the subject. 가다 → 가시다. True, and useless the first time someone asks you '아버지 진지 드셨어요?' and 진지 드셨다 doesn't look like 먹다 wearing a hat — because it isn't. It's a different word.
These four or five verbs are the ones textbooks bury in a footnote and native speakers use constantly. They don't take 시. They get replaced outright, the way English swaps "eat" for "dine" — except in Korean it's mandatory, not decorative.
The swap list: verbs that become a different word
This is a closed, memorizable set — nobody is inventing new ones. Learn these four first; they cover almost every honorific verb you'll actually hear.
할머니, 진지 드셨어요?
hal-meo-ni, jin-ji deu-syeo-sseo-yo?
Grandma, have you eaten?
먹다/마시다 → 드시다; 진지 is the honorific noun for '식사/meal'
안녕히 주무세요.
an-nyeong-hi ju-mu-se-yo.
Good night (sleep well).
자다 → 주무시다 — the standard goodnight to anyone older
사장님 지금 안 계세요.
sa-jang-nim ji-geum an gye-se-yo.
The boss isn't in right now.
있다 → 계시다, only when 있다 means a person's presence
어머니께서 그렇게 말씀하셨어요.
eo-meo-ni-kke-seo geu-reo-ke mal-sseum-ha-syeo-sseo-yo.
Mother said it like that.
말하다 → 말씀하시다; 께서 is the honorific subject marker pairing with 은/는 or 이/가
The part textbooks skip: it goes both directions
Here's the piece that makes this system click instead of feeling like arbitrary vocabulary: some of these swap-verbs elevate the other person, and a separate set of swap-verbs lower you. Most verbs only get the elevating treatment via regular 시 (주다 → 주시다, someone respected gives you something). But when the direction reverses — when you give, see, or ask a respected person something — Korean has dedicated humble verbs instead, and they never take 시, because you don't honor yourself.
| Plain verb | Elevate them (honorific) | Lower yourself (humble) |
|---|---|---|
| 먹다/마시다 (eat/drink) | 드시다 | — (no humble form; you don't lower your own eating) |
| 있다 (be, of a person) | 계시다 | — (existence has no humble counterpart) |
| 주다 (give) | 주시다 (regular 시) | 드리다 |
| 보다 (see/meet) | 보시다 (regular 시) | 뵙다 / 뵈다 |
| 말하다 (say/tell) | 말씀하시다 | 말씀드리다 |
| 묻다 (ask) | 물으시다 (regular 시) | 여쭙다 / 여쭈다 |
This is why 처음 뵙겠습니다 ("nice to meet you," literally "I humbly see you for the first time") shows up on every drama job interview scene, and why a manager texts an idol's parent 말씀 좀 드려도 될까요? ("may I say a few words [to you]?") instead of 말해도 돼요?. You're not describing the action neutrally — you're picking a lane: does this sentence raise them, or lower me?
Restaurant and store Korean is honorific-dense — learn to decode it first
You will hear 드시다 more at a kimbap counter than at your in-laws' house. Korean service register defaults to maximum honorific regardless of your age, because politeness to strangers is the safe assumption. That means decoding it matters before producing it does.
- 주문하시겠어요? — "Would you like to order?" (문 → 시 regular honorific, not a swap)
- 여기서 드시고 가세요, 포장이세요? — "For here or to go?" (드시다 swap, doing double duty as the neutral service default)
- 잠시만 기다려 주시겠어요? — "Could you wait just a moment?" (주다 → 주시다, the polite-request pattern)
- 성함이 어떻게 되세요? — "May I have your name?" (이름 → 성함, the noun-swap cousin of verb-swaps)
None of that is directed at your age or status — it's a register, like a store clerk saying "how may I help you" in English regardless of who's standing there. You don't need to answer in kind. "아이스 아메리카노 한 잔이요" is completely normal; nobody expects 드시겠습니다 back from a customer.
Watch it in action: a very normal family disaster
오늘 할머니 뵈러 갔는데 완전 쫄았어
o-neul hal-meo-ni boe-reo gan-neun-de wan-jeon jjo-ra-sseo
Went to see grandma today and got so nervous.
왜?? 뭔 일 있었어?
wae?? mwon il i-sseo-sseo?
Why?? What happened?
삼촌이 "어머니, 진지 드셨어요?" 이러는데 난 그냥 "할머니, 밥 먹었어?" 이래버렸어
sam-cho-ni "eo-meo-ni, jin-ji deu-syeo-sseo-yo?" i-reo-neun-de nan geu-nyang "hal-meo-ni, bap meo-geo-sseo?" i-rae-beo-ryeo-sseo
My uncle went 'Mother, have you had your meal?' and I just blurted 'Grandma, did you eat?'
헐 할머니 서운해하셨겠다 ㅠㅠ
heol hal-meo-ni seo-un-hae-ha-syeot-get-da
Oof, grandma must've been a little hurt.
다행히 웃으시면서 넘어가주셨어… 다음엔 진지 드셨냐고 여쭤보려고
da-haeng-hi u-seu-si-myeon-seo neo-meo-ga-ju-syeo-sseo… da-eu-men jin-ji deu-syeon-nya-go yeo-jjwo-bo-ryeo-go
Luckily she just laughed it off… next time I'll actually ask her properly.
The one mix-up that outs an advanced learner
계시다 only replaces 있다 when 있다 means a person exists/is present. When 있다 means a respected person has or possesses something — including abstract things like a question, an appointment, a headache — the honorific form is 있으시다, not 계시다. Mixing these up is the single most common advanced-learner mistake, because both translate to English as some flavor of "has/is."
사장님은 사무실에 계세요.
sa-jang-ni-meun sa-mu-si-re gye-se-yo.
The boss is in the office.
계시다 — location/existence of a person
사장님은 질문이 있으세요.
sa-jang-ni-meun jil-mu-ni i-sseu-se-yo.
The boss has a question.
있으시다 — possession, NOT 계세요; the question isn't a location
What to actually memorize
You don't need production-fluency on all six-plus swap verbs to sound respectful. Recognize everything above — you'll hit it in dramas, at restaurants, from your Korean in-laws' generation. But for output, five verbs cover 90% of situations where a learner needs to sound respectful on command:
- 드세요 — offering food to literally anyone older than you, or as a table-manners default even to peers
- 안녕히 주무세요 — goodnight, to any adult you're not on banmal terms with
- 안녕히 계세요 — goodbye, said BY the person leaving to the person staying (계시다 doing quiet double duty)
- 말씀해 주세요 — "please tell me," the all-purpose polite request for information
- 처음 뵙겠습니다 — "nice to meet you," the humble-verb opener for any first formal introduction
Frequently asked questions
What are the main Korean honorific verbs?
The core set: 드시다 (eat/drink, replacing 먹다/마시다), 주무시다 (sleep, replacing 자다), 계시다 (be present, replacing 있다 for people), and 말씀하시다 (say, replacing 말하다). Each fully replaces the plain verb rather than taking the usual 시 honorific suffix — they never combine with 시 on top.
What's the difference between 계시다 and 있으시다?
계시다 honors a person's presence or location: 교실에 계세요 (they're in the classroom). 있으시다 honors what a respected person has or possesses, including abstract things like time or questions: 질문 있으세요? (do you have a question?). Mixing these is the most common mistake advanced learners make.
Do I need to memorize the humble verbs like 뵙다 and 여쭙다?
Recognize them early — they're common in dramas, workplaces, and service Korean. Producing them fluently can wait. 처음 뵙겠습니다 (nice to meet you) and 여쭤봐도 돼요? (may I ask) are worth learning by phrase before you worry about the underlying humble-verb system.
Is 드세요 only for elders?
No — 드세요 works as a warm, neutral way to offer food to almost anyone, including friends your own age ("go ahead, eat"). It's more common as a default than 먹어요 in many food-offering contexts, precisely because it reads as generous rather than overly formal.
Why do Korean store clerks add honorifics to objects, like 사이즈가 없으세요?
This is called 사물존대 ("object honorification") — technically incorrect by prescriptive grammar, since objects can't be honored, only people can. It spread through service industries as a safety hedge against ever sounding curt to a customer. You'll hear it constantly; you don't need to copy it.