my-korean1-2nd-ed

16
Addressing People at the Office: Titles
UNIT 1 안녕하세요?
In Korea titles are very important in showing respect to someone with a
higher position than you. Therefore, if someone has a title and you know it,
you must use it. For example, if someone is a manager, you will call them
‘managernim’, even if they are not your manager. You will notice that that
these titles have ‘nim’ at the end of them, which is used to show respect to
seniors.
Other titles for superiors include:
Examples:
스미스 교수님 Professor Smith
Smith gyo-su-nim
김 사장님 Company President Kim
Kim sa-jang-nim
(1) 박 선생님 앉으세요. Mr. Park, please have a seat.
Pak Seon-saeng-nim an-jeu-se-yo.
(2) (A police officer addressing a well-dressed older man.)
선생님, 저쪽으로 가십시오. Sir, please move over there.
Seonsaengnim, jeojjogeuro gasipsio.
When people have no title and are of equal or lower status than you, you can
use their full name + 씨(ssi). For example, if the lowest person in the office
is called Yeong-Jun Kim, you would refer to them as ‘Kim Yeong-Jun ssi’.
It is rude however to use ‘ssi’, if you are a junior to the person you are
addressing.