Korean Honorifics Quiz: 15 Questions with Instant Feedback

Take the Korean Honorifics Quiz

Follow these steps. Each one tells you what you should see.

1. Read the question and say any Korean text aloud once. You should see four choices.
2. Pick one choice by click, tap or by pressing 1, 2, 3 or 4. The Check button turns active.
3. Select Check. You see "Correct" or "Not quite", the right answer and a one-sentence reason. Select Next.
4. After question 15, read the summary. It shows how many answers were correct in this session and links to the lesson and deck for the questions you missed.

Question order and choice order change every session. Each prompt says who is being talked about, because whether a form is correct depends on that person.

What Does the Korean Honorifics Quiz Cover?

The quiz has 15 questions. Five test special honorific verbs, three test regular -(으)시- forms, three test honorific nouns, two test honorific particles and two test the idea behind the system. The table counts them.

The lessons behind the quiz are korean honorifics and korean speech levels.

How Is the Korean Honorifics Quiz Scored?

The quiz gives one point for each of the 15 questions you answer correctly on the first try in the current session. At the end it shows a line such as "You answered 12 of 15 correctly in this session". There is no timer, no streak and no ranking, so you can slow down and say each answer aloud.

The count is not a CEFR level, a TOPIK level or a measure of fluency. It only shows what you recalled today. Your answers and score stay in your browser and disappear when you close the tab, unless you choose to save progress on your own device. A question about who to honour names the people in the prompt, so you never need to guess the situation.

What Should You Know about Honorifics First?

An honorific is a form that shows respect to the person you are talking about. In Korean it appears in three places: the verb, a few nouns and the particle. The honorific respects the subject of the sentence, not the listener, and it is never used for yourself.

How Is a Regular Honorific Verb Built?

Add -(으)시- between the stem and the ending. A stem that ends in a vowel takes 시: 가 + 시 + 어요 gives 가세요. A stem that ends in a consonant takes 으시: 읽 + 으시 + 어요 gives 읽으세요. The slot order is 시, then the tense, so the past is 가셨어요.

What Is the Difference between 계세요 and 있으세요?

계세요 says that an honoured person is at a place: 아버지는 집에 계세요. 있으세요 says that the honoured person has something: 시간이 있으세요? means "Do you have time?". Both come from 있다, but they are used in different situations.

Sample Questions with Answers

These six questions come from the quiz, with the answer and the reason for each. They also work as a preview if JavaScript is off. Samples one, two and four are special verbs that replace the plain verb entirely.

Sample Question 1 and Its Answer

Question: Which is the special honorific verb for 먹다 (to eat)?

Choices: 주무시다; 드시다; 계시다; 가시다.

Answer: 드시다 (deusida). Why: Korean has special honorific verbs for eating and a few other actions. 드시다 (or the more formal 잡수시다) replaces 먹다 for a person you honour.

Sample Question 2 and Its Answer

Question: Which is the honorific verb for 있다 when a person is at a place?

Choices: 있으시다; 주무시다; 드시다; 계시다.

Answer: 계시다 (gyesida). Why: Use 계시다 for a person you honour who is somewhere. 있으시다 is for having or for things that exist, as in 시간이 있으세요.

Sample Question 3 and Its Answer

Question: Which marker makes a regular verb honorific?

Choices: -(으)시-; -았/었-; -겠-; -지 않-.

Answer: -(으)시- (-(eu)si-). Why: It is added to the stem: 가다 becomes 가세요, and the ending -세요 is 시 + 어요 joined together.

Sample Question 4 and Its Answer

Question: Which is the honorific verb for 자다 (to sleep)?

Choices: 자으시다; 드시다; 주무시다; 계시다.

Answer: 주무시다 (jumusida). Why: 주무시다 is a special honorific verb that replaces 자다, so it is not built with -(으)시- on the stem 자.

Sample Question 5 and Its Answer

Question: Which is the honorific word for 사람 (person) when you speak about someone you respect?

Choices: 애; 분; 놈; 이.

Answer: 분 (bun). Why: 분 honours the person being talked about: 이분 means "this person" and 그분 means "that person".

Sample Question 6 and Its Answer

Question: Which particle replaces 이/가 after an honoured subject?

Choices: 한테; 에게; 도; 께서.

Answer: 께서 (kkeseo). Why: 께서 is the honorific subject particle: 선생님께서 오세요. It shows respect for the subject.

Tips before You Start

• Ask who you want to honour: honorifics mark the subject, never yourself.
• Learn the small set of special verbs first: 드시다, 계시다 and 주무시다.
• For a regular verb, add 세요 after a vowel stem and 으세요 after a consonant stem.
• Say each sentence aloud as if you were talking to a grandparent or a teacher.

Which Mistakes Does the Korean Honorifics Quiz Catch?

Four errors cover most misses.

• Using -(으)시- for your own actions, as in 저는 가세요.
• Saying 먹으세요 when 드세요 is the more respectful verb.
• Using 있으세요 for the location of a person, where 계세요 is right.
• Pairing 께서 with a plain ending and forgetting the honorific verb.

What Should You Study after the Quiz?

Drill the items you missed with the beginner korean grammar flashcards and build sentences with the korean sentence builder. Re-read korean honorifics for any form you missed. This quiz belongs to the korean grammar quiz collection. Next, try the korean beginner grammar test. For a mixed check across skills, take the korean level test.

Answer Key for Questions 7 to 15

Prefer to test yourself first? Take the quiz above, then check this table. The first six answers are in the sample questions.

What Does This Quiz Not Do?

The quiz covers subject honorifics only. It does not cover humble verbs such as 드리다 and 뵙다, formal-style endings, or the social rules of when to use which level of respect, which depend on age, rank and setting. Real speech varies, and a form that is right in the textbook may sound stiff to a friend of a friend. Korean text and pronunciations are generated and were reviewed and signed off by Min-ji Park on 15 October 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do honorifics change nouns as well as verbs?

Yes. A few nouns have honorific forms, such as 분 for person, 댁 for home, 연세 for age and 성함 for name. Three questions in the quiz test them. Most nouns have no honorific form, and the honorific is carried by the verb ending and the particle.

Is the humble form tested?

No. The quiz covers forms that raise the person you talk about. Humble forms lower the speaker, such as 드리다 (to give to someone you respect). They appear in the honorifics lesson and are left out here so the quiz stays focused on the honorific.

Who counts as the subject to honour?

The subject is the person who does the action or has the state, such as a teacher, a grandparent or a customer. You honour them by their age, role or distance from you. Never use the honorific for yourself or for a child.

Is this the same as speech levels?

No, though they work together. A speech level (formal, polite, casual) is about the person you are speaking to. An honorific is about the person you are speaking about. A sentence can be polite and honorific at once: 선생님께서 오세요.

Is the quiz free?

Yes. The quiz is free, needs no account and runs in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer. Nothing you answer is uploaded to a server. If you choose to save progress, it is stored on your own device only, and you can delete it in your browser settings at any time.

Retake the Korean Honorifics Quiz

Retake the korean honorifics quiz after you can name the honorific for eat, sleep and be-at-a-place without looking. The reason line for each question is also a mini-lesson, so reading it twice often helps more than a fast retake. When the forms feel natural, try the beginner grammar test.