What is 습니다/습니까?/ㅂ니다/ㅂ니까?

This article presented a complete explanation of the Korean deferential polite endings -습니다 and -ㅂ니다 for statements and -습니까 and -ㅂ니까 for questions, and it organized selection rules, tense and aspect combinations, negation, honorific stacking, register, and frequent learner errors with original examples for clarity.

Function and register of the deferential endings 

-습니다 and -ㅂ니다 expressed formal statements, and -습니까 and -ㅂ니까 expressed formal questions. Speakers used these endings in news scripts, public announcements, manuals, presentations, corporate communication, ceremonies, and examinations. The endings corresponded to the deferential polite style and stood one step higher in formality than -요 style, and they maintained respectful social distance in professional settings.

Form choice: -습니다 vs -ㅂ니다 and -습니까 vs -ㅂ니까 

The selection followed the final sound (받침) of the verb or adjective stem. If the stem ended with a consonant, -습니다 or -습니까 attached. If the stem ended with a vowel, -ㅂ니다 or -ㅂ니까 attached.

Core patterns with regular stems

• 먹다 → 먹습니다 / 먹습니까. “(I) eat / Do you eat.”
• 가다 → 갑니다 / 갑니까. “(I) go / Do you go.”
• 좋다 → 좋습니다 / 좋습니까. “(It) is good / Is it good.”
• 크다 → 큽니다 / 큽니까. “(It) is big / Is it big.”

ㄹ-drop with -ㅂ니다 and -ㅂ니까

Stems ending in ㄹ dropped ㄹ before -ㅂ니다 and -ㅂ니까. This phenomenon produced forms learners often found surprising but regular in usage.

• 살다 → 삽니다 / 삽니까. “(I) live / Do you live.”
• 울다 → 웁니다 / 웁니까. “(I) cry / Do you cry.”
• 만들다 → 만듭니다 / 만듭니까. “(I) make / Do you make.”
• 알다 → 압니다 / 압니까. “(I) know / Do you know.”

르-irregular adjustment

르-ending stems inserted an additional ㄹ and produced consistent deferential forms, and the result created frequent high-frequency shapes found in formal writing.

• 모르다 → 모릅니다 / 모릅니까. “(I) do not know / Do you not know.”
• 빠르다 → 빠릅니다 / 빠릅니까. “(It) is fast / Is it fast.”
• 부르다 → 부릅니다 / 부릅니까. “(I) call / Do you call.”

Other irregular notes that remain regular here

ㅂ-irregular adjectives such as 쉽다 and 덥다 changed before vowel-initial endings, but they kept their basic stem before -습니다 and -습니까, and therefore 쉬웠습니다 only appeared in the past with -었- and not due to the final ending alone.

• 쉽다 → 쉽습니다 / 쉽습니까. “(It) is easy / Is it easy.”
• 돕다 → 돕습니다 / 돕습니까. “(I) help / Do you help.”

ㅎ-irregular adjectives such as 까맣다 kept ㅎ because the following ending did not begin with a vowel.

• 까맣다 → 까맣습니다 / 까맣습니까.

Tense, aspect, and modality with deferential endings

The deferential endings attached after tense-aspect markers, and the most common patterns appeared in statements, questions, and instructions in formal contexts.

Present, past, and future

• Present: 진행합니다, 설명합니다, 분석합니다. “(I) proceed, explain, analyze.”
• Past: 진행했습니다, 설명했습니다, 분석했습니다. “(I) proceeded, explained, analyzed.”
• Future/intention: 하겠습니다, 검토하겠습니다. “(I) will do, I will review.”

Progressive and experiential

• 진행하고 있습니다. “(We) are proceeding.”
• 검토한 적이 있습니다. “(We) have reviewed before.”

Questions with -습니까 and -ㅂ니까

-습니까 followed consonant-final stems, and -ㅂ니까 followed vowel-final stems, and the question mark was customary in teaching materials and public-facing documents.

• 회의를 시작합니까. / 회의를 시작합니까? “Do you start the meeting.”
• 자료를 공유합니까. / 자료를 공유합니까? “Do you share the materials.”
• 가격이 적합합니까. “Is the price appropriate.”
• 출발합니까 아니면 대기합니까. “Do we depart or wait.”

Negation in formal style 

Formal negation favored -지 않습니다 and -지 않았습니다 in statements, and -지 않습니까 in questions. 안 and 못 could appear in formal documents for emphasis, but -지 않습니다 produced the most neutral and consistent tone.

• 승인을 보장하지 않습니다. “(We) do not guarantee approval.”
• 오류가 재현되지 않았습니다. “The error did not reproduce.”
• 지금 방문하기 어렵지 않습니까. “Is it not difficult to visit now.”

Honorific stacking with -시-

When the subject required honorific marking, -시- preceded the deferential ending. The combination preserved both respect for the subject and the formal tone of the clause.

• 선생님께서 들어오십니다. “The teacher enters.”
• 사장님이 결정하십니까. “Does the president decide.”
• 어르신을 모십니다. “(We) accompany the elder.”

Usage contexts and contrasts with other styles

Writers used -습니다/-ㅂ니다 for public neutrality, process description, and objective reporting, and they used -습니까/-ㅂ니까 for formal information requests. In internal team chat or casual service talk, -요 style sounded friendlier, but it weakened the institutional tone. In research abstracts, speeches, and manuals, the deferential endings produced a consistent and authoritative rhythm.

Punctuation, spacing, and formatting

The endings attached directly without spaces. The question mark after -습니까/-ㅂ니까 remained standard in instructional and customer-facing prose. Periods after statements remained mandatory in formal documentation. Titles in English could include romanized segments for search discoverability, but in-body Korean forms remained in Hangul for precision.

High-frequency sentence templates 

• 본 보고서는 결과를 요약합니다. “This report summarizes the results.”
• 아래 절차를 따르십시오. 완료 후 확인합니다. “Follow the steps below. After completion, confirm.”
• 본 제품은 실험 조건에서 일관된 성능을 보였습니다. “This product showed consistent performance under test conditions.”
• 의견이 있으시면 회의에서 공유하십시오. 그 의견을 기록합니다. “If you have comments, share them in the meeting. We record them.”

Minimal pairs to compare -습니다/-ㅂ니다 and -습니까/-ㅂ니까

• 제안서를 보냅니다. / 제안서를 보냅니까. “(I) send the proposal. / Do you send the proposal.”
• 계획을 변경합니다. / 계획을 변경합니까. “(We) change the plan. / Do we change the plan.”
• 현황을 파악합니다. / 현황을 파악합니까. “(We) identify the status. / Do we identify the status.”

Typical learner errors and precise fixes

1. Mixing formality levels within one paragraph produced uneven tone. A document that opened with -습니다 and shifted to -요 sounded inconsistent, and the remedy required selecting one register and maintaining it throughout.
2. Omitting ㄹ-drop yielded errors such as 살니다 or 울니다, and the correct forms were 삽니다 and 웁니다.
3. Using 안 with deferential questions sounded abrupt in some contexts. The neutral formal alternative -지 않습니까 maintained decorum while still expressing a check or challenge.
4. Overusing future -겠습니다 in neutral reports introduced unintended promises. In descriptive sentences, -습니다 expressed facts more accurately than -겠습니다.

Original practice set

Learners confirmed selection by converting dictionary forms to the deferential style and by producing both a statement and a question for each item.

• 검토하다 → 검토합니다 / 검토합니까.
• 도착하다 → 도착합니다 / 도착합니까.
• 바쁘다 → 바쁩니다 / 바쁩니까.
• 다르다 → 다릅니다 / 다릅니까.
• 듣다 → 듣습니다 / 듣습니까.
• 만들다 → 만듭니다 / 만듭니까.

Concise checklist for editing

• Stem ends with consonant → -습니다 / -습니까 선택을 확인합니다.
• Stem ends with vowel → -ㅂ니다 / -ㅂ니까 선택을 확인합니다.
• ㄹ-stem → ㄹ 삭제 후 -ㅂ니다/-ㅂ니까 적용을 확인합니다.
• Honorific subject → -시- 삽입 후 deferential ending 적용을 확인합니다.
• Negation → -지 않습니다 / -지 않습니까 패턴을 우선 적용합니다.

Conclusion

This guide defined -습니다, -ㅂ니다, -습니까, and -ㅂ니까, and it presented selection rules, tense and aspect stacking, negation, honorifics, and register with compact examples. By applying the consonant versus vowel decision, the ㄹ-drop rule, and consistent register control, learners produced formal Korean that matched public communication standards and avoided common mistakes in professional and academic contexts.