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Practice: choose the greeting level

Casual, everyday polite, and formal-deferential greetings

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Explanation

This practice focuses on social register rather than literal translation. All three expressions can map to “hello,” but they signal different relationships and settings.

First decide whether casual 반말 is already established. If not, choose between ordinary polite speech and a deliberately formal setting.

안녕하세요 is the default answer more often than beginners expect. Use 안녕하십니까 only when the whole interaction supports formal-deferential speech.

After each answer, imagine the next sentence. A greeting is correct only when it fits the speech level that follows.

How to practice

  1. Identify relationship: close, unfamiliar, or institutional.
  2. Identify setting: ordinary or deliberately formal.
  3. Keep the next sentence at the same speech level.

Check yourself

Question 1 of 3

You greet a close friend who already uses 반말 with you.

Connected learning paths

RelatedReview the full greeting systemReturn to the explanation after checking speech-level choices.RelatedReview casual 안녕Revisit the relationship boundaries for the casual greeting.RelatedReview formal 안녕하십니까Revisit the formal-deferential greeting after the quiz.VocabularyReview 안녕하세요Return to the vocabulary reference after practicing register.

Keep learning

Practice: who is leaving?Practice: Korean phone greetingsPractice: first-meeting greetingsPractice: café KoreanPractice: airportPractice: meeting upPractice: business basicsPractice: restaurant Korean

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