As we’ve learned in previous lessons, Koreans will slightly change the language they use depending on who they are speaking to.
There are many ways to thank someone in Korean:
고마워 and 고마워요 both come from the verb 고맙다, which means “to be thankful” or “to be grateful”.
감사합니다 comes from the verb 감사하다, which has the same meaning as 고맙다.
In Korean, verbs have different conjugations based on how they’re used in a sentence.
감사하다 conjugates to 감사합니다 using the honorific (formal) “ㅂ니다” ending, just like how we learned in a previous lesson 입니다 is the honorific form of 이다. Similarly:
Though they’re both honorific forms, 감사합니다 is more formal and common than 고맙습니다.
We will cover things such as the 요 and ㅂ/습니다 conjugations in later lessons.
So how do you respond to “thank you”? You can use a form of the verb 아니다 (to not be). When you respond in this way, it’s like saying “it’s not (something you need to thank me for).”
So we’ve learned how to give and receive thanks in Korean. See you in the next lesson!