축하해요
chu-ka-hae-yo · literally “Congratulations”
Situation: Your manager has just been promoted, and you want to say 'Congratulations on your promotion!'
✕ What AI tells you
Gives 승진 축하해요! because it's polite with 요.
Why it fails: 축하해요 is fine between equals, but toward a superior Koreans lower themselves with the humble verb 드리다 ('to give, humbly'). Without it, the congratulations sounds a step too casual.
✓ What Koreans actually say
Congratulate superiors and elders with 축하드립니다 (or 축하드려요). Use 축하해 / 축하해요 with friends and juniors.
팀장님, 승진 축하드립니다!
tim-jang-nim, seung-jin chu-ka-deu-rim-ni-da
Congratulating a boss on a promotion
생신 축하드려요.
saeng-sin chu-ka-deu-ryeo-yo
Happy birthday to an elder — note 생신, the honorific word for birthday
결혼 축하해!
gyeol-hon chu-ka-hae
Casual, to a friend getting married
Cultural nuance, in depth
Korean often shows respect by humbling the speaker rather than raising the listener. 드리다 replaces 주다 ('give') when you give something to someone above you — including congratulations, greetings (인사드리다) and phone calls (전화드리다). Elders also get special nouns: 생신 instead of 생일 for birthday, 진지 instead of 밥 for a meal.
- #workplace
- #honorifics
- #congratulations
More on workplace & hierarchy
- Workplace & Hierarchyv0.3
고마워요
go-ma-wo-yo · “Thanks”
AI gets it wrong:고마워요 is warm and polite between equals or toward someone younger, but to a superior it can sound a little casual, as if you're thanking a peer. 감사합니다 is the expected form upward.Say instead:도와주셔서 정말 감사합니다.See why → - Workplace & Hierarchyv0.1
김 씨
gim ssi · “Mr./Ms. Kim”
AI gets it wrong:씨 is polite only between equals or toward juniors. Surname + 씨 alone can even sound like you're addressing a laborer or a stranger you look down on. Superiors are called by their job title.Say instead:김 팀장님, 회의 자료 보내 드렸습니다.See why → - Workplace & Hierarchyv0.3
나는
na-neun · “I (plain)”
AI gets it wrong:나 is the plain 'I' for friends and juniors. With polite endings it sounds mismatched, and in front of an interviewer, boss or elder it comes across as not knowing your place. The humble 'I' is 저.Say instead:저는 소피라고 합니다.See why →