Interpersonal Communication: Register, Honorifics, and Turn-Taking
What you must know
Interpersonal tasks ask you to sustain a real exchange: greeting, requesting, apologising, inviting, refusing politely, and negotiating plans. The examiner rewards control of speech levels (존댓말/반말), subject and object honorifics (께서, -시-, 드리다, 뵙다), address terms (선배님, 사장님, ○○ 씨), and softening devices such as -ㄹ까요?, -는데요, -ㄴ데, 혹시, 좀, and -아/어도 될까요?.
Traps in questions
- Mixing levels mid-turn. A single sentence pair like 선생님, 이거 봐 is wrong; use 선생님, 이것 좀 봐 주시겠어요? Keep one level per interlocutor unless the relationship deliberately shifts.
- Humiliative verbs. For a superior, use 드리다, 여쭙다, 뵙다, 계시다; do not use 주다, 말하다, 만나다, 있다 about them.
- Refusals that are too direct. Korean refusals usually hedge first: 좀 어려울 것 같아요 or 다음에 꼭 같이 해요 sounds natural; 안 해요 does not.
- Ignoring the prompt's relationship. Always identify age, status, and closeness before choosing forms.
Rule of thumb
Ask three questions before writing: Who is older? Who has higher status? How close are we? Then pick the level, then add one softening word.
Worked example
Prompt: politely decline a teacher's dinner invitation because of a prior commitment. Weak: 선생님, 저 안 가요. 약속 있어요. Strong: 선생님, 초대해 주셔서 정말 감사합니다. 그런데 그날은 이미 약속이 있어서 함께하지 못할 것 같습니다. 다음 기회에 꼭 모시고 싶습니다. Note the honorific -시-, the humble 모시다, the hedge -ㄹ 것 같습니다, and the closing repair move.