께서: Honorific Subject Particle

께서 is the honorific subject particle — the elevated twin of 이/가.

표준국어대사전: it marks the subject while honouring that person, and the predicate takes the honorific pre-final -시-. The page is short because the particle’s job is simple — the errors are social and pairing errors, not morphology puzzles.

What it does — elevate who does the action

어머니께서 꽃을 좋아하세요.
선생님께서 말씀하셨어요.
사장님께서 오셨어요.

Same grammatical slot as 이/가. Different respect. Parents, teachers, and careful customer speech are the usual hosts — not close same-age friends.

Pair with -(으)시-

어머니께서 좋아하세요.     paired
*어머니께서 좋아해요.      fights the standard pairing
선생님이 오세요.           -시- with plain 이/가 — heard, less careful

This lesson trains the full careful pattern: 께서 + -시-. You will hear -시- with plain 이/가 in casual speech; do not unlearn the pair for writing and formal talk.

께서 ≠ 께

선생님께서 오셨어요.       subject
선생님께 드렸어요.         to the teacher

Swapping them is the classic honorific mix-up — same respect instinct, wrong slot.

When to use — and when plain 이/가 is enough

Use 께서 when the subject is someone you elevate and the sentence should sound careful.

Stay with 이/가 for peers, and when over-elevating would sound stiff or sarcastic.

Sejong’s visit unit pairs 께서 with -으시- for a reason: particle and verb honorific travel together.

Practice rule: ask who is the subject? If that person is elevated, 께서 + -시-. If that person receives, you wanted 께, not 께서.