고마워요
[고마워요]gomawoyo
thank you (polite)
Polite & casual
"Thank you" — polite and warm
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Meaning & nuance
Korean picks its "thank you" by who you are talking to. 고마워 is casual, for close friends or people younger than you. 고마워요 is polite but warm, right for most everyday moments. 고맙습니다 and 감사합니다 are formal: for customers, elders, teachers, or anyone in a public setting.
고맙다 is a native Korean word, and 감사하다 comes from Chinese characters (感謝). Both are formal in the -습니다 form, and many speakers feel 감사합니다 sounds a little more formal.
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Examples
도와줘서 고마워요.Thanks for helping me.
선물 정말 고마워!Thank you so much for the present!
와 주셔서 감사합니다.Thank you for coming.
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Forms & politeness
- 고마워
- casual: close friends, younger people
- 고마워요
- polite and warm: most everyday situations
- 고맙습니다
- formal
- 감사합니다
- formal: customers, elders, in public
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Hangul blocks
고ㄱ + ㅗ마ㅁ + ㅏ워ㅇ + ㅝ요ㅇ + ㅛ
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Good to know
The ending -요 makes a sentence polite: 고마워 + 요 = 고마워요.
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Related words
Dictionary: 표준국어대사전 · 고맙다 ↗ · 표준국어대사전 · 감사하다 ↗
Meanings are written in our own words. The link opens the Standard Korean Language Dictionary entry.