''그 사람이 누구였지 ?'' - Impolite in front of superiors?
I have a question about the grammar '-지요'.
This grammar has a lot of meanings and one of them is to kind of ask a question to yourself.

For example:
그 사람이 누구였지?
''Ah, who was that person again?… I just knew it and now I can’t remember who it was''

My question is, if I can use it for example infront of a teacher or do you use '그 사람이 누구였죠?'
You do not ask the teacher. You ask this question to yourself, but is it impolite to use 그 사람이 누구였지? if you are in front of somebody, who you should pay more respect ?

Thank you in advance !

Question

''그 사람이 누구였지 ?'' - Impolite in front of superiors?
I have a question about the grammar '-지요'.
This grammar has a lot of meanings and one of them is to kind of ask a question to yourself.

For example: 
그 사람이 누구였지?
''Ah, who was that person again?… I just knew it and now I can’t remember who it was''

My question is, if I can use it for example infront of a teacher or do you use  '그 사람이 누구였죠?' 
You do not ask the teacher. You ask this question to yourself, but is it impolite to use 그 사람이 누구였지? if you are in front of somebody, who you should pay more respect ?

Thank you in advance !

Answer

Adding "요" at the end honors the person you are talking to. You don't have to use it when you talk to yourself. Does it answer your question? I might have misunderstood your main point?

Answer

you could use it.. as if you were talking to yourself out loud. but that kind of behavior itself might be unrespectful if the person is very superior. 
"그분이 누구셨죠?" (if the person you are refering to is superior even then the person u are talking to)
"그 사람이 누구셨죠?" (if the preson is lower than the person you are asking the question to)

Answers · 4

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