안녕히 가세요 vs 안녕히 계세요: Saying Goodbye in Korean

Korean has one common way to say hello, 안녕하세요, but two common ways to say a polite goodbye: 안녕히 가세요 and 안녕히 계세요. Learners mix them up constantly, and the reason is simple once you look at what the words actually mean. This guide uses the National Institute of Korean Language's Standard Korean Dictionary and its public Q&A service, Online Ganada (온라인가나다).

Start with 안녕: what you are wishing someone

Both greetings and goodbyes are built on 안녕 (安寧). The Standard Korean Dictionary defines 안녕하다 as "to be at peace without any trouble," and, in a second sense, "to be healthy in body and at ease in mind," noting that it is used to ask after or send regards. Its example sentence is the greeting itself: 선생님, 안녕하세요? "Teacher, hello?" or more literally, "Are you well?"

The adverb 안녕히 means "in good health and at ease." The dictionary's examples are the goodbyes you need:

• 안녕히 가십시오. [annyeonghi gasipsio]
• 안녕히 계십시오. [annyeonghi gyesipsio]
• 안녕히 주무셨어요? [annyeonghi jumusyeosseoyo] "Did you sleep well?"

So every one of these is a wish: go in peace, stay in peace, did you rest in peace.

The difference is the verb: 가다 vs 계시다

• 가세요 comes from 가다, "to go."
• 계세요 comes from 계시다. The dictionary defines 계시다 as the honorific form of 있다, "to be, to stay."

That gives you the rule:

If you are leaving a shop, you are the one going, and the shop owner is staying, so you say 안녕히 계세요. The owner, who stays, says 안녕히 가세요 to you. If both of you are leaving in different directions, both of you are going, so 안녕히 가세요 fits both ways.

The -세요 forms are the polite everyday style. The -십시오 forms in the dictionary examples, 가십시오 and 계십시오, are the more formal versions of the same goodbyes.

The tricky case: getting out of a taxi

Here is where even native speakers pause. When you step out of a taxi, you are leaving the car, which suggests 계세요. But the driver is about to drive away, which suggests 가세요.

Someone asked exactly this on Online Ganada. The Institute's answer: both seem to be used depending on one's point of view, so it is hard to say that only one is correct, and you should use whichever fits the context. In other words, there is no official rule for this situation, and either goodbye is acceptable.

That is useful to know as a learner. The core rule (going vs staying) is clear, and in genuinely ambiguous moments, Koreans themselves split.

Leaving work before others

The Institute's language etiquette guidance, quoted in another Online Ganada answer, covers a situation you may see in K-dramas set in offices:

• When you leave work before others, the recommended goodbyes are 먼저 가겠습니다 [meonjeo gagetseumnida], "I'll be going first," and 내일 뵙겠습니다 [naeil boepgetseumnida], "I'll see you tomorrow."
• The people staying behind say 안녕히 가십시오 or 안녕히 가세요 to the person leaving. That is the same going-vs-staying logic.
• Saying 수고하십시오 [sugohasipsio] to a superior while leaving is common, but the guidance says it is not desirable, because the listener may be offended. With peers or junior staff, something like 먼저 갑니다. 수고하세요. is acceptable.
• The guidance also advises against 먼저 실례하겠습니다, explaining that it does not yet suit Korean sensibilities, even though many people no longer object to it.

The Institute also notes in that answer that there is no fixed expression for every situation, and that a greeting should suit the person and the setting.

A quick decision guide

1. Are you leaving and they are staying? Say 안녕히 계세요.
2. Are they leaving and you are staying? Say 안녕히 가세요.
3. Are you both leaving? Say 안녕히 가세요.
4. Getting out of a taxi or bus? Either is used, according to the Institute.
5. Need to be more formal? Switch to the -십시오 endings from the dictionary examples: 안녕히 가십시오 or 안녕히 계십시오.

Key takeaways

• 안녕히 means "in good health and at ease," so both goodbyes are wishes.
• 가세요 comes from 가다 (go); 계세요 comes from 계시다, the honorific of 있다 (stay).
• Say 안녕히 계세요 to someone staying and 안녕히 가세요 to someone leaving.
• For a taxi driver, the Institute says both forms are used depending on perspective.
• When leaving work, 먼저 가겠습니다 is recommended; 수고하십시오 to a superior is discouraged.