Scribd
Upload
109 views4 pages

Documents null-Japanese+Greetings

The document provides information about common Japanese greetings and expressions for coming and going, eating meals, and saying thank you. It explains that Japanese greetings are called "aisatsu" and are more formal and meaningful than in other cultures. Key greetings include "ohayou gozaimasu" for good morning, "konnichiwa" for hello/good afternoon, and "sayonara" to say goodbye for a long time. Expressions for coming and going involve "ittekimasu/itterashai" when leaving and "tadaima/okaerinasai" when returning home. Before eating one says "itadakimasu" and after eating "gochisousama."

Uploaded by

Sohug Hossain
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
109 views4 pages

Documents null-Japanese+Greetings

The document provides information about common Japanese greetings and expressions for coming and going, eating meals, and saying thank you. It explains that Japanese greetings are called "aisatsu" and are more formal and meaningful than in other cultures. Key greetings include "ohayou gozaimasu" for good morning, "konnichiwa" for hello/good afternoon, and "sayonara" to say goodbye for a long time. Expressions for coming and going involve "ittekimasu/itterashai" when leaving and "tadaima/okaerinasai" when returning home. Before eating one says "itadakimasu" and after eating "gochisousama."

Uploaded by

Sohug Hossain
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Japanese Greetings

 Greetings in Japan are much more formal and ritualistic than in India or US.
 How a person greets another is considered not only reflection of his personality but
also his family background and organization to which he belongs.
 Japanese greetings are called 挨拶 (aisatsu), and they're one of the first things you
should study when learning Japanese.
 The word aisatsu consists of two kanji: 挨 (push open) and 拶 (imminent). So, a
greeting (挨拶) is when you begin to push open an iminent relationship.
 Japanese greetings are more than just an arbitrary custom, but are rather an important
gesture which signals to another person you are acknowledging, respecting their
presence and are open to communicating with them now and in the future.

Vocabulary
Sr.No. JAPANESE ENGLISH
1. OHAYOU GOZAIMS(U) Good Morning
2. KONNICHIWA Hello/Good Afternoon
3. KONBANWA Good Evening
4. OYASUMINASAI Good Night
5. DEWA MATA See you again
6. SAYOUNARA Good bye
7. ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU Thank you
8. DOU ITASHIMASHITE You are welcome
9. GOMEN NASAI Sorry
10. SUMIMASEN Excuse me/ Sorry
11. SHITSUREISHIMASU Pardon me/ I am going to be rude/Sorry
12. ITTEKIMASU I am leaving (home for the day)
13. ITTEIRASHAI Come back safe
14. TADAIMA I am back home
15. OKAERINASAI Welcome home
16. ITADAKIMASU I humbly receive the food
17. GOCHISOU SAMA DESHITA Thanks for the food

LEARNING JAPANESE
表現ノート (Expression Notes)
Good morning.

Ohayou / Ohayou gozaimasu

おはよう(Ohayou)is the informal way to say “Good morning” in Japanese. If you’re


speaking with someone you should be formal with (i.e. not your friend), you would use おは
ようございます(Ohayou gozaimasu). Ohayou is used up until about 11am, after which you
use…

Good afternoon. / Good evening.

Konnichiwa / Konbanwa

こんにちは （今日は） means “Good day” in Japanese, but it is often translated to just
“Hello.”

今日は。
Konnichi wa!
Good day. (Good afternoon; Hello)

こんばんは （今晩は）means “Good evening” in Japanese, and you use it–you guessed
it–in the evening!

Goodbye.

Sayounara

さようなら, as you may already know, means “Goodbye” in Japanese. What you may not
know is that さようなら has the connotation of saying goodbye for a long time. So it’s
not usually something you would say to a classmate or co-worker at the end of the day
(unless you plan on not seeing them for a long, long time).

The closest word, in English, is probably ‘farewell.’

If you’re talking to a friend, and you expect to see them again fairly soon, you can just say:

じゃあ、また。
Jaa, mata/ Dewa mata
See you later. (literally: “then, later”). If you’re in a formal situation, maybe saying bye to
your boss or teacher, then you can say:

LEARNING JAPANESE
失礼します。
Shitsureeshimasu.
Goodbye. (literally: “I am about to behave rudely.” We’ll talk a lot more about this phrase in
future lessons.)

Goodnight.

Oyasuminasai

おやすみなさい (Oyasuminasai) means “Good night” in Japanese. You might say this
when you’re actually going to bed, or if, say, you were leaving to go home after a night out
with friends.

Thank you.

Arigatou / Arigatou gozaimasu

ありがとう(Arigatou) might be the most widely known Japanese word in


existence. You’re fine just saying arigatou with friends. If you’re being really informal, you
might even just say どうも. In any formal situation, drop ございます onto the end, same
way you do with おはようございます。

Excuse me. / I’m sorry.

Sumimasen

すみません (Sumimasen) is a pretty versatile word, and you’ll be hard-pressed to live in


Japan without hearing it at least once a day. It can have a few meanings:

1. “Excuse me,” to get someone’s attention.


すみません、トイレはどこですか。
Sumimasen, toire wa doko desu ka.
Excuse me, where is the bathroom?
2. “I’m sorry,” to apologize for the trouble you have caused.
3. “Thank you,” to show appreciation for what one has done for you.

Don’t worry too much about when to use sumimasen. You should pick it up quite naturally,
because of how often it is used.

LEARNING JAPANESE
Coming and Going

Ittekimasu / Itterashai / Tadaima / Okaerinasai

Both いってきます / いってらしゃい (ittekimasu/itteirashai) and ただいま /


おかえりなさい (tadaima/ okaerinasai) are common exchanges for coming and
going from one’s home.

So, say you’re leaving your house.

You would say: いってきます！(Itteimasu) (literally: “I’ll go and come back.”)


Whoever you live with (not leaving the house) would say: いってらしゃい！
(Iteirashai)(meaning: “Please go and come back.”)

ただいま (Tadaima) and おかえりなさい (Okaerinasai) (often shortened to just お


かえり) are used for when you return home.

So, say you’re returning to your house after work or school.

You walk in the door and say: ただいま！ (I am home right now.)
And whoever is already home says: おかえりなさい！ (Welcome home.)

Eating meals.

Itadakimasu / Gochisousama

いただきます (Itadakimasu) and ごちそうさま (Gouchisousama) are two words/phrases


that you’re going to hear nonstop if you ever move to Japan.

Itadakimasu can be a tricky word. The simple translation, the one in most intro to Japanese
books, says something like “Thank you for the meal (before eating

ごちそうさま means, “Thank you for the meal (after eating).” And it’s something you say
when you’ve just finished eating, or as you’re walking out of a restaurant. The most common
way of saying it is to add ‘deshita’ to the end of it: ごちそうさまでした！ ”Thank you for
the meal!”

The literal meaning of ごちそうさま is something akin to “It’s been a feast.”

So, before eating: itadakimasu.

After eating: gochisousama.

LEARNING JAPANESE

You might also like