5. Greeting in Japanese にほんごであいさつ

Have you heard any greetings in Japanese?

Greeting and basic phrases in Japanese are introduced in this chapter.

Contents

1. Greeting in Japanese
2. Basic phrases in Japanese

1. Greeting in Japanese

Nihongo	Pronunciation	Meaning
おはよう	Ohayou	Good morning.
おはようございます	Ohayougozaimasu	Good morning.
こんにちは	Konnichiwa	Hello.
こんばんは	Konbanwa	Good evening.
はじめまして	Hajimemashite	Nice to meet you.
さようなら	Sayounara	Good bye.
またあした	Mata Ashita	See you tomorrow.
おやすみなさい	Oyasuminasai	Good night.
いってきます	Ittekimasu	I’m leaving.
いってらっしゃい	Itterasshai	Have a good day.
ただいま	Tadaima	I’m home.
おかえりなさい	Okaerinasai	Welcome home.

2. Basic phrases in Japanese

Nihongo	Pronunciation	Meaning
ありがとう	Arigatou	Thank you.
ありがとうございます	Arigatougozaimasu	Thank you.
どういたしまして	Douitashimashite	You are welcome.
だいじょうぶ	Daijyoubu	No problem.
だいじょうぶです	Daijyoubudesu	No problem.
いただきます	Itadakimasu	Thank you.(before eating)
ごちそうさま	Gochisousama	Thank you.(after eating)
ごちそうさまでした	Gochisousamadeshita	Thank you.(after eating)
おつかれさま	Otsukaresama	You’ve got to be tired.
おつかれさまでした	Otsukaresamadeshita	You’ve got to be tired.

“いただきます(Itadakimasu)” is a phrase spoken before eating.
“ごちそうさま(Gochisousama)” is a phrase spoken after eating.
I think there is not similar phrase in English.
The meaning is showing thanks to cooks.
Original meaning of “いただきます(Itadakimasu)” is ” I will have invaluable lives of animals and/or plants of the food”.

There is not a similar phase of “おつかれさま(Otsukaresama)” in English, too.
We use this phrase when we leave an office or when the colleague leaves the office.
The meaning of it is ” You’ve got to be a tired. (You did a good job.)”
It shows appreciation of the colleagues efforts.