One of the best preparation to study Japanese is to learn what is considered the most basic one beforehand. Do you know what it is? It is not somthing only about knoowledge, but also makes people feel a lot of fun while learning and helps in practising their reflection towards Japanese. That is learning how to say greetings in Japanese
In Japanese language, there are numberous greeting phrases according to paricular situation in which you are. However, the daily greetings are not so complicated or difficult. That’s why we have been collecting daily greeting phrases and put all of them below to introduce to you. Take a look, will we?
1 How to Say Nice to Meet You in Japanese
Supposing it is the first time that you’ve met someone, you can say to them :
- Hiragana: はじめまして
Kanji: 初めまして
Romaji: Hajimemashite
Meaning : Nice to meet you
And if you want to be more polite, you can follow up at once with the following phrase :
- Hiragana: どうぞよろしくおねがいします
Kanji: どうぞ宜しくお願いします
Romaji: Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu
Meaning: I am looking forward to working with you or Thank you in advance for your cooperatiion.
Usage: To forge and solidifies a relationship with someone you meet at the first time by saying thank you in advance for the supports they will provide in the future.
2. How to say hello in Japanese
As we all know, “hello” is a very common greeting, but when it is translated into Japanese, there is no exact translation of “hello” in Japamese. Based on the different time of the day, the Japanese use good morning, good afternoon or good evening to say hello or to greet each other instead and depending on particular circumstances, they have other ways of greeting . Now, let’s take a look at them in detail.
1. How to say good morning in Japanese :
- Hiragana: おはようございます
Kanji: お早うございます
Romaji: Ohayou gozaimasu
Meaning: Good morning
It is fine to say “おはうございます” in a short form “おはう” when you are talking to a friend or someone who you get on well with.
2. How to say good afternoon in Japanese :
- Hiragana: こんにちは
Romaji: Konnichiwa
Meaning : Good afternoon
Regardless of social status, you can use this to greet anyone.
3. How to say good evening in Japanese :
- Hiragana: こんばんは
Romaji: Konbanwa
Meaning: Good evening
4. How to say hello on the phone in Japanese :
- Hiragana: もしもし
Romaji: Moshi moshi
It does not matter whether you are the one who is calling or is being called, you can always say “moshimoshi” in the first place.
5. How to say hello to someone you have not met for some time :
We use the phrase “it’s been a while” or “long time no see” for this situation in English. When those two phrases are translated into Japanese, we have :
- Hiragana: ひさしぶり
Kanji: 久し振り
Romaji: Hisashiburi
Meaning: Long time no see
In addition, you can say “おひさしぶりですね” if you want the greeting to be more formal.
6. How to say hello in casual situations :
- Hiragan: やあ
Romaji: Yaa
Meaning: Hi
- Hiragana: よう
Romaji: You
Meaning: Hi /Hey / Yo
3. How to say good bye in Japanese
- Hiragana: さようなら
Romoji: Sayounara
Meaning: Goodbye
Or you can say good bye in a more formal way with :
- Hiragana: しつれい します
Kanji : 失礼します
Romoji: Shitsurei shimasu
Meaning: Goodbye ( formal)
Besides, there are also some other ways to say good bye in a less formal formal way:
- Hiragana: また ね
Romoji: Mata ne
Meaning: See you soon
- Hiragana: じゃあ また
Romoji: Jaa mata
Meaning: See you again
- Hiragana: じゃあ / じゃあ ね
Romoji: Jaa / Jaa ne
Meaning: Bye
- Hiragana: げんき で
Kanji: 元気で
Romaji: Genki de
Meaning: Be well
- Hiragana: また あした
Kanji: また明日
Romaji: Mata ashita
Meaning: See you tomorrow
4. How to say good night in Japanese
- Hiragana: おやすみなさい
Kanji: お休みなさい
Romaji: Oyasumi nasai
Meaning: Good night
With those you are familiar to, you can say it in a short form おやすみ.
There is one thing you need to remmeber that do not say it to anyone when it is really late at night because Japanese people will find it very weird.
Moreover, “おやすみなさい” can also be used as a good bye before going to sleep.
5. How to say “How’s it going” in Japanese
- Hiragana: ちょうしどう?
Kanji: 調子どう?
Romaji: Choushi dou?
Meaning: What’s happening?
- Hiragana: さいきんどう?
Kanji: 最近どう?
Romaji: Saikin dou?
Meaning: How’s it going? / What have you been doing? / How have you been?
If you are talking to your close male friends or male family members around your age, you can use this instead to make it less formal :
- Hiragna: おっす
Romaji: Ossu
Meaning: What’s happening? / Hey/ Hi
6. How to say thank you in Japanese
There are many ways to say thank you in Japanese, but here I only show you 3 basic and mostly-used in Japanese :
- Hiragana: ありがとう(ございます)
Romaji : arigatou (gozaimasu)
Meaning: Cám ơn
- Hiragana: どうも
Romaji: doumo
Meaning: Cám ơn
- Hiragana: どうも ありがとうございます。
Romaji: domou arigatougozaimasu
Meaning: Cám ơn(formal)
You have read all of them, haven’t you? Now, it’s time to get down to business, start learning and then try to apply and use them as much as possible. Only by that way can you really remember them completely. Wish you many success in life!