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| The phrase... |
Means... |
Literally means... |
Oyasumi
Oyasumi nasai |
"Good night." Say this to someone when
they're going to bed, or are likely to go to bed soon. If you say
it to the lads at the bar when you hang it for home, you're implying
that they're going to sleep there. That may be true, but it's not
polite to point it out; use "***" instead. |
Please rest. |
Ohayou
Ohayou gozaimasu |
"Good morning." |
It's early. |
Arigatou
Arigatou gozaimasu
and
Arigatou gozaimashita |
"Thank you." *** When someone does something
for you, you say, "Arigatou gozaimasu." ("You are going
to a lot of trouble" or "Thank you for what you're doing
right now.") When you meet them a little while later, you say,
"Arigatou gozaimashita." ("You went to a lot of trouble"
or "Thank you for what you did.") Polite people say "Arigatou
gozaimashita" even if they already said "Arigatou gozaimasu."
There's no past tense of plain arigatou, but polite people
do say "Arigatou" after the fact as well as at the time
that someone does something for them. |
You are going/went to a lot of trouble. |
| Dou itashimashite |
"You're welcome." "Not at all." |
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Gomen
Gomen nasai |
"I'm sorry." This can sound rather childish;
children use it all the time, but adults say it mainly to people who
are above them. |
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Suman
Suimahen
Suimasen
Sumimasen |
"I'm sorry." This is more adult than gomen
nasai. |
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Itte kimasu
Itte mairimasu |
"I'll be back." Say this only when you
know you'll be back--when you leave home, work, the bar, the tattoo
parlor, whatever. If you're leaving the dentist, say "***". |
I'm going out and coming back. |
| Itte irasshai |
"Be back soon." The response to itte
kimasu |
Go out and come back. |
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| Tadaima |
"I'm home!" The Japanese say this every
time they come home. |
Just now |
Okaeri
Okaeri nasai
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"Welcome back." The response to tadaima. |
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Ojama shimasu
Ojama itashimasu |
What you say when you enter someone else's home.
For a cool scene which turns on the use
of the last few phrases, watch the scene in Evangelion where Misato
brings Shinji home for the first time.
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I'm going to bother you. |
Ojama shimashita
Ojama itashimashita |
What you say when you leave someone's home. |
I bothered you. |
| Itadakimasu |
What you say before you eat. Translators go through
contortions to translate this: "Let's eat!" "Dig in!"
"It looks delicious!" "Shall we begin?" |
I am about to partake. |
| Gochisou-sama deshita |
What you say when you're done eating. Rare in anime,
perhaps because anime characters eat like Barbary savages and perhaps
because they tend to blow everything up before the soup course. |
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Omedetou
Omedetou gozaimasu |
"Congratulations!" |
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Shou ga nai
Shikata ga nai |
"There's nothing to be done for it." There's
a strong feeling of fate in this sentence, along with the resignation:
"That's the way things are, and I can't change them." Some
people say that this phrase encapsulates the Japanese philosophy of
life. |
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| Konbanwa |
"Good evening." You don't use this with
members of your in-group--your family, classmates, workmates, party
members, whatever. |
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| Konnichiwa |
"Good day." You don't use this with members
of your in-group--your family, classmates, workmates, party members,
whatever. |
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Sayonara
Sayounara |
"Farewell" |
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| Saraba |
"Good bye" |
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| Ja or Jaa |
"Bye." Ja ne = "Bye."
Ja mata = "See you later." |
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| Baibai |
"Bye-bye." This doesn't sound nearly so
silly in Japanese. After all, it's English, which is the coolest,
hottest, sexiest, and most thrilling language around--so it has
to be chic. Not used on formal occasions, though, as you might have
guessed. |
English - bye-bye |
| Sankyu |
"Thank you." |
English - thank you |
| Hajimemashite |
"Pleased to meet you." |
[I am meeting you] for the first time. |
Yoroshiku
Douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu |
"Pleased to meet you." |
Please treat me kindly. |
| Moshimoshi |
"Hello?" (when answering the phone) |
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| Onegai shimasu |
"Please" |
Please grant my wish. |