In Japan, people greet each other by bowing. A bow can ranges from a small nod of the head to a deep bend at the waist. A deeper, longer bow indicates respect and conversely a small nod with the head is casual and informal. If the greeting takes place on tatami floor, people get on their knees to bow.
The most common phrases when greeting someone familiar is “Ohayō gozaimasu” (Good morning), “Konnichiwa” ('Hello' or 'Good day'), and “Konbanwa” ('Good evening').
4 Basic Japanese Greetings: Ohayou, Konnichiwa, Konbanwa and Oyasumi.
Moshi moshi, or もしもし, is a common Japanese phrase that Japanese people use when picking up the phone. It's a casual greeting used for friends and family, like a “hello”, but in fact means something entirely different! In English, it literally means something more like, “to say to say”, or “I speak I speak”.
Konnichiwa Means Good Afternoon in Japanese.
The first way to say good morning is ohayō おはよう (pronounced a lot like the state Ohio). This is the casual form, which you'd mainly use with close friends and family members. The second way to say good morning in Japanese is ohayō gozaimasu おはようございます. This is a more formal version.
Meaning: Thank you. Pronunciation: ah-ree-gah-toh. About: The short answer to “how do you say thank you in Japanese?” is arigatou. That's the word that most directly translates to a simple “thank you.” So, if that's all you wanted, hey, problem solved.
Ara ara (あら あら) is a Japanese expression that is mainly used by older females and means “My my”, “Oh dear”, or “Oh me, oh my”.
1. Arigato gozaimasu! / Thank you! [arigato: gozaimas] This is a polite way of saying "thank you". While traveling in Japan, this is probably the most basic "thank you" phrase you'll be using.
In Japan, people greet each other by bowing. A bow can ranges from a small nod of the head to a deep bend at the waist. A deeper, longer bow indicates respect and conversely a small nod with the head is casual and informal. If the greeting takes place on tatami floor, people get on their knees to bow.
One of the most casual and most frequently used words is "gomen" ごめん. You can make it more formal by saying "gomen-nasai" ごめんなさい or more friendly with "gomen-ne" ごめんね. "Warui warui" 悪い悪い or "my bad" is also a very casual way to say sorry.
The simplest and most straightforward way of saying yes in Japanese is はい hai. In a more formal style, one may also use は！ ha!. If you are conversing with a close acquaintance, ええ ee is also suitable.
Waving a hand: “Come here"
When a Japanese person does this movement, it means "come here", not "go away".
A yell, like "oi!" or "ayy!" or "hey!" or whatever. It gets used toward children or animals when they're doing something improper. You could translate it as "watch out" or "stop that!" depending on the situation.
If you already watched or read JoJo's Bizzarre Adventure in Japanese, you would know the iconic phrase by Jotaro Kujo: “やれやれ” -pronounced “Yare Yare”. The phrase is trasnlated to intrepretations such as “well well”, “good grief” and “give me a break.” It is a common expression in Japan used to show disappointment.
When someone greets you in Japanese with “Konnichiwa” it is best to respond with the same phrase “Konnichiwa”.
They can't get through the day without it. SUMIMASEN has many different meanings: "I'm sorry", "thank you" and to get someone's attention. It might be confusing at first, but once you've used it for a while, it'll become second nature. When Japanese people say SUMIMASEN, they often bow in appreciation or apology.
You would actually use it to greet strangers or in formal situations but, even though it is formal, “konnichiwa”, the well-known hello in Japanese, would not normally be used when greeting colleagues, as it is not considered polite.
About: This is probably the most common way to say hello in Japanese. Konnichiwa is used broadly throughout the day and is what you'll usually see translated as simply “hello” as you learn Japanese.
This formal expression よいいちにちをすごしください(yoi ichinichi wo sugoshi kudasai | 良い一日を過ごし下さい) is literally how to say “have a nice day” in the Japanese language. Informally, you can say よいいちにちを(yoi ichinichi wo | 良い一日を).