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.
Everyone has heard the word こんにちは（konnichiwa）. It's a standard and polite Japanese greeting, but it isn't one that can be used around the clock. We'll talk more about greetings and the time of day later. こんにちは means both hello and good afternoon.
Unlike Konnichiwa, Ohayō gozaimasu a little more formal, so it's safe to use it with people you don't know or when you are meeting people in a position of authority (such as your boss or your teacher). This greeting is used both as a “hello” and as a “goodbye”.
The perfect ohayo gozaimasu reply
It could be replied with a simple “Ohayou” or “Daijobudesu”. The first word means good morning as well, and the second phrase means “I am good” in Japanese. Learning these basic greetings is important and helpful when visiting Japan for the first time.
こんにちは is “hello” in Japanese, but it's not used as often as you would think. こんにちは is somewhat formal so it would sound a bit awkward to say it to a friend. While it's normal in some cultures to exchange short, friendly greetings to those you pass on the street, that's a big no-no in Japan.
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”.
As many things in Japan, it depends on the situation. In a casual situation, arigato is completely OK, while Domo arigato gozaimasu would not be the right thing to say. On the other hand, when you receive something precious or something from a respected person, saying just arigato would be rude.
When someone greets you in Japanese with “Konnichiwa” it is best to respond with the same phrase “Konnichiwa”.
The Japanese have no one word for hello, they instead have three major greetings based on morning, afternoon, and evening, and a form used when speaking on the telephone. Use "Ohayou" from waking to about 12:00, "Konnichiwa" until dusk, "Konbanwa" throughout the evening, and "Oyasumi" only before bed or sleeping.
The most common phrases when greeting someone familiar is “Ohayō gozaimasu” (Good morning), “Konnichiwa” ('Hello' or 'Good day'), and “Konbanwa” ('Good evening').
If you want to greet someone in Japanese by saying "good afternoon" or "good day," the word you want to use is Konnichiwa. Konnichiwa is actually a shortened version of a full greeting.
The word 'gozaimasu' is a very polite expression and can roughly be translated as “am,” “is,” or “are” in English. The phrase “ohayo” comes from an adjective, “hayai” meaning “early” and it literally means “it's early.” So, “ohayo” can take the polite expression “gozaimasu” after that to say it politely.
Confucianism is one of the fundamental ideas of Japanese politeness. Confucianism stresses loyalty, justice, sense of shame, refined manners, modesty and honor among other values. For example it stresses respect for the elderly, and still it is very important in our society.
Politeness is an absolutely essential part of Japanese language and culture. It is always important to communicate with others using an appropriate level of politeness.
Ohayou, pronounced as Ohio (as in the US State) is an informal way of saying “good morning.” Simply put, it is a casual way to greet close friends and family, that does not necessarily have to be accompanied by a serious bow.
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.
'Yes' in Japanese is はい (hai), but you often hear わかりました (wakarimashita) which literally means 'I understand' or 'OK, I agree. ' However, in informal situations, it is also acceptable to say OK です (it's OK) and, particularly amongst friends, you can utter ええ (ee).
Stating Your Name (Using Watashi wa or 私 は)
(My name is ___). You can also say “To saru shimasu” or と 申 し ます which also has the same idea and meaning as the two phrases we just mentioned. You can use this basic sentence or phrase when you want to introduce yourself in Japanese.
さん/-san. The Japanese suffix -san is polite, but not excessively formal. It can be broadly used to: Refer to anyone you don't know, regardless of status or age.
In OGENKI DESU KA (Are you fine?), OGENKI is an adjective GENKI (fine, healthy) with an honorific O before it. If you answer, “Yes, I'm fine,” you say HAI, GENKI DESU.
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. "Sumimasen" すみません, which can be translated as "excuse me", also works as an apology depending on how it is used.
You can also use DOMO as a greeting like "hello". And just saying DOMO can mean a casual way of "thank you" like thanks. The name of NHK WORLD's mascot comes from this word, DOMO. Domo travels the globe to promote NHK WORLD, maybe even somewhere near you.
' meaning “Thank you” to you, you can say 'Domo.” as the reply. Please note that some people consider 'Domo. ' is a little bit rude. It would be better to use 'Arigato.
Many people translate “Sayonara” as “Goodbye”, but in reality, there are many different forms of goodbye in Japanese! Unlike the English, “Sayonara” really means “Goodbye forever” or “Goodbye, I don't know when I'll see you again”. Because of this, Japanese people will rarely use the word.