17 Methods to Say “Hiya” in Japanese

These are the most typical methods to say “good day” in Japanese:

• “Hello” – やあ！ (Ya-)
• “Hiya” – こんにちは (Konnichiwa)
• “Hiya” on the telephone – もしもし (Moshi moshi)
• “Good morning” – おはようございます (Ohayou gozaimasu)
• “Good Night” – こんばんは (Konbanwa)
• “Yoohoo”- ヤッホー (Ya-ho-)
• “Hey” – おす！ (Osu!)
• “Yo!” – よー！(Yo-!)
• “How are you?” – お元気ですか (O-genki desu ka)
• “How’s it going?”- 調子はどうですか (Choushi wa dou desu ka)

You can too enhance your pronunciation with this video:

Now let’s have a more in-depth take a look at these greetings to know which you should use when.

An excellent easy greeting to begin off with! やあ is used casually between pals. It’s extra of an exclamation to seize consideration. In Japanese, it’s widespread to greet your folks and coworkers with a やあ, or simply あー (Aah-), adopted by their title.

Right here’s an instance:

やあ！すずきちゃん、今日いい天気ですね。(Yaa-! Suzuki-chan, kyou ii tenki desu ne.) <br>
“Hello! Suzuki-chan, good climate at the moment, huh.”

You can even omit the exclamation and solely greet somebody with their title to say “hello.”

こんにちは is “good day” in Japanese, but it surely’s not used as usually as you’d assume. こんにちは is considerably formal so it will sound a bit awkward to say it to a buddy. Whereas it’s regular in some cultures to alternate quick, pleasant greetings to these you move on the road, that’s a giant no-no in Japan. You wouldn’t greet a passing stranger with こんにちは. It’s primarily utilized in semi-formal conditions, like in an workplace house.

It additionally means “good afternoon” in Japanese, and so you’d actually solely use it within the afternoon.

Easy methods to say “my title is” in Japanese is kind of easy. You can say it two methods: 名前は＿＿＿です。 (Namae wa **** desu.) or ＿＿＿＿です。(____ desu._)

All you need to do is fill your title within the clean. So, for instance, I’d say 名前はケイトリンです。 (Namae wa Keitorin desu) Or, I might shorten it and say: ケイトリンです。(Keitorin desu.)

In Japanese, Namae is “title,”, wa is the topic marker, and desu is the serving to verb “is.” That’s why you’ll be able to say Namae wa or simply your title and desu. The primary means “My title is Caitlin” whereas the second means “I’m Caitlin.”

To be technical, the total phrase can be 私の名前は＿＿＿です。 (Watashi no namae wa **** desu._) However watashi no (“my”) isn’t wanted as a result of it’s understood in context. You nearly by no means want to make use of watashi except it’s good to make clear the topic.

When you’re in a really formal state of affairs, there may be one much less widespread approach to introduce your self: と申します。(___ to moushimasu.) It’s a well mannered approach to say “My title is” or “I name myself.” That is humble speech and is used when speaking to somebody of a lot larger standing. It’s normally solely utilized in enterprise conditions once you’re introducing your self to a brand new firm consumer or the corporate president.

Within the mornings, you’ll be able to greet individuals with おはようございます. It’s a proper approach to greet somebody so you’d use it when saying good day to your boss within the morning.

Informally, you’d drop gozaimasu and simply say ohayou. This is quite common to say to everybody. You’ll usually hear pals exaggerate the sounds, and draw out the “o” on the finish like おはよー！

Within the night, greet others by saying こんばんは. It’s a well mannered and formal approach to say “good night.” You should utilize this with nearly anybody, but it surely’s undoubtedly extra widespread to greet family and friends with a casual greeting on this record as a substitute.

That is extra a parting phrase than a greeting. However at evening and when going to mattress, you say おやすみなさい. It actually means: “Go take a relaxation.”

Between family and friends, you would go away off the nasai that makes the phrase formal. As a substitute, say おやすみ－！

When you haven’t seen somebody for some time (three weeks or longer) you’ll be able to say お久しぶりですね。This implies, “It’s been some time, huh?” or “Very long time no see!” You’ll be able to say this to anybody, from a buddy to somebody within the office. The “o” at first provides respect, and the “ne” on the finish means “huh” or “proper?” Each may be dropped, to make it a much less formal assertion.

You’ll mix this phrase with different greetings. Right here’s an instance:

あー、すずきさん。久しぶりですね。元気だった？ (Aa-, Suzuki-san. Hisashiburi desu ne. Genki datta?)
“Ah, Suzuki-san. Very long time no see, huh. How have you ever been?”

It is a very informal greeting, normally between younger youngsters or shut pals. It’s a extra female greeting, however don’t fear boys – your greeting is subsequent.

ヤッホー is one other exclamation sort of greeting used to seize an in depth buddy or little one’s consideration. It’s like yelling “Yoohoo!” and waving for consideration. You’d comply with it together with your buddy’s title.

おす is a masculine, slang approach to greet different guys. Ladies don’t sometimes say this (though I’d be mendacity if I mentioned it wasn’t my favourite casual greeting. I take advantage of it generally with pals – usually receiving unusual appears). And guys wouldn’t say it to ladies.

Not like the opposite casual phrases on this record, it’s an exclamation that’s extra usually used once you already see and have the particular person’s consideration. So that you don’t must comply with it up with their title, however you continue to can.

It can be used as “Sure, sir!” or a “Roger!” Some anime use this, but it surely’s not widespread in on a regular basis speech.

Precisely the identical as English. You’ll be able to greet an in depth buddy informally with a easy yo! You wouldn’t say this to anybody older than you, although. This one can be extra masculine, however generally younger women and girls say it, too, to get somebody’s consideration.

You can additionally use the phrase おーい！(O-i!) That is solely used as an exclamation, and it’s a extra masculine expression. It may be a bit impolite or harsh, so that you’d solely use this with individuals near you.

You’ll be able to greet somebody with “How are you” by saying お元気ですか. The “o” right here is to indicate respect, and “ka” is the query particle. You’ll be able to drop the “o” to make it casual and to answer, you possibly can say genki desu. The phrase genki means “power” or “wholesome,” so that you’re asking “Are you wholesome?”

Not like in English, you don’t ask somebody this phrase usually. You normally wouldn’t ask somebody you noticed yesterday, “How are you at the moment?” in Japanese. But when it’s been some time, it’s widespread to place the phrase previously tense and ask 元気だった？ (Genki datta, “How have you ever been?”) To simplify it additional, you possibly can solely say “Genki?” and lift the inflection on the final syllable.

One other approach to ask how somebody is doing is to say いかがですか (Ikaga desu ka). It means each “How are you?” and “How’s it going?” Nevertheless it’s extra formal and used to ask a higher-status particular person how one thing particular goes. Like their job, or faculty.

Instance:

お仕事はいかがですか。(O-shigoto wa ikaga desu ka) <br>
“How’s work going?” or “How is your work going?”

The precise translation for this one is “What’s your situation?” but it surely’s used informally to ask “how’s it going” in Japanese.

The distinction right here is that it’s a “how are you” phrase to comply with up on one thing that was already mentioned between you and a buddy. As an illustration, the final time you noticed your buddy, they advised you they have been slammed at work and careworn about it. While you see them once more, you’ll be able to ask 調子はどうですか to see the way it’s been since.

While you come dwelling, you’ll be able to announce it by proclaiming ただいまー！This implies “I’m again!” or “I’ve returned dwelling!” You should utilize this at work, too, once you’ve left the workplace for some time and returned.

You’ll be greeted in return with お帰り (okaeri) which accurately means “you’ve returned” however interprets higher as “welcome again.” When you’re returning to the workplace from a enterprise journey or out-of-the-office assembly, you is likely to be greeted as a substitute with お疲れ様 (otsukaresama) or simply お疲れ (otsukare). Each imply “you should be drained” or “thanks in your arduous work,” however otsukare is much less formal.

While you meet somebody for the primary time, you can begin off by saying はじめまして. This implies “good to fulfill you.”

You’d usually comply with it by giving your title, after which saying よろしくお願いします (yoroshiku onegaishimau). That is additionally normally translated as “good to fulfill you” but it surely has many, many makes use of in Japanese.

A extra correct (however awkward in English) which means can be “please take care of me.” It’s a proper expression used everytime you’re asking to construct a relationship with somebody, or when you need to put your belief in them. It can be shortened to “yoroshiku” to be much less formal.

A typical greeting at New 12 months’s is あけましておめでとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いします。(Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu. Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.) So once you see individuals after the brand new 12 months, you’re wishing them “Blissful New 12 months! This 12 months, once more, please take care of me.” To shut pals, you shorten it to あけおめ！今年もよろしく (Akeome! Kotoshi mo yoroshiku).

While you stroll right into a retailer in Japan, you’ll usually be greeted with いらっしゃいませ！It means “welcome” to retailer visitors.

Nevertheless, you wouldn’t say this to somebody coming into your property. While you arrive at another person’s dwelling, you greet them with お邪魔します (ojama shimasu). It means “I’m sorry to hassle you.” The host would welcome you by saying どうぞ (douzo), or “please, after you,” “are available,” or “go forward.”

Answering your telephone in Japanese additionally has its personal greeting! While you say “good day” on the telephone, you say もしもし with a raised inflection to say “Hiya?” It comes from the verb 申す (mousu), the standard model of “to say.” Nevertheless, you’d solely use moshi moshi when answering a telephone name from a buddy or member of the family.

In enterprise conditions, moshi moshi is taken into account impolite. So as a substitute, you’d reply the telephone with はい (hai, “sure”), adopted by your final title/household title or the corporate title.

Like English, you may also begin off by greeting somebody with a generic phrase concerning the climate. Normally, it’ll be one thing alongside the strains of いい天気ですね (ii tenki desu ne, “Good climate, isn’t it?”) or 暑い / 寒い ですね (atsui / samui desu ne, “It’s scorching / It’s chilly, isn’t it?)

There are lots of methods to greet somebody in Japanese! However one of the simplest ways to strike up a dialog and get began talking Japanese is with a easy “good day.” Studying these phrases is a superb place to begin getting comfy with the language.