10 Basic Japanese Expressions

Greetings in Japanese might be different from English and other European Language.

Basically, people speak Japanese don't ask "How are you?" or "How're you going?".

This is one of the reason people feel embarrassed when speaking other languages.

Here are some typical greetings in Japanese.

1.こんにちは（Kon-nichi-wa)

This is the most popular greeting which means "Hello".

Also, "Good Afternoon".

This sounds polite and you can say to everyone.

2.おはようございます（Ohayou-gozaimasu）

"Good morning". We make it shorter as "Ohayou".

It seems to be the second most popular greetings.

Also, sometimes people say "Ohayou" all day when they start working even it's night.

I don't know why, one of the weird custom of Japanese culture.

3.こんばんわ（ Konbanwa）

"Good evening".  There's no exception, I think.

4.さようなら（Sayonara）

Sometimes said "Sayonara". Means "Good Bye".

We also say Bye-bye between casual relationships.

5.おやすみなさい（Oyasumi-Nasai）

This means "Good night". We say "Oyasumi".

6.ありがとうございます（Arigatou-Gozaimasu）

"Arigatou" is also very common expression to express thank you.

When you say this with a big big appreciation, you also say

どうもありがとうございます（Doumo-Arigatou-Gozaimasu）。

In addition, if you say thank you for something happened before,

ありがとうございました（Arigatou-Gozaimashita）.

7.お元気ですか？（Ogenki-Desuka）

This means "How are you doing?" or "How do you do?"

We say this phrase only when we talk about the time which we hadn't seen each other for long.

But, we don't say this often. This sounds very polite and we don't say in casual situations.

In English or other language, this kind of phrases are used with "Hi", or "Hello" very often.

This is why Japanese speakers get embarrassed when they're asked "How are you?"

8. よろしくお願いします（Yoroshiku-Onegai-Shimasu）

English doesn't have exactly the same expression, this meaning is sometimes very vague.

If you say this to a person you met for the first time, this means "Nice to meet you."

Also, people use this phrase as "Please do it for me", for example,

"Could you do it for me?" "Sure." "Thank you, よろしくお願いします".

This way of expression is really typical Japanese-like. They make their emotions unclear and try to make the conversation goes smooth.

9.すみません（Sumimasen）

 Sometimes "Suimasen", both have the same meaning.

This is another example of vagueness of Japanese.

Basically, this means "I'm sorry". These are the basic expression, but people use often as the different way.

This is used as "Excuse me", or sometimes even "Thank you".

The reason why Japanese people say "Sumimasen" as "Thank you", is that they would feel sorry if someone does something for them. In that case, "Sumimasen" means "Thank you for doing this for me. It's kind of you".

10.お疲れ様です（Otsukare-Sama-Desu）

The last one, this is really Japanese-like expression.

This means "You did it well." but also this is a greeting.

You will see business people talking on the phone and saying "Otsukare-samadesu" and bowing everywhere in Tokyo.