Greeting Phrases 挨拶の表現
In Lesson 0, we briefly covered many of the basic expressions used in interactions with people in Japanese. Unlike in English, speech register and the relationship one has with the listener(s) greatly affect greeting phrases (挨拶の表現). Knowing when and how to use them will be crucial to assimilating into Japanese society.
Variation Note: You are not responsible for knowing how to use honorific speech or the dialectal grammar associated with certain phrases. The purpose of this lesson is to showcase how greetings are made while at the same time familiarizing you with word forms that you will be hearing all the time.
Greetings of the Day 日々の挨拶
To begin, we will learn about the greeting phrases for morning, afternoon, and evening. There will be variation depending on dialect and speech style, but try not to stress over the variation too much.
Grammar Note: The prefix お・ご～ seen used with many of the phrases in this lesson is a politeness marker.
Culture Note: When you have already greeted someone once in the day, it is customary to simply give a small bow. This is called an 会釈.
Good Morning
“Good morning” is expressed with the adjective 早い meaning “early/fast” conjugated into its traditional honorific form: お早うございます. In casual speech, you will hear it as お早う.
Pronunciation Note: お早う is not pronounced the same way as the state of Ohio. Ohio is オハイオ（州）. The key here is to not mishear /io/ as /yo/.
Intonation Note: The intonation of this phrase is おはようございます.
1. 先生、おはようございます。
Good morning, teacher.
2. よー、健二君！おはよう！
Hey, Kenji-kun! Morning!
Notable Variants
1. In Kansai Dialects (Kansai-ben 関西弁), お早うさん is common.
3. 元気に一、二おはようさん！お手々をふっておはようさん！
Now a lively good morning in one, two! Wave your hands good morning!
Sentence Note: This example comes from a well-known children’s song known as ボーカル・ショップ.
2. おはよーん is a cutesy variant.
3. おそよう, a portmanteau of 遅い and おはよう, is used sarcastically towards friends that are late from having overslept.
Hello/Good Afternoon
The English “hello” is associate with the infamous phrase こんにちは. In face-to-face encounters, it is used primarily in the afternoon. However, when the time of day is not relevant or ascertainable, especially on social media platforms, it is used just like “hello.”
The reason why the particle は is used is because at one time, Japanese people used to greet each other by first making a comment about the day’s weather. Though this still happens, this phrase can still stand alone regardless whether a complete sentence is made of it.
While こんにちは is polite by nature, its use is not as ubiquitous as the English “hello.” It is hardly ever used in business e-mails, as it is too familial in tone. In fact, even in self-introductions, it is often avoided by native speakers. This is because, at some level, the speaker and listener know each other. This is so much so that, conversely, if say a salesperson doesn’t actually know you, こんにちは can potentially help bridge that lack of friendship. In other words, it provides positive reinforcement for familiarity.
Intonation Note: こんにちは↓.
Orthography Note: This phrase is only seldom written in Kanji as 今日は.
4. すみません、こんにちは！
Excuse me. Hello!
5. こんにちは、ご返事ありがとうございます。
Hello, thank you for replying.
6. こんにちは、最新のニュースをお伝えします。
Good afternoon, here’s the latest news.
Notable Variants
1. In Okinawa, はいさい (men) and はいたい (for women) may be heard, but they are used more like the English “hello.” These are direct borrowings from Okinawan1.
2. ハロー, the transliteration of “hello” can be heard by those aiming to sound lively, cool, cute, etc. when among friends.
3. おっす・うっす (押忍2) are often used among sports players or guys in general. In response, おっす（っす3）or うっす（っす）is said.
4. ちわっす4 can be heard in casual circles.
5. Similar to the English “howdy,” you may also hear こんちゃ（っす）.
Good Evening
The Japanese equivalent of “good evening” is こんばんは, which you will hear used after daylight hours. Similarly to こんにちは, it is a very familial word and gives a feeling of home. It is especially used when visiting people at night.
Intonation Note: こんばんは↓.
Orthography Note: The Kanji spelling 今晩は is only occasionally used.
7. 今晩は、ニュース７5です。
Good evening, this is News 7.
8. お月さん、今晩は。
Good evening, moon.
9. こんばんは、猫ちゃん。かわいいね。
Good evening, kitty. Aren’t you cute?
Notable Variants
1. In traditional Kyoto Dialect (都弁), you will hear おしまいやす.
2.In Western Japan, you will hear 晩じまして.
3. In various parts of Northeastern Japan (東北地方) and Hokkaido (北海道), you may hear お晩方 or even お晩です。
4. こんばんちゃ is a cutesy variant seen mostly online, where it may be further shortened and spelled as 番茶, which literally means “coarse tea.”
Good Night
The formal way to say “good night” is お休みなさい, which literally translates as “please rest.” It does not have to be nighttime for you to use it, and you can still use it for when you are just leaving someone for the night.
The casual form of this expression is お休み and its more honorific form is お休みなさいませ or お休み下さい（ませ）.
Intonation Notes:
1. おやすみなさい.
2. おやすみください.
10. 松井さん、お休みなさい。
Good night, Matsui-san.
11. 夜はぐっすりとお休みください。
Please sleep tight at night.
Farewell 別れの言葉
There are quite a few ways to say “see your later” and “farewell” in Japanese, but it is important to know what the implication is that you’re given to the listener when you use them.
The Infamous さようなら
The phrase さようなら meaning “farewell” is known throughout the world, deriving from its older iteration 左様ならば6, which literally means “if that’s so.” Its non-abbreviated form only lives on in purposely old-fashioned samurai-mimicking speech, but さようなら nonetheless remains an important expression today.
さようなら is a very formal expression. It is used by students at school to their instructors at the end of each day from elementary school to high school. Outside school, it is usually perceived as a literal “farewell,” thus making its use quite rare.
It may sometimes be shortened as さよなら like in さよならパーティー (farewell party). It may also be seen in some dialects as さいなら, in which case it can be more broadly used to mean “bye,” a feature often remembered by servicemen who were stationed in Japan before the 1990s. Today, though, other phrases are used far more frequently, which we will learn about next.
Intonation Note: さようなら.
12.
日直：「帰りの挨拶をしましょう」
全員：「先生、さようなら！皆さん、さようなら！車に気をつけて帰ります」
Kid on Duty: Let’s give our going-home salutations.
Everyone: Goodbye, teacher! Goodbye, everyone! I’ll watch out for cars as I go home.
13.
日直：「礼、さようなら！」
全員：「さようなら！」
Kid on Duty: Bow and goodbye!
Everyone: Goodbye!
14. さよならパーティーをしました。
We had a farewell party.
A Simple “See You Later”
In casual settings, people say “goodbye” to each other with all sorts of phrases based on certain key words like また (again), 後で (later), 明日 (tomorrow) and 来週 (next week).
| English Equivalent | Japanese |
| See you later, k? | （じゃ、）また｛ね・な｝！ |
| Later! | じゃ（あ）｛ね・な｝！ |
| Bye(-bye)! | バイバイ！ |
| See you tomorrow! | また明日（ね） |
| See you next week! | また来週（ね） |
| Well (then…) + ↑ | （それ）｛では・じゃ（あ）｝ |
Nuance Note: The particle ね is often switched out for な in masculine speech.
15. （それ）じゃあ、また来週！
Well, see you next week!
16. 寛ちゃん、バイバイ！
Bye-bye, Kan-chan!
17. もちろん行きますよ。それじゃ、また！
Of course I’m going. Well, see you!
18. やあ、きょうは本当に楽しかった！みんなありがとう、また明日ね！
Wow, today was really fun! Thanks, everyone; see you all tomorrow!
Variation Note: There are other variants you may encounter. For instance, in Kansai Dialects, you might hear ほなまた.
Leaving the Office
When leaving before other coworkers, it is customary to say お先に失礼します, which translates as “forgive me for leaving first.”
When leaving work the same time as your coworkers, it is customary to say お疲れ様でした. This may be casually shortened to お疲れ様, お疲れさん, or even お疲れ.
Conversely, お疲れ様です is used as the primary greeting in the business world. It’s frequently used in business e-mails to respect the addressee’s involvement.
19.
山下様
お疲れ様です。〇〇株式会社の金田亮太です。
Mr. Yamashita
First, let me thank you for your work. I am Ryota Kaneda from ## Incorporated.
20. これで終りにしましょう。皆さん、お疲れ様でした。
Let’s end here. Thank you for your hard work, everyone.
The phrase ご苦労様です, alternatively as ご苦労さんです, used by superiors to their underlings, is synonymous with お疲れ様です. In casual settings, this may be contracted to ご苦労様 or even ご苦労.
21. よく頑張った、ご苦労さん！ (Boss Talk)
You worked hard. Thanks for your work!
Typically, when parting with someone you should show respect to, it is customary to say 失礼します. For instance, say you’re a student that went to your teacher’s office hours, you’d part with him/her by saying this. When leaving somewhere in a hurry, you may also hear どうも.
22. 社員：「ほかに仕事はありませんか。」
上司：「いや、今日は大丈夫です。」
社員：「わかりました。では、お先に失礼します。」
上司：「はい、お疲れ。」
Employee: “Is there anything else to do?”
Boss: “No, we’re good for today.”
Employee: “Understood. In which case, do pardon me for leaving first.”
Boss: “That’s fine. Good work.”
さらば
The phrase さらば7 also means “farewell,” but it too is very old-fashioned, it often has a more surreal, serious tone and is heard a lot in emphatic contexts, especially in anime.
23. さらば、未来。
Farewell, future.
24. （お）さらばだ。
Farewell.
25. さらば、函館よ。
Farewell, Hakodate.
Leaving
Whenever you leave somewhere but intend to come back, say 行ってきます or some variant of it.
| Plain Speech | Polite Speech | Humble Speech |
| 行ってくる | 行ってきます | 行ってまいります |
If you see these phrases in the past tense, that implies that the person went somewhere but has since returned.
26. 今から英会話に行ってきます。
I’m heading to English conversation now (and will be back).
27. ちょっと行ってくるね。
I’m going to be out for a bit, okay?
28. それでは夢の世界へ行いってまいります。
Well now, I will be heading to a/the world of dreams!
29. ロンドンに行ってまいります。
I’m going to London (and will be back).
30. 社員旅行で沖縄に行ってきました！
I went on a company trip to Okinawa.
31. 全員で院外研修に行ってまいりました。
We all went together to an outside training.
Going Out to Do…
The above grammar can be extended by replacing the verb 行く (to go) with any action verb.
32. じゃ、薬を買ってきます。
Well then, I’ll go buy medicine (and be right back).
33. 戻ってくるから、安心してね。
I’ll be right back, so relax.
34. ミュウツーをゲットしてきました。
I’ve come back having caught Mewtwo.
Returning
In response to someone leaving for somewhere, those present customarily say 行ってらっしゃい, literally meaning “go and come back.” In more formal speech, you may see ～ませ tacked on to get 行ってらっしゃいませ.
35. はい、行ってらっしゃい。
Well then, be back safely.
36. それでは、お気をつけて行ってらっしゃい（ませ）。
Well then, please be careful and get back safely.
When returning to the office or any other place, you will use phrases like the following depending on how formal you need to be.
37. ただいま戻りました。(Polite)
I’ve returned.
38. 戻ってきたよ。(Casual)
I’m back.
39. もう会社に戻ってますよ。(Polite-Casual)
I’m already back at work (company).
When returning home, it is customary to say ただいま, which literally means “now,” emphasizing that you’re home at last. Those present say お帰りなさい. The addition of ～なさい depends on the dynamics in the home8.
40.
旦那：ただいま（帰りました）9！
妻：お帰り（なさい）。
Husband: I’m home!
Wife: Welcome back.
Welcome Phrases 歓迎の言葉
The basic word for “welcome” is ようこそ. It can either go at the front or the end of a sentence, but when at the front, the grammar is inverted (Exs. 41-42, 45).
ようこそ can be used with both the particles へ and に, but the particle へ best gives off a sense of adventure. When ようこそ is at the front of the sentence, only へ is used.
41. ようこそ、地獄へ。
Welcome to hell.
42. ようこそ、日本へ！
Welcome to Japan.
43. スイス｛へ・に｝ようこそ。
Welcome to Switzerland.
44. この世界へようこそ。
Welcome to this world.
45. ようこそWindows 10へ。
Welcome to Windows 10.
Notable Variants
Other similar expressions will serve specific purposes, as demonstrated by the following examples.
46. 本日はようこそ｛お出で・お越し｝くださいました。
Thank you for coming today.
47. ｛ようこそ・よく｝（日本に）いらっしゃいました。
Thank you for coming (to Japan)!
48. いっらしゃいませ！(Formal)
Welcome!
いらっしゃいませ is famous for being used by industry workers. More casually, it can also be heard as いらっしゃい.
Whenever you travel across Japan and get off at the local train station or airport, you will likely encounter the local expression for “welcome.” Here are some of the most famous ones. From the phrasing alone in each one, you can gain a lot of insight into how the local grammar works.
| Dialect/Language | Welcome! |
| Okinawan | めんそーれ！ |
| Kyoto Dialect | おこしやす！ |
| Nagoya Dialect | よういりゃあたなも！ |
| Kagoshima Dialect | おじゃったもんせ！ |
- Okinawan (沖縄語) is a sister language of Japanese, spoken natively to inhabitants of the main island of Okinawa. ↩︎
- 押忍 is a classic case of 当て字. The sound changes which led to おっす・うっす went as follows: おはよーっす → おわーす → おっす → うっす. All intermediary stages may also still be heard. ↩︎
- っす is a shortening of です which creeps up in a rather casual environment in which politer speech is anticipated in highlight of social dynamics at hand, and it is incidentally etymologically embedded in おっす to begin with. ↩︎
- ちわっす is another example of っす being tacked onto things not inherently expected of です, which is indicative of how wide-ranging it can be used as a politeness marker. ↩︎
- ニュース７ is read as ニュースセブン. English-derived numbers are becoming more common when used with other English-derived words. ↩︎
- 左様ならば literally means “if that is so.” 左様 is 当て字. Its full iteration, which was once used by the warrior class, is 左様ならばお暇仕る. ↩︎
- さらば is synonymous with 左様ならば, though not as inherently honorific. It, too, would have initially been incorporated into a larger 別れの挨拶 such as さらばこれにて. In its heyday, one could hear さらばさらば, or even hear townsfolk use おさらば among each other, things which you may still hear in dramas. Though normally not written in Kanji, its Kanji spelling is 然らば. ↩︎
- Polite speech norms have been pioneered by female speech for centuries, but many women nowadays do not approve of the implications of speaking ‘formally’ for the sake of their role as wife to their husbands, preferring to stick with casual speech norms to maintain close, intimate feelings. ↩︎
- Conversely, husbands and wives may come home utilizing the full, ‘proper’ forms of 挨拶 to create a homely environment for their children. ↩︎