10 Ways to Say Thank You in Japanese - WAttention.com

1. Thank you in Japanese: Arigatou (ありがとう) ... Of course, we have our “arigatou”. That's the most basic way of saying thank you and the ... 0 AREAS HOKKAIDO TOHOKU KANTO CHUBU KANSAI CHUGOKU SHIKOKU KYUSYU-OKINAWA INTERESTS CULTURE SPOTS FOOD&DRINK NATURE EXPERIENCE SHOPPING NINJABLOG ABOUTWAttention language ENGLISH 繁體字 ภาษาไทย Wednesday,September14,2022 ENGLISH 繁體字 ภาษาไทย Singapore Signin Welcome!Logintoyouraccount yourusername yourpassword Forgotyourpassword?Gethelp Passwordrecovery Recoveryourpassword youremail Apasswordwillbee-mailedtoyou. WAttention.com AREAS HOKKAIDO TOHOKU KANTO CHUBU KANSAI CHUGOKU SHIKOKU KYUSYU-OKINAWA INTERESTS CULTURE SPOTS FOOD&DRINK NATURE EXPERIENCE SHOPPING NINJABLOG ABOUT SIGNUPWITHUS! Saying“thankyou”inJapaneseisnotasstraightforwardasyoumightthink.Infact,there’smorethanonewaytoexpressyourappreciationinthisuniquelanguage.What’smore,thereareafewaspectsyouneedtoconsiderbeforechoosingtheappropriatephrasetosaythankyouinJapanese.Forone,socialstatusisquitesignificantinJapaneseculture—dependingonwhatsocialclassyou’rein,yourresponseandwayoftalkingtoanotherpersondiffers.Somephrasesarebetteroffbeingsaidtoafriend,whileothersaremoreappropriateinanofficesetting.Don’tpanic—here’sarundownofthe10mostconvenientphrasestosaythankyouinJapanesethatcoversallsortsofsituations. 1.ThankyouinJapanese:Arigatou(ありがとう) Ofcourse,wehaveour“arigatou”.That’sthemostbasicwayofsayingthankyouandthephraseyou’lloftenhear,especiallyinJapaneseshowsandanime.“Arigatou”isacasualphrase—muchlike“thanks”—that’susuallysaidtofamilymembers,friends,partners,andpeopleofthesameageoryounger.Thisphraseisquiteflexible,though—youcanalsouse“arigatou”toexpressthankstopeopleolderthanyou.There’soneslightchange,andthatistoswitchittothepoliteform:arigatougozaimasu(ありがとうございます).Youcanalsousethisformforstrangerslikerestaurantorhotelstaff.Wantastephighertoexpressyourdeepestappreciation?Gofor“domoarigatougozaimasu”(どもありがとうございます),whichroughlytranslatesto“thankyouverymuch”. 2.ThankyouinJapanese:Domo(どうも) ForsomeoftheJapanese,an“arigatou”isstilltoomuch.Instead,they’llcuttheexpressionshortandjustrespondwithasimple“domo”andit’lldothetrick.Youmayrecognizeitfromthepreviousphrase“domoarigatougozaimasu”—it’sjusttakingoutthe“domo”partasashorterversion.Thisphraseforsayingthankyouisextremelycasual.It’sanevenmorecasualwaytosaythankinJapanesethan“arigatou”.Becauseofitsextremelighttone,thisphraseisoftenusedwithpeopleatthesamesocialstatuslevelasyouorlower—likeyourfriendsandyoungersiblings.It’salsookaytosayittothecashierorrestaurantstaff.Avoidusingthephrasewithyourbossoranyoneofhighersocialstatusthanyou.It’srudebecauseyoudidn’ttakethetimetothankthemintheproperway. 3.ThankyouinJapanese:Sumimasen(すみません) ThisphrasetosaythankyouinJapaneseisusedquiteoftentoo.“Sumimasen”isusuallyassociatedasanapologyor“excuseme”—fairenough,itdoescarrythosemeaningsaswell.However,thisphrasedoublesasbothasorryandathankyou.InJapaneseculture,it’smorecommontoapologizeinsteadofjustacknowledgingthatsomeonehasgonethroughthetroubleforyou.It’sallpartandparcelofthepolitenessthat’sdeeplyrootedintheculture.Forexample,ifyoudropsomethingandakindsoulbehindyoupicksitupandcatchesupwithyoutogiveyoubackyourstuff,youcanuse“sumimasen”toacknowledgethattheywentthroughthattroublefordoingsomethingforyou. 4.ThankyouinJapanese:Kanshashimasu(感謝します) Anotherwaytosaythankyouisbyusingthephrase“kanshashimasu”.Unlikethefirstfewphraseswhereit’smoreoftenhearddaytoday,thisphraseisusuallywrittenmorethanspoken.Italsohasapolitertonethantherest.Theusualsettingyou’llbeabletousethisphraseisinemails.Sometimes,emailscanstartwith“itsumosapotoshiteitadaki,kanshashimasu”(いつもさーポッとしていただき、感謝します),whichmeans“thankyouforyourcontinuedsupport”. 5.ThankyouinJapanese:Sankyu(サンキュ) Ifthephrasedoesn’talreadysoundfamiliar,letmebreakitdownforyou.Thephrase“sankyu”isbasicallytheJapanifiedversionoftheEnglishphrase“thankyou”.Becauseit’saborrowedphraseandnotanoriginalJapaneseword,it’swritteninkatakanainsteadofhiragana.“Sankyu”ismuch,muchmorecasualthananyofthephrasesintroducedearlier.IwouldnormallyusethiswayofsayingthankyoutofriendsandpeoplethatI’malreadyacquaintedandfamiliarwith.Stayawayfromusingthiswithyourhigherups,definitely—andmaybeevenpeopleyou’renotsoclosewith. 6.ThankyouinJapanese:Kuretearigatou(～くれてありがとう) Thisphrasetosaythankyouhasawordthatwe’realreadyfamiliarwith:“arigatou”.“Kuretearigatou”isanextensiveversionofthecasual“arigatou”,anditexpressesadeepergratitudewhenused.Let’ssayyourfrienddidyouafavourandyouwanttoconveyyourbigappreciationforthehelp,youcansay“tasuketekuretearigatou”(助けてくれてありがとう),whichmeans“thankyousomuchforhelpingme”.Similarwith“arigatou”,“kuretearigatou”isjustasflexible—itcanbeusedcasuallyandformally.Tomakeitmorepolite,add“gozaimasu”(ございます)attheendofit:“tasuketekuretearigatougozaimasu”(助けてくれてありがとうございます). 7.ThankyouinJapanese:Azasu(あざす) Ofcourse,Ihavetointroduceaslangphraseofthankyou,andthatis“azasu”.Ifyousay“arigatougozaimasu”fastenough,it’llprettymuchsoundlike“azasu”—andthat’showtheslangformcameabout.Thisgoeswithoutsaying,butlikeanyotherslangwords,ithasthemostcasualandlightesttone,somaybeavoidusingittoyourteacherorhigher-ups.You’llhearthisfromyourfriendsandfamily,andespeciallyamongtheyoungercrowd. 8.ThankyouinJapanese:Sumanai(すまない) Youknowhow“azasu”isaslangversionof“arigatougozaimasu”?Well,“sumanai”ismoreorlesstheslangversionof“sumimasen”.You’llprobablyhearguysusingthisphrasetosaythankyoumoreoftenthangirls,butit’sbynomeansagenderedphrase—you’lljustbeperceivedtohaveaslightlyharshertone.Similarly,thisisextremelycasual,sosticktousingthisamongfriends—nevertoyourboss! 9.ThankyouinJapanese:Osoreirimasu(恐れ入ります) JumpingbackintotheformalmixofthankyouphrasesinJapaneseis“osoreirimasu”.I’dsay,outofthelistofphrasestosaythankyou,thiswouldbethemostformalofthemall.Youdon’thearitcasuallyeveryday—infact,youdon’tevenheariteverydayintheofficesetting.Itdoesonlypopupinthemoreformalsituationslikemeetingsandtalkingtoyourhigher-ups.It’scomparableto“sumimasen”butwithalevelup.Theonlydifferencebetweenthetwoisthat“sumimasen”canbeusedtoapologisebut“osoreirimasu”can’t—it’sonlyusedtoacknowledgethetroublesomeonehasdoneforyou.It’llberatherunusualtosayittoyourfriendsorfamily,soreserveitforcustomersandyourbosses—you’llbesuretoimpressthem. 10.ThankyouinJapanese:Otsukaresama(お疲れ様) Thislastonedoesn’tonlyhaveonemeaning—it’saprettyflexiblephrase—butitcanbeusedtothanksomeone,specificallytothankthemfortheirhardwork.Youcanuseitwithbasicallyanyone,fromyoursuperiorsandco-workerstofriendsandfamily.Usually,afteralongdayofhardwork,thisphraseislikeasubtlepick-me-up.Youcanalsousethisasagreeting,butnotlikehowyouuse“ohayou”(おはよう)—you’reacknowledgingtheotherperson’shardworkbeforestartingaconversation. Whowould’vethoughtthatJapanhasmorethanasinglewaytosaythankyouinJapanese—andtheyallhavespecificsettingsthatthey’reappropriatefor.So,nexttime,insteadofgoingstraightforthe“arigatou”,runthroughthislistofconvenientJapanesephrasestosaythankyouandpicktheonethat’sbest! AzraSyakirah Usuallytuckedawayinacafeanywhereshegoes,AzraSyakirahisafashiondesignerandentrepreneurlivinginTokyo,Japan.BornandbredinSingapore,herheartbelongstotheworld.Alsoalanguageenthusiast,shevirtuallyscribblesherthoughtsonablogaswellasfreelancesasawriter. *Disclaimer:Thisarticlewaswrittenbyanoutsidewriter,andWAttentionisnotresponsibleforanydamagecausedbytheinformationonthispage.Pleasebeawarethattheaccuracyoftheinformationpostedinthisarticleisnotguarantied,andthecontentmaybechangedwithoutnotice. 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