"Thank You" in Japanese: How to Express Your Gratitude in ...

“Thanks” in Japanese can be a simple どうも (doumo) or ありがとう (arigatou). Both are casual ways to say “thanks”. But there are a few slang ways to say it, ... THISishowIlearnalanguagein3months. Getthedetailshere Home»Articles»“ThankYou”inJapanese:HowtoExpressYourGratitudeinJapanese SHARE “ThankYou”inJapanese:HowtoExpressYourGratitudeinJapanese writtenbyCaitlinSacasas Fulldisclosure:Thispostcontainsaffiliatelinks.? Arigato!You’veprobablyheardthatphrasebefore,andknowthedomoarigatomeaningfrom“Mr.Roboto”…Butdoyouknowallthewaystosay“thankyou”inJapanese? Japanese,likeEnglish,hasdifferentvariationsof“thankyou”,like“thanks”and“thankyousomuch.” Buttherearealsodifferentwaystosaythankyoudependingonthesituationandtheformalityneeded. Andsometimes,“excuseme”or“I’msorry”issaidinstead! So,let’slearnhowtosay“thankyou”inJapanesesoyoucanproperlyexpressyourgratitude. TableofcontentsHowtoSayThankYouinJapaneseSayingThankswithSumimaseninsteadofArigatouThankYouVeryMuchinJapaneseThanksinJapaneseThankYoufortheFoodinJapaneseThankingSomeoneforDoingSomethingforYouinJapaneseYou’reWelcomeinJapaneseOtherJapaneseWordsfor“Thanks”and“Gratitude”GoAhead,ThankMr.Roboto! HowtoSayThankYouinJapanese So…howdoyousaythankyouinJapanese?Well,themostcommonandstandardwaytosayitisありがとう(arigatou). Yes,romanized,itshouldactuallybearigatouwithauinsteadofarigato,becauseinJapaneseithasalong“oo”soundattheend. Thisisabitonthecasualside,though,onethat’sbetterusedwithyourpeers.Ifyouwanttobemoreformal,suchasthankingastrangerorclerkatastore,youshouldusethemoreformalありがとうございます(arigatougozaimasu). Also,ifwhatyou’resaying“thankyou”forhasalreadyhappened,youcanchangeittopasttense:ありがとうございました(arigatougozaimashita). SayingThankswithSumimaseninsteadofArigatou Insomecases,it’smorecommontousetheJapanesephraseすみません(sumimasen),whichmeans“I’msorry”or“excuseme”. Butwhenweuseitinplaceofarigatou,you’reactuallysaying“I’msorrytohavetroubledyou”(whetheryouaskedforthefavorornot). InJapan,it’ssuperimportanttoacknowledgesomeone’seffortorinconvenienceonsomeoneelse’sbehalf.That’swhyphraseslikeお邪魔します(ojamashimasu)andお疲れ様でした(otsukaresamadeshita)areeverydayphrases. ThefirstinEnglishmeans“thanksforhavingmeover”butittranslatesas“I’msorryforintruding.”Andotsukaresamadeshitameans“thanksforyourhardwork”inEnglish,buttranslatesas“youmustbetired(fromallyourhardwork)”. Bothphrases,whentranslatedtoEnglish,mean“thanks”.ButinJapanese,theyacknowledgesomeone’seffortorinconvenienceonyourbehalf. すみません(sumimasen)isthesameway.Whensomeonehasdonesomethingforyouthat’stakenuptheirtime,effort,money,orenergy,thenyoucanreplywithすみません(sumimasen).It’softenusedwhenreceivinggifts,forexample. ThankYouVeryMuchinJapanese Domoarigato,Mr.Roboto… Domoarigato(orinproperromanization,doumoarigatou,withlong“oo”sounds)means“thankyouverymuch”.どうもありがとう(doumoarigatou)ismoreformalthanarigatoubyitself.Butit’sstillappropriatetosaywithfriendsandfamily,especiallyiftheydidahugefavorforyou. It’smorecommontousethisphraseinitsmoreformalform:どうもありがとうございます(doumoarigatougozaimasu). どうも(doumo)translatesas“thanks”becausethat’sthemainusefortheword,butit’sanemphasizingwordlike“very”.Soyouusethistoemphasizehowthankfulyouare. Basically,youcanplayaroundwithhowyouuseどうも(doumo),ありがとう(arigatou),andございます/ました(gozaimasu/mashita)tochangeupyourlevelofthanksandformality. Youcouldsayどうも(doumo). Orどうもありがとう(doumoarigatou). Orありがとう(arigatou). Orありがとうございます(arigatougozaimasu). Orどうもありがとうございました(doumoarigatougozaimashita). Yougetthepoint.There’splentyofwaystosaythankyouinJapanese! There’soneotherphrasetomentionhere:恐れ入ります(osoreirimasu).Thisisanextremelyformalphrase,andonethat’sontheapologeticsidelikeすみません(sumimasen). Youwon’tusethisphraseoften,butyou’llhearitsaidtoyou.恐れ入ります(osoreirimasu)isoftenusedbyshopclerksorworkerstotheircustomerstothankthem. ThanksinJapanese “Thanks”inJapanesecanbeasimpleどうも(doumo)orありがとう(arigatou).Botharecasualwaystosay“thanks”. Butthereareafewslangwaystosayit,too.Onecommonwaytosay“thanks”isサンキュー(sankyuu),whichistakenstraightfromEnglish. Anotherslangwaytosaythanksisあざっす(azassu).Sometimesthisisshortenedevenmoreintext,whereitbecomesAZS(yes,inEnglishcharacters),ありー(ari-)orあーと(a-to).They’reallshortformsofthefullphraseありがとうございます(arigatougozaimasu). ThankYoufortheFoodinJapanese TherearetwoculturalphrasesinJapanesethathavenodirecttranslationinEnglish,butmoreorlessmean“thankyouforthisfood”.Theyare: いただきます(itadakimasu)ごうちそうさまでした(gouchisousamadeshita) Thefirst,いただきます(itadakimasu)issaidbeforeyoustarteating.It’slikeacrossbetweentheFrenchbonappetitandsayinggracebeforeyoueat:“thankyouforthisfood,amen.” Itadakimasuletseveryoneknowit’stimetostarteating,whilealsoexpressingthanksforhavingfoodtoeatandthosewhoaresharingitwithyou. ごうちそうさまでした(gouchisousamadeshita)issaidafterthemeal.Itmeans“thankyouforthisfood”aswell.You’llsaytoexpressgratitudenotonlyforthefood,butalsotoeveryonewhoenjoyeditwithyou,thechefwhocookedit,andifsomeoneelsepaidforit. ThankingSomeoneforDoingSomethingforYouinJapanese There’sactuallyaspecificgrammarpatternyouusewhenyouwanttothanksomeonespecificallyfordoingsomethingforyou. It’s~てくれてありがとう(~tekuretearigatou). First,you’llneedtoknowhowtoconjugateintoJapanesete-formforthisone,sobrushuponthatifyouneedto. You’llchangetheverbformtote-form,theJapaneseversionofEnglish-ingending.Thenyou’lladdくれて(kurete)andwhateverformofthankyouthat’sappropriateforthesituationasdiscussedabove. くれる(kureru)istheverbmeaning“toreceive(fromsomeoneelse)”.Weusethisverbwhensomeoneelsehasdoneusafavor. Here’sanexample: この本を貸してくれてありがとう！とっても面白かった。

Konohonwokashitekuretearigatou!Tottemoomoshirokatta.“Thanksforlendingmethisbook!Itwasreallyinteresting.” You’reWelcomeinJapanese “You’rewelcome”inJapaneseisどういたしまして(douitashimashite).Butthisisaformalwaytosay“you’rewelcome.” There’sactuallymanywaystosay“you’rewelcome”inJapanese,too. Forinstance,incasualsituations,youcouldsay… ううん(uun):“No”(casual)全然(zenzen):“Notatall”問題もない(mondaimonai):“Noproblem”いいえいいえ(iieiie):“No”(moreformal)別に(betsuni):“Nothing”or“Noproblem”うん、いいよ(un,iiyo):“Yup,it’sfine”大丈夫(daijoubu):“It’salright”いやいやいや(iyaiyaiya):“Nonono…”(casual,usedinadenialway)もちろん(mochiron):“Ofcourse” Andtheseareoftenusedinvariouscombinations,too.Like: ううん、問題もないよ。

(uun,mondaimonaiyo):“Nah,itwasnoproblem.”うん、別にいいよ。

(un,betsuniiiyo):“Yeah,it’snothing(don’tworryaboutit).”全然問題もない。

(zenzenmondaimonai):“Noproblematall!”いやいやいや、別に。

(iyaiyaiya,betsuni):“No,nono,itwasnothing/nobigdeal.”うん、もちろん大丈夫ね。

(un,mochirondaijoubune):“Yeah,ofcourse,it’sfine!” Thereareacoupleofotherformalphrasesfor“you’rewelcome”toothatareespeciallycommonintheworkplace.Suchas: こちらこそ(kochirakoso):Thismeans“likewise”butinreplytothankyou,itmeanssomethinglike“Ishouldalsobethankingyou”or“thankyouaswell”.遠慮しないでください(enryoshinaidekudasai):“Don’thesitate(toaskforhelp)”.Youcanalsoshortenthisto遠慮しないで(enryoshinaide)whenspeakingtoapeer. OtherJapaneseWordsfor“Thanks”and“Gratitude” We’realmostthere!Therearejustafewmorehandyphrasesyouneedtoknowtoexpressyourgratitudeandsay“thanks”inJapanese. Thewordfor“gratitude”inJapaneseis感謝(kansha),anditcanbeturnedintoaverbbyattachingする(suru,“todo”).Soitbecomes感謝する(kanshasuru),meaning“tobegrateful”or“tobethankful”. You’llusethisverbalotwhenyouwanttoexpressyourthanksasaverb,like: 美味しい夕食に感謝します。

Oishiiyuushokunikanshashimasu.“Thankyouforadeliciousdinner.”or“I’mthankfulforthedeliciousdinner.” Youcanalsouseありがたい(arigatai)tomean“thankfully”asanadjective. 天気が良かったのでありがたいです。

Tenkigayokattanodearigataidesu.“I’mthankfulforthegoodweather.” There'salsothephraseお陰様で(okagesamade)whichisusedquiteoftenineverydaylife.It’sabitformal,butitmeans“thankstoyou.” Thisisoftensaidtosaythankyouforsomethinggoingwellorasareplytoacomplimentinwhichtheotherpersonhelpedyouearn. Forexample,let’ssayyourfriendhelpedyouprepareforanupcomingexam.Onceyoutooktheexam,youdidreallywellandyoushowedyourfriend.Thatexchangemightlooklike: 友達:うわー！試験で本当にうまくいった！Tomodachi:Uwa-!Shikendehontouniumakuitta!私:お陰様で！Watashi:Okagesamade! Friend:“Wow!Youdidreallywellonyourexam!”Me:“Allthankstoyou!” You’llnoticeinthisexample,weused本当に(hontouni).Thismeans“really”andit’softenusedtoexpresssincerethankswithありがとう(arigatou),like本当にありがとうございます(hontouniarigatougozaimasu).“Really,thankyousomuch!” Youcanuse誠に(makotoni,“sincerely”)inthesameway,too,althoughthismakesitmoreformal. GoAhead,ThankMr.Roboto! Well,theStyxmayhavewarmedyouupforthislesson,buttherewasstillsomuchtolearn.Butnow,you’reaproatexpressingyourgratitude. Don’tforgettolearnmore挨拶(aisatsu,“greetings”)andessentialJapanesephrasesnext.Youcouldalsomasterhowtosay“I’msorry”inJapanese,too. GostartthankingeveryoneyouknowinJapanese! LearnthewayyouwantwithPod101,Benny'sfavouritewaytostartalanguage.Getyourspecialdiscounthere. CaitlinSacasas ContentWriter,Fluentin3Months Caitlinisacontentcreator,fitnesstrainer,zerowaster,languagelover,andStarWarsnerd.SheblogsaboutfitnessandsustainabilityatRebelHeartBeauty. Speaks:English,Japanese,Korean,Spanish ViewallpostsbyCaitlinSacasas Fluentin3Months:TheChallenge Havea15-minuteconversationinyournewlanguageafter90days JOINTHECHALLENGE ◂ALLARTICLES