11 Ways to Say Thank You in Japanese - Amazing Talker

Five informal ways to say “Thank you” · 1. Arigatou (ありがとう). As discussed above, arigato is the casual way of saying thank you whether in ... Skiptocontent 11WaystoSayThankYouinJapanese:SayMoreThanArigatou 2022-02-21 Japanese Showinggratitudeispossiblyoneofthemostuniversalwaysofacknowledginganactofkindnessorgeneralappreciationtowardssomeoneelse,sowearegoingtoteachyouhowtosaythankyouinJapaneseinthearticle.InEnglish,saying“Thankyou”,isthemostuniversalwayofexpressinggratitude.Japaneseontheotherhandtakesittoanevengreaterextentduetoitsmanyvariationswhichcanbeconfusing;andshowinggratitudeisoneofthemostimportantthingsinJapaneseculture,whichmakeslearninghowtosaythankyouinJapaneseevenmoreimportant. Saying“Thankyou”inJapaneseisn’tassimpleasonemightthink.Therearealotofgrayareasbecausethecontextdetermineshowaparticularphraseisused.Forexample,kansha(感謝)alsomeansthankyouorgratitudeinJapaneseandismostlyusedinformalsettingssuchasanemailtoexpressdeepappreciationtowardssomething.Ontheotherhand,“Arigato”(有り難う)initselfistheinformalformofsayingthankyoubutitsalternative“Arigatogozaimasu”(ありがとございます)istheveryformalformofthesayingthankyouandismostlyapplicabletoelders. Fromtheaboveexample,welearnthatthevariationsinwhichtheword“Thankyou”isusedinJapanesedependontheformal/informalcontextandwhomwe’readdressing.AsweobservetheJapanesetradition,theactofbowingone’sheadcanbeasignofrespect,apology,recognition,orhumbling;theseactsexemplifythesignificanceofcustomsinJapaneseculturewhichtranslatetotheirmannerismoretiquettesthroughdialogue.   11Waystosay“Thankyou” Source:freepik ExpandingonthevariousformsofsayingthankyouinJapanese,let’sunpackboththeinformalformsandformalformsofgivingthanks.Tomakelearningeasier,eachphraseisaccompaniedbyanaudiorecordingtoassistwiththepronunciationofeachword. Fiveinformalwaystosay“Thankyou” Let’sstartwiththefiveinformalformsof“Thankyou”alongwithaudiorecordingandshortexamplesforeachnewvocabulary.Itisimportanttopayattentiontothesyllablesineachwordtopronounceeachvocabularyascorrectlyaspossible(especiallyifyouplanontickingJapanoffyourbucketlist). １.Arigatou(ありがとう) Asdiscussedabove,arigatoisthecasualwayofsayingthankyouwhetherinthepresenceoffriends,closefamily,thankingastranger,etc.Theuseofthe“Arigato”inthisformkeepstheconversationlaidback. Arigatoisthemostgeneric,mostpopularlytaughtphraseinJapanesetextbooks.Ifyoupayattentiontothepronunciationintheaudionote,youwillnoticethattheJapanesepronunciationdragstheendintoan“oo”sound,andbecauseofthis,theRomanizedword“Arigato”isoftenwrittenas“Arigatou”toillustratethe“ou”soundattheend.Bothformshoweverareacceptable. ２.Domo(どうも) Domoor“Domou”isaveryinformalformofArigatou;itisshortandsweetandcanbeusedinpassingtosaythankyou.Generally,youcanuseeitherArigatouorDomointheinformalcontextbut“Domo”simplymeans“very”. Theinterestingfactaboutthisisthatthecombinationof“Domo”and“Arigato”givesawholenewmeaningtothisword.DomoArigatou(どうもありがとう)means“Thankyouverymuch”.Thisisagreatillustrationofhow“Domo”canbeusedtogiveawholenewmeaningtoaphrase. ３.Sankyu(サンキュ) Ifyou’relookingforawordthatisthedirectEnglishtranslation,hereitisSankyu(サンキュ)whichliterallymeansthankyou,informally.ThiswordisnotanoriginalJapanesewordandisinfactborrowed—itiswritteninKatakanaandnotHigarana ４.Azasu(あざす) Nowwetouchbaseonsomeslangwords—wordsthatareusedininformalsettings,mostlybytheyoungergeneration,andaregenerallyexclusivelyunderstoodbypeopleofthesamegroupsuchasteenagers.Azasuistheslangfor“Thankya”notthankyouandistheslangversionoftheformalphrase“Arigatougozaimasu”(ありがとうごeざいます).AnimportantthingtorememberAzasushouldneverbeusedamongelders,teachers,oranypersonofhighpower ５.Sumanai(すまない) AnothercoolslangwordtakenfromaformalphraseisSumanai(すまない)whichisderivedfromsumimasen(すみません).Sumanaiismostlyusedbyboystowardsgirlsnotbecauseitisagenderedphrasebutbecauseoftheharshtoneoftheword.Generally,itisusedamongpeers.   Sixformalwaystosay“Thankyou” Source:freepik Theformalwaysofsaying“Thankyou”aren’tnormallyusedineverydaylife.Someofthesephrasesarebestappliedinofficeorformalsettingswhenaddressingelders,teachers,oranyoneofgreaterauthorityasasignofrespect.Herearesomeformalwaystosay“Thankyou” １.Sumimasen(すみません) ThedirectEnglishdefinitionofSumimasen(すみません)is“I’msorry”or“I’msorrytohavetroubledyou”.Itisusuallyusedasaconsequenceofsomeonedoingsomethingforyou.YoucanlearnalotofdifferentwaysofhowtosaysorryinJapanese.OneofthecoreteachingsofJapanesecultureistheimportanceofacknowledgingsomeone’seffortorinconvenienceonsomeoneelse’sbehalf.TalkingaboutJapaneseculture,onethingyoumightwanttoknowisthatthereareculturaltipswhenyouwanttosayIloveyouinJapanese. ２.Osoreirimasu(恐れ入ります) IpresenttoyoutheholygrailofallformalJapanesephrases:Osoreirimasu(恐れ入ります).ItiswhatIcalla“formallyformal”phrasei.e.,veryformal,andisusedwhenexpressingdeepsorroworremorse.Itwouldbebesttousethewordswhensomethingimpactfulhashappenedandapersonwishestoexpressapologiesforthetroublethey’vecausedyou. ３. Arigatougozaimasu(ありがとうごeざいます) Whenthankingastranger,elder,oranyoneinahighposition,youwouldmostlikelyuse“Arigatougozaimasu”(ありがとうございます).Itisapopularandpolitewayofsayingthankyou. ４.Domoarigatougozaimasu(どうもありがとうございます) Asyourecall,“Domo”canhavedifferentmeaningsforaphrasedependingonwhatfollowsafterit.Domomeans“very”andinthisphrase,“Domoarigatougozaimasu”(どうもありがとうございます)meansthankyouverymuch. “Domo”addsanotherlevelofpolitenesswhichmakesthephraseformal.Justlikeeveryotherformalword,contextisimportantsoifyou’readdressingeldersremembertorespondappropriately. ５.HaishaMoushiagemasu(拝謝申し上げます) This“Thankyou”phraseisbestusedtoshowrespecttowardsanotherperson.Itcanbeaparentorolderfigure. ６.OsoreIrimasu(おそれいります) Manyoftheseformalphrasesdiscussescanbeappliedtonormalsettings.ItcouldalsobethatOsoreIrimasu(おそれいります)isasuperformal“Thankyou”likeOsoreirimasu(恐れ入ります).Iwouldrecommendusingthisphraseinabusinesssettingorspecialoccasion. HereisthecompilationofdifferentanimecharacterssayingthankyouinJapanese! ArigatouForReading! Iwouldliketoleaveyouwithtwotipsifyou’relookingtolearnJapanese.Thefirstistodevelopthehabitoflearningthecontextsofhowphrasesareusedasawholeandfromitdrawinginferenceonwhattheytranslatetoinyournativetongue.Aswe’velearnedinthisarticle,forexample,therearemanywaystosay“Thankyou”buteachhasitsownsetofrulesforhowtheyareused—sokeepthisinmind.Whenyoulearnsomephrases,don’tforgettolearnhowtosaygoodmorninginJapaneseandhelloinJapanese.Secondly,agreatruleofthumbwhendecidingwhetheraphraseisformalornotisbylookingatthelengthoftheexpression.TheLongerformsofexpressionarethemostformal.LearninghowtowriteJapanesecharactersisthefirststepoflearningJapanese! Letmeleaveyouwiththisfunfact;Japanesehaspastandpresentformsofsaying“Thankyou”.Crazy,Iknow!Soifyou’rethankingsomeoneforsomethingthathashappenedinthepastformally,you’dsay“Arigatougozaimashita”(ありがとうございました).Thepresenttenseformalis“Arigatougozaimasu”(ありがとうございます). Nowthatyou’velearnedtosaythankyouinJapanese,becomeaprofessionalandlearntospeaklikeanativespeakerwithAmazingTalker. AboutAmazingTalker AmazingTalkeroffersprofessionalonlinelanguagetutorsandteachersfromaroundtheworld.Weofferpersonalizedone-on-oneonlinetutoringthatcanhelpyoumasterKoreanmorequicklyandknowyourneedsmoreclearly.flexiblescheduleswithnojoiningfee.It’sagreatwaytostartyourKoreanlearningmoresystematicallywithalowbudget. Checknow RelatedArticles Top6bestplatformstolearnKoreanonline Readmore Top10Spanishclassonlinefree2022 Readmore 14waystolearnAmericanEnglishonlineandspeaklikeanative! Readmore Best10FrenchPodcaststoLearnFrench:ForAllLevels Readmore Top10AccreditedOnlineWritingCoursesin2022 Readmore HowtoLearnFrenchEfficiently:AStep-by-StepGuideforAll Readmore DaysoftheWeekinSpanish:“Lunes”(Mon)to“Domingo”(Sun) Readmore JapaneseCharacterGuide:Hiragana,KatakanaandKanjiCharts Readmore 12thingsyouMUSTknowinyourfirstmonthofJapaneselearning! 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