We hope that you have enjoyed the lessons so far. Today we will be
learning about a few different greetings and disassembling them,
giving you a better perspective on the construct of Japanese words.
In this lesson, as well as any other that involves vocabulary, be
sure to take advantage of our Vocabulary Tracking system by adding
new words to your own personal dictionary.
In Japan, it is polite to say "
good
afternoon", "
good
evening" and"
good
morning". If you would like to greet someone, instead of
saying “hello” you could simply say “good [blank]”.
Let’s review some examples:
| ENGLISH |
ROMAJI |
HIRAGANA |
| Good Afternoon |
Konnichiwa |
こんにちは |
| Good Evening |
Konbanwa |
こんばんは |
Did you notice that
both
konnichiwa and
konbanwa follow a similar pattern? They both start
with “
kon” and end with “
wa”. Let’s look at this a little further.
| SNIP |
DESCRIPTION |
| Kon |
Is the root word that indicates the present time. |
| Nichi |
This portion of “konichiwa” means day. |
| Wa |
In this instance is used as a particle. Because it is used as a
particle it is written in hiragana as "ha" and not "wa". We will
later learn the reason why and study the meaning behind
particles. |
| Ban |
This portion of "konbanwa" means night, but can also
mean other things as well. |
By understanding the construct of these words, you can now see how
easy Japanese is going to be. Please keep an open mind about how
words and phrases are constructed to accelerate your learning
speed. In the future, you will learn many more uses of
"
kon" and "
wa" and as a reminder, we will later learn in
another lesson about particles.
These two new greetings are slightly more complicated than the
previous ones but don’t worry, they will come to you naturally very
soon.
| ENGLISH |
ROMAJI |
HIRAGANA |
| Good Morning |
Ohayou gozaimasu |
おはようございます |
| Good Night |
Oyasuminasai |
おやすみなさい |
As you may have noticed, Good Morning has two words, "
Ohayou" and "
gozaimasu". While it is likely more used just by
saying "
ohayou", it is informal and if
speaking to non-friends such as family or co-workers, it can be
perceived as being impolite or rude.
Being polite in Japan is
very important regardless of age or
gender and especially so when speaking to those older than you
and/or has higher status.
The word "Ohayou" could be roughly translated as
g'morning, hence why it is informal to use
it on its own. The word "
gozaimasu" in
this instance is more of a sign of politeness and to further
elaborate would be premature. We will learn more about the meaning
behind "gozaimasu" in a later lesson.
Remember to keep an eye
on patterns in words as this will aid you at accelerating your
studies.
| ENGLISH |
ROMAJI |
HIRAGANA |
| I'm Home |
Tadaima |
ただいま |
| Welcome Home |
Okaerinasai |
おかえりなさい |
Did you notice a pattern? When saying “Good Night” (
oyasuminasai), there is a similarity to "Welcome
Home" (
okaerinasai). The ending
"
nasai" is a polite imperative (said
by required politeness), which in this case acts as a means to give
your regards.
But strangely, the word "
okaerinasai"
does not literally mean “Welcome home” or “Welcome back” but rather
literally translates to "Please do come back". This may seem
strange and may not make much sense at first glance, however it
does make perfect sense in its own way. By telling someone "please
do come back" you are essentially letting them know that no matter
where they go, they are always welcome back.
Sentences such as these have deep impact between native speakers
and as such come the great importance of respect and
politeness.
Please be sure to complete your homework before proceeding to the
next lesson. In the next lesson, we will be learning about
Hiragana, stroke order, and how to write your first words!
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