On this page you will find all of the basic Japanese Greetings that you need to know when you learning Japanese. Of course just reading the words won't actually help you to speak and pronounce the language correctly, so we've also included audio so that you can also hear the words. Scroll down and click on 'Play' and the back and forward arrows to select the word you would like to hear.

Japanese	Pronunciation	English
	Ohayoo gozaimasu	Good Morning.
	Konnichi wa.	Good afternoon. [Good day][Hello]
	Konban wa.	Good evening
	Oyasumi nasai.	Good night (said just before going to bed).
	Ogenki desu ka?	How are you? [Are you in good spirits?]
	Genki	Well [ good spirits]
	Genki desu	I am very well.
	Arigatoo gozaimasu.	Thank you
	Okagesama de.	Thank you. [Due to your kind thought, am well]
	Onamae wa nan to osshaimasu ka?	What is your name?
	Onamae wa?	What is your name?
	Yamada Masao to mooshimasu.	My name is Yamada Masao.
	Yamada desu.	I am Yamada.
	Watakushi no namae wa Yamada desu.	My name is Yamada.
	Gomen nasai	Excuse me. I'm sorry.
	Ii desu.	That's all right
	Sayounara	Good bye. / See you later.
	Do-itashi-mashite	You're welcome.
	Sumimasen	I'm sorry. / Excuse me. / Thank you.
	Gomen-nasai	I'm terribly sorry.
	Ogenki-desu-ka?	How are you?
	Do-shimashita-ka?	What's the matter?
	Odaijini	Take good care of yourself.

 

Now let's study some of the greetings you'll use right from the start. The words in brackets are literal translation.

The suffix  -san is used in Japanese as a term of respect meaning "Mr.","Mrs","Miss","Sir","or "Madam"
Japanese people use their last names before their first names; therefore, Yamada is the last name of the person speaking. When giving their names in English, however, Japanese people usually adopt the Western order. For a Western name, even while speaking Japanese, the Western order is also usually used.

 

Yukkuri	Slowly
Yukkuri hanashite kudasai	Please speak slowly.
Douzo	Please
Douzo yukkuri hanashite kudasai	Please speak slowly
Moo ichido	Once more
Itte Kudasai.	Please say [it]
Moo ichido itte kudasai	Please repeat that. [Say it once more, please.]
Douzo moo ichido itte kudasai.	Please repeat that. [Please say it once more.]
Doumo	Very much [indeed!]
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu.	Thank you very much.
Dou itashimashite.	Not at all.
Arigatoo gozaimashita.	Thank you (for what you have done)
Kochira koso.	It was a pleasure. [It was my side (that should have thanked).]
Dewa ashita.	Till tomorrow. See you tomorrow. [Well, then, tomorrow.]
Dewa Doyoobi ni.	Till Saturday. See you Saturday. [Well, then, on Saturday.]
Dewa Getsuyoobi ni.	Till Monday. See you Monday.
Dewa Mokuyoobi ni.	Till Thursday. See you Thursday.
Dewa konban.	Till this evening. See you this evening.
Dewa ashita no ban.	Till tomorrow evening. See you tomorrow evening.
Dewa raishuu.	Till next week. See you next week.
Dewa mata.	See you later.[Well, then, again.]
Dewa sono uchi ni.	See you sometime.
Sayounara.	Good-bye.