English and Japanese don’t always match up, and it can be hard to find the best way to translate a common English phrase.<\/p>\n
One example is “take care.”
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The most common ways to say “take care” are お大事に (odaijini) and お元気で (ogenkide). Both these phrases express a desire that the person you are speaking to remains safe and in good health, just like the English phrase “take care.” <\/strong><\/p>\n However, other phrases can be translated as “take care.” One is いってらっしゃい (itterasshai), commonly said to someone leaving the home. 気を付けて can be translated as “take care” as well.<\/strong> The literal meaning of お大事に is “of important things.” 大事, which means important, is preceded by お, which makes a phrase more polite<\/a><\/strong> and formal<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n You might notice this isn’t a complete sentence. The implied verb is typically なさってください, the respectful form of the all-purpose verb する.<\/p>\n Although する and なさる mean “to do,” they can stand in for almost any verb. In this case, the full sentence means something like “Take care of what’s important.”<\/p>\n Unless you’re being very formal, though, there’s no need to say 「お大事になさってください。」 People usually just say 「お大事に。」<\/p>\n This is not a phrase you would say as a casual goodbye.<\/p>\n Although it’s similar to “take care,” it implies that the person is either sick or likely to be in some other dangerous situation.<\/p>\n You can also use this phrase to say “get well soon.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 「大学で病気になったと聞いていますがそれは本当ですか？」 “I heard you got sick at university. Is that really true?” お大事に, translated here as “take care,” is an injunction from the grandmother to her grandchild. It’s not a goodbye<\/a><\/strong>, but a reminder of what’s important.<\/p>\n Because this isn’t a formal conversation, the grandmother didn’t add a verb. Instead, the particle ね is used to emphasize her point. Like お大事に, the phrase お元気で is focused on health.<\/p>\n If anything, this phrase is more explicitly health-based. The kanji<\/a><\/strong> 元気 mean “healthy,” so a literal translation of this phrase would be something like “be in good health.”<\/p>\n That said, お元気で is more like the English “take care” in that it’s used to say goodbye to someone in a conversation. Unlike the English phrase, however, お元気で suggests that it will be a while until you meet again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 「来週、沖縄に行く。」 “I’m going to Okinawa next week.” In this sample conversation, one person is leaving town for a while. Although the second person has to end the conversation abruptly, they do so by saying お元気で as a way of showing they wish the other person well. As any student of Japanese<\/a> can tell you, 行ってらっしゃい is often taught as a stock phrase to use when someone leaves the home.<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\nTaking care of what’s important with お大事に<\/h2>\n
Examples<\/h3>\n
\n「ええ、ばあちゃん。」
\n「まあ！お大事に<\/strong>ね。」<\/p>\n
\n“Yes, Grandma.”
\n“My! You need to take care, okay?”<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\nお元気で: Until next time<\/h2>\n
Examples<\/h3>\n
\n「そうか？いつ帰るか？」
\n「さあな。一月かも。」
\n「あ、そう。長い間だよね。」
\n「ですね。」
\n「やばい！仕事に行かなきゃ。お元気で<\/strong>！」<\/p>\n
\n“Oh yeah? When are you coming back?”
\n“Dunno. Maybe January.”
\n“Wow. That’s a long time.”
\n“Yeah.”
\n“Crap! I have to go to work<\/a><\/strong>. Take care!”<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\nHow to say “take care while you’re gone” in Japanese<\/h2>\n