Basic Japanese greetings

[cecil15]

Hi,

I am currently studying Japanese and I must say that I am learning little by little. If you are like me who want to learn the basic greetings used by Japanese people, here is a quick list that you can use:

Basic greetings in Japanese

• Ohayou. Good morning.
  
• Konnichiwa. Good afternoon.
  
• Konbanwa. Good evening.
  
• Nanika atta? What's up?
  
• Dou sh iteru? How's everything?
  
• Kawatta koto aru? What's new?
  
• Tadaima. I'm back (home).
  
• Ittekimasu. I'm leaving.
  

Feel free to share what you know of here. Cheers!

[mccanono]

Hi there fellow Filipino!

I am also learning Japanese and I must say that I enjoy it.

Anyway, here are some of the greetings that I know:

Hajimemashite - Nice to meet you.

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu - Please be kind to me.

Ja ne - see you

[linguaholic]

Hi all

I would like to add the Kanji for all those expressions:

Hajimema****e - Nice to meet you.  はじめまして

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu - Please be kind to me.  - よろしくお願いします

Ja ne - see you  -  じゃあね

[Miya]

I'll put cecil15's in Japanese too

• Ohayou - Good morning. おはよう。
  
• Konnichiwa - Good afternoon. こんにちは。
  
• Konbanwa - Good evening. こんばは。
  
• Naniga atta? - What's up? なにがあった？(it's naniga, not nanika)
  
• Dou sh iteru? - How's everything? どうしてる？
  
• Kawatta koto aru? - What's new? かわったことある？
  
• Tadaima. - I'm back (home). ただいま。
  
• Ittekimasu. - I'm leaving. いってきます。
  

Here are some more useful basic phrases:

• Itadakimasu! - Let's eat! いただきます！
  
• Okaeri (nasai) - Welcome home おかえり（なさい）
  
• Arigatou (gozaimasu) - Thank you very much!  ありがとう（ございます）！
  
• Sumimasen (formal), Gomennasai - I'm sorry. すみません(formal), ごめんなさい (casual)
  
• S h i tsureishimasu... - Sorry for intruding...しつれいします。
  
• Ojamashimasu! - I'm coming in!　おじゃまします！
  
• Genki desuka? - How are you?　げんきですか？
  
• Daijoubu desuka? - Are you okay? だいじょうぶですか？
  
• Ganbattekudasai! - Do your best! がんばってください！
  
• Sayonara - Good bye!　さよなら！
  
• Daisuki! - I like you! だいすき！
  
• Ais h i teru! - I love you! あいしてる！
  
• Suki na tabemono wa... - My favorite food is... すきなたべものは。。。
  
• Hai! - Yes!　はい！
  
• Iie - No 　いいえ。
  

[mccanono]

Hi all

I would like to add the Kanji for all those expressions:

Hajimema****e - Nice to meet you.  はじめまして

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu - Please be kind to me.  - よろしくお願いします

Ja ne - see you  -  じゃあね

I think that they are in Hiragana?

[Miya]

^Just the first one. The other two are correct.

Hajimemashite - Nice to meet you 初めまして

[mccanono]

Ohhhh. Souka!

Arigato ne.

I really am having a hard time noticing Kanjis in a sentence especially at a quick glance. XD All looks like hiragana to me.

How long have you been studying Japanese? If you don't mind me asking.

[Miya]

I've been studying for 2 years :] How about you?

[Meera]

Very useful phrases! Thanks for these everyone!

[xlzqwerty1]

• Naniga atta? - What's up? なにがあった？(it's naniga, not nanika)

Actually, なにかあった/何かあった？　is correct way to say What's up. It definitely is 'ka', I asked a japanese friend of mine once about how to say "What's up" and "Hello" in an informal way.

[Miya]

Thanks for correcting my mistake. I now see where I was confused.

To me:

なにかあった　－　There is something.

なにがあったの　－  What's happened?/What's wrong?

I glanced over too quickly. すみません。

[mccanono]

I've been studying for 2 years :] How about you?

Wow. You must know a lot then. Right?

I just actually started learning Japanese a couple of months ago. I am working as part-time English tutor for this Japanese company so my students somehow influenced me to learn Japanese. So far, so good.

Right after every lesson, I always say, otsukaresama deshita (おつかれさまでした） which means I am tired, which then means you have worked hard. Weird right?

[Miya]

Haha, I wouldn't say I know a lot, but I know enough to carry on some conversations.

And yup, おつかれさまでした is often said before one leaves from work. To me, it means "Good work today", "thanks for working so hard today". Japanese has a lot of these Kimarimonku (きまりもんく - set phrases).

[mccanono]

Ohh. Souka!

So that's what they call them words; Kimarimonku.

Do you know where I can learn more of this stuff? This would certainly help us a lot especially when it comes to understanding more of the Japanese culture.

[Miya]

I study from the book GENKI by Eri Banno. I'm sure there are other sources online for basic Japanese phrases like this, but I don't know of any. I'll let you know if I stumble across any

[mccanono]

I am currently reading the book "Making out in Japanese" and I dunno but I find it funny. haha

Here's an excerpt I found on google books.

http://books.google.com/books?id=IiGUTusHr7wC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

[Miya]

I think I've seen that book in my local bookstore before and I flipped through a few pages. Didn't buy it, but it was kind of funny. 

[ashwinr1]

That is quite an informative thread! Is there any systematic way to remember these words for newbie's like me?

[Preya_M]

I find it absolutely adorable; the images and descriptions are pretty funny. It reminds me of a script for a play or film, on page 15 they show how to say "what's wrong" in Japanese, and then they have a small asterisk on the bottom:

"1 and 2 should be voiced with more concern

Is it just me, or is that hilarious to read? Nevertheless, I find it very informational as well, I will look into this book and keep this chapter preview as a bookmark; I'm interested in picking up on their language.

[Amatenshi]

Hi there fellow Filipino!

I am also learning Japanese and I must say that I enjoy it.

Anyway, here are some of the greetings that I know:

Hajimema****e - Nice to meet you.

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu - Please be kind to me.

Ja ne - see you

I'm half Filipino. I've come back to quite a surprise here, haven't I?

It's kinda funny how the word filter is interfering with the spelling of some of these greetings in romaji. Frankly, using kana would be advisable, because it's good to get in the habit of reading them if you aren't already, and I'm sure most of us know our hiragana and katakana already.

This "Making Out in Japanese" book is good stuff. I'm noticing phrases I hear in anime when people speak in a conversational tone. While I'm not ready for such a thing just yet (I'm still trying to grasp grammar and more vocabulary), this book is good study material for listening. How hard is it to find a physical or digital copy of the whole thing?

[Miya]

How hard is it to find a physical or digital copy of the whole thing?

Not too hard. Amazon has it in stock and I've also seen it in my local bookstore. If you'd like a free ebook, a simple google search will lead you to many results 

[j_evemstar]

When I was in Osaka visiting the local tourists spots, I would often hear Ookini（おおきに）, basically meaning thank you. Even Peach Airways' receipt say this!  :grin: