Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Every language has its set phrases for things like thanking people, or excusing yourself, or phrases that are used idiomatically, meaning something other than what the words would literally imply, such as telling someone to take a chair or make themselves at home. This appendix lists several common Japanese phrases, and per phrase gives the grammatical decomposition that can be made given all the material that has been presented in this book, with the phrases being ordered according to Japanese custom (starting at through , and ending at ).
"Please come in" Coming from the verb (), this sentence literally says please be raised. Its non-literal meaning comes from the fact that the traditional Japanese house has a raised floor at the entrance, where one takes off one's shoes and steps up into the house itself.
"Thank you"
As mentioned in the adjective section, this is an example of classical adjective pronunciation, and is actually a long chain of conjugations:
in + in classical pronunciation + in + + + +
This literally means this is a difficult thing to accept, stemming from the concept of becoming indebted to someone who helps you. As becoming (further) indebted to someone is always a hard thing to accept, this phrase is used instead of a separate word for thanking. There are various ways to use this sentence, the most indebting being , which adds the word to the phrase, meaning in all possible ways, coming from the question pronoun (how, in what way) and the generalising pronoun suffix . Still formal indebting is . Just , however, is not polite. It comes down to saying thanks, and pays improper respect to people who do something for you and are of higher social status. Never just say to your teacher for instance. Always use .
This expression can either be used in present, or future, tense () or it can be used in past tense (), with the difference lying in when the thanking is being done: if it is after the fact, will be used, and if it's either prior to, or during whatever we're being thankful for, is used.
Disagreement
The Japanese version of no. Alternatives to are the more colloquial , and the more emphatic .
"Be welcome"
This is literally the commanding form of the honorific verb , and is used by tenants to welcome their customers into their place of business. It doesn't technically mean be welcome, but that's what it has come to be considered to mean.
"Welcome back"
This phrase is the typical response to , and welcomes someone back home, or back to a place that can be considered a base of departure, such as your office, when you went out for a power meeting with management and have returned unscathed. This phrase is technically the honorific commanding form of , to return [to some base]:
+ in + in + +
"Thanks to you"
This phrase is a typical reply to the question (how do you do?), in which case it is usually preceded by an affirmative such as . It is also used frequently in situations where someone receives praise from someone who contributed to whatever the praise is for. Traditionally, a meaning shadow or shadow figure is used to mean someone who acts as the unseen driving force behind other people. Literally, saying means due to your being like a shadow for me, and can be interpreted as because of [your] contributing actions, [I am where I am now, at this moment].
literally asks are you , which means that it asks whether someone is feeling good about things in general. This is something you do not ask someone every day, but only when you haven't seen someone in a while, or when there is a reason to ask them, such as when someone has just recovered from an illness. In this last case, the question may also be of the form , meaning are you again (already)?. , people who are not , are typically depressed, gloomy, glum, down and out, and for all intents and purposes a mood killer for everyone around them. Asking these people whether they are is a bit like driving home the point that they aren't happy with a big pointy stick, so instead the phrase is typically used, carefully remarking that they do not seem very .
Treating someone
means caring, in the giveable caring kind of way. Paired with , the combination () means to give care to someone in the positive sense, and is generally understood as meaning you will be treating someone to something. This phrase is used, for instance, when picking up the tab for someone (this will naturally be paired
with some refusal by the treatee, and insistence on the part of the treater, but this is part of the Japanese process of doing things for people).
To be taken care of
Pairing with the verb , become, the combination means to be taken care of by someone in the positive sense. For instance, when someone is offering to do something for you like pay the bill after dinner, or take care of you when you're sick and you wish to oblige them, you use the phrase to indicate that you will be taken care of in some way by them.
() "Take care"
is a valuable thing, in the figurative sense. When someone is told , they are told to please act in a way so that they are treating themselves as something valuable. This full sentence is often shortened to just . For instance, when saying goodbye to someone who you will not see in a while, you typically wish them so that you may meet them again in good health at some point in the future.
Being hungry
One states that one is hungry by saying their stomach has become empty. Variations on this theme are the plain past tense instead of formal past tense or with the subject marker omitted, . Colloquial versions are (note the different pronunciation for ) or simply .
"Please"
Literally this phrase reads (I) wish it, but is commonly interpreted as meaning please in the context of prompting someone to do something for you. It comes from the verb , to wish:
+ in + in + + +
"Good morning"
This phrase doesn't actually contain the word morning in any way, which explains why it's possible to use this phrase at later points in the day. Literally, this is the statement , only in humble classical form:
in classical form + of + + +
This statement basically affirms that some meeting is reasonably early for when it occurs. For school goers, 8:30 am could be early; for bookmakers, 1 p.m. could be early. It all depends on when your daily routine day starts.
This phrase is used when a silence between two people is broken after some time, be this in writing, by virtue of a phone call, or by actually seeing someone in person again.
Congratulations
Literally this phrase is a combination of (meaning auspicious) in classical form paired with :
+ in classical form + in + + +
This phrase can be used with a million and one words to congratulate on any number of things, usually following the form of descriptions of what the congratulations are offered for:
"Congratulations on getting married." "Congratulations on your birthday." "Congratulations on graduating."
et cetera, et cetera.
"Good night"
This phrase is said when one goes to bed, and is repeated by those who wish you a good night. It is technically the honorific commanding form of , to rest, and is used to wish everyone else a good night too.
+ in + in + +
This phrase is also used to turn down important offers, where the act of turning down the offer may lead to problems for the other party (such as when someone is depending on you, or when someone confesses their love for you). When being specific about what you are asking forgiveness for, follows the description in form:
"I'm sorry for eating (your) cake."
"Good day"
This is the particle (pronounced ), added to the noun meaning day (pronounced instead of ). It's technically an unfinished phrase just raising the topic of today and then saying absolutely nothing in regards to it, but this has become the standard way to say good day in Japanese.
"Good evening"
Like , this is just added to , this evening.
"Farewell"
Realise the full meaning of this word before you use it: is short for , which is old Japanese for Things being as they are, I shall speak my farewells. The modern version, too, really does mean farewell and not just a plain good bye. There is a very explicit connotation that it will be a considerable time until the speaker will see again the person they're seeing off, if ever.
with the more humble , and with the more polite , leading to statements such as .
"Excuse me"
literally means a rudeness, and means to commit a rudeness. When one has to excuse oneself from somewhere, for instance, when one is talking to a superior and is called away for some reason, or one has to go before the conversation is truly over, this expression is used (in combination with the appropriate level of bowing) to indicate that one is aware that one's actions will be somewhat rude.
also used when someone does something for you that will indebt you to them, such as catching your hat and handing it back if the wind catches it, or fixing some typos in an email you had written. Using in these instances means both thank you for doing this for me as well as I'm sorry to have caused you to do this for me at the same time. This is technically the polite negative of , to end, indicating that the debt between the two parties involved remains unsettled. Variations on the theme include the more colloquial and very informal and . When being specific about what you are thanking apologetically for, follows the description in form.
"Thank you for helping out, and sorry for somehow having made you do so."
Showing agreement
This phrase is often used when someone wants to emphatically agree in a conversation. It may also be used to indicate that the speaker has heard what has just been said and will respond to it, similar to . Misinterpreting it can lead to quite a bit of confusion:
A: B: A: B: "Have you finished yet?" "Ah, yes... not yet."
Here, B is first merely acknowledging that they heard the question, possibly even indicating that they think it's a good question, and the real answer comes after .
There are three meanings to this phrase, although typically you will only be familiar with the first: when returning from something that one had to leave for (at which point an would have been used), this phrase is used to signal the return. It is usually met with , an idiomatic expression translating to welcome back. The second meaning is quite different. When given an order to perform some task, using as response idiomatically translates to right away. This use is typical in settings where someone is commanded to do something, such as in a master/servant relationship. Lastly, can also be used as a formal version of just , meaning now. In this meaning, you may also find it used a lot in the expression [], in which is used in its classical (literary) meaning, being the same as the modern particle , with the expression translating to starting now, as of now or from this moment on.
"Please"
This is just the verb , to leave in someone's care, but is frequently used as an expression both when offloading something to someone else (which can be considered quite rude), to mean please do this for me, or when someone offers to do something for you and is giving off all the signals that they're being serious instead of being polite, as an implicit thank you.
"What happened?"
Being a combination of the pronoun , how or in what way, and the past tense of , this literally asks by what way did [] happen?. However, it is interpreted to mean what happened?, instead. is a short question to enquire what happened when someone seems upset, taken aback, or give off the impression that something happened that is unusual. A more formal way to ask this, though also more effeminate, is .
"After you"
A common form of politeness in Japan (although arguably in any culture) is to repress your own feelings and desires so that others might benefit. Of the many ways in which this can be expressed, probably the most common way is letting other people do something before you get a chance to do them, such as opening a door for someone else to pass through first, or letting someone else queue up before you queue up. The phrase combines with (before) in honorary form, translating to if we're translating the intention of the expression rather than the literal words If it pleases [you], [allow me to let you do whatever I wanted to do] before [I do so, too].
Pleased to meet you is actually the best cultural approximation translation. The Japanese statement doesn't actually mean pleased to meet you at all, but relies on knowing what means. Being a noun derived from , agreeable/acceptable, this statement literally says that the speaker hopes that everything that is the result of this meeting is of a good nature. It's only used once, when you first meet someone in a setting where you will work together in some capacity, and is more accurately described as saying please treat me well in our future dealings. The more formal version is , which adds the verb for wishing to the statement, thus expressing a sincere wish to be treated favourably in the future. The short form, just , can be used in a broader setting to indicate you will leave something to someone under the assumption that all will be well, and is similar to in this use.
() "Why?"
[+] add comment This is the most direct version of why, and is a pure interrogative; it's short, and literally means what reason. Being the most direct, it's also quite rude, and there is no polite way to use this word, so it's best to try and avoid using it at all. Because it is technically a noun, it can be used in a softer form using , but even then this is still considered more direct than asking the other two versions of why with : or .
() "Why?"
This particular version of why is considered more direct than , but less direct than . It is indirect in that it literally asks by which means [do you reason this way]? or by which means [did this situation arise]?, but is more direct because it's shorter than and thus sounds more curt.
Being thirsty
When one is thirsty in Japan, one doesn't say I am thirsty but instead uses the less direct statement my throat is dry, similar to how one could say I am a bit parched in English rather than saying I'm a bit thirsty.
Acknowledgement
While generally understood to mean yes, actually signifies acknowledgement in general it can be used as an acknowledging response to questions, in which case it means the same as yes, but it can also be used to indicate that some speaker is still being listened to. Like , this may lead to situations where can be interpreted as either:
A: B: A: B: "So, (you) know (what this means), (don't you)." [acknowledges the question] "No."
Alternatives to are the more colloquial and the more explicitly acknowledging .
A formal greeting used when meeting someone for the first time
Like , this is technically an unfinished sentence, being the polite form of , to start (something). Literally, this sentence reads [through our meeting, something] starts , which is why it is only used once in your life per person that you meet. In a setting where there will be a lasting cooperation between you and whoever you say this to, the conversation will typically steer towards or , depending on the whether you will be potentially relying on the other person a lot.
Getting upset
This phrase literally means to raise [my] stomach, and is used to indicate something causes genuine upset or upset anger. Like being hungry or thirsty, being upset, too, is typically indicated by describing the physical feeling.
Extreme apology
Literally this phrase reads [this is] not [a situation in which] saying [something] [is appropriate]. Effectively it means I have no excuse [for what I have done] and makes it clear that the speaker is genuinely at fault for something. Grammatically decomposing the phrase, we see:
Variations on this theme involve more, or less, formal versions of the verbs to say and be, such as , , , etc.