Greetings in Japanese

Learning how to greet in Japanese is one of the first things you do when learning Japanese language.

If you know the basics of Japanese, there is a rule for writing the hiragana for "wa （わ）" and "ha （は）." When "wa" is used as a particle, it is written in hiragana as "ha." Nowadays, "Konnichiwa" or "Konbanwa" are fixed greetings. However, in the old days they were used in a sentence such as, "Today is ~ (Konnichi wa ~)" or "Tonight is ~ (Konban wa ~)" and "wa" functioned as a particle. That's why it is still written in hiragana as "ha."

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English
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Japanese
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JPN Characters

 * Good Morning
 * Ohayou
 * おはよう
 * Good Afternoon
 * Konnichiwa
 * こんにちは
 * Good Evening
 * Konbanwa
 * こんばんは
 * Good Night
 * Oyasuminasai
 * おやすみなさい
 * Goodbye
 * Sayonara
 * さよなら
 * See you later
 * Dewa mata
 * ではまた
 * See you tomorrow
 * Mata ashita
 * また明日
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 * Dewa mata
 * ではまた
 * See you tomorrow
 * Mata ashita
 * また明日
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Greetings in Special Occassions
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! scope="col"|JPN Characters O-tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu (formal)
 * Happy Birthday
 * Happy Birthday

Tanjoubi emedetou (casual) お誕生日おめでとうございます (formal)

誕生日おめでとう (casual) Omedetou gozaimasu
 * Congratulations
 * Congratulations

Omedetou (casual) おめでとうございます

おめでとう (casual) The form "gozaimasu （ございます）" is more polite. It is added when you are talking with somebody who is not a family members or a close friend. To reply, "Arigatou gozaimasu （ありがとうございます）" or "Arigatou （ありがとう）" is used.
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