Learn how to use basic greetings
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| Welcome to Can-Do Japanese by JapanesePod101.com. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn how to use basic greetings in Japanese. |
| For example, "Good afternoon" is |
| こんにちは。(Konnichiwa.) |
| Tomoko Tanaka is the Sasaki family's Japanese teacher. |
| Her schedule for the day is, |
| Megumi Sasaki at 9:00 a.m. |
| Rin Sasaki at 12:00 p.m. |
| Haruto Sasaki at 6:00 p.m. |
| Before you listen to the greeting exchange between the three pairs, let's preview some of its key components. |
| おはようございます |
| "good morning" |
| おはようございます (enunciated) |
| おはようございます |
| こんにちは |
| "good afternoon" |
| こんにちは (enunciated) |
| こんにちは |
| こんばんは |
| "good evening" |
| こんばんは (enunciated) |
| こんばんは |
| Listen to their conversations, and pay attention to the time of day. |
| Tomoko Tanaka has a morning class with Megumi Sasaki at 9 a.m. |
| たなかせんせい、おはようございます。(Tanaka-sensei, ohayō gozaimasu.) |
| ささきさん、おはようございます。(Sasaki-san, ohayō gozaimasu.) |
| Later, Tomoko Tanaka has an afternoon class with Rin Sasaki at 12 p.m. |
| こんにちは。(Konnichiwa.) |
| ささきさん、こんにちは。(Sasaki-san, konnichiwa.) |
| At the end of the day, Tomoko Tanaka has an evening class with Haruto Sasaki at 6 p.m. |
| せんせい、こんばんは。(Sensei, konbanwa.) |
| はるとくん、こんばんは。(Haruto-kun, konbanwa.) |
| Once more with the English translation. |
| たなかせんせい、おはようございます。(Tanaka-sensei, ohayō gozaimasu.) |
| "Good morning, Ms. Tanaka." |
| ささきさん、おはようございます。(Sasaki-san, ohayō gozaimasu.) |
| "Good morning, Ms. Sasaki." |
| こんにちは。(Konnichiwa.) |
| "Good afternoon." |
| ささきさん、こんにちは。(Sasaki-san, konnichiwa.) |
| "Good afternoon, Ms. Sasaki." |
| せんせい、こんばんは。(Sensei, konbanwa.) |
| "Good evening, teacher." |
| はるとくん、こんばんは。(Haruto-kun, konbanwa.) |
| "Good evening, Haruto." |
| Let's break down each of the expressions. |
| In the first conversation, do you remember how Megumi says, |
| "Good morning, Ms. Tanaka." |
| たなかせんせい、おはようございます。(Tanaka-sensei, ohayō gozaimasu.) |
| First, Megumi addresses her teacher たなかせんせい. |
| This starts with the teacher's family name, たなか. た-な-か. たなか. |
| After this is せんせい, teacher. せんせい. せ-ん-せ-い. せんせい. |
| Note: when せんせい is used as a suffix, the meaning will depend on the context, as it can be attached to the names of teachers, doctors, lawyers, and politicians. |
| In the case of たなかせんせい, it translates as "Ms." since she's a private teacher and the situation is less formal. |
| Together, it's たなかせんせい. "Ms. Tanaka." たなかせんせい. |
| Next is おはようございます, meaning, "Good morning." お-は-よ-う-ご-ざ-い-ま-す. おはようございます. |
| There are two parts to this expression: おはよう and ございます。 |
| First is おはよう, it comes from the adjective はやい, meaning "early." おはよう. |
| Pronunciation note: notice the prolonged pronunciation of the vowel at the end of おはよう. Listen again: おはよう. This is called the long vowel. |
| Second is ございます, a polite form of the verb "to be" or "to exist." ございます. |
| Together, おはようございます literally means "early it is," but it translates as, "Good morning." おはようございます。 |
| In Japanese, there are different levels of formality. This expression is formal. For informal situations, you can simply say the first part, おはよう, "Good morning." おはよう. |
| All together, たなかせんせい、おはようございます。Literally, "Ms. Tanaka, good morning," but in more natural English, "Good morning, Ms. Tanaka." |
| たなかせんせい、おはようございます。 |
| Do you remember how the teacher says, |
| "Good morning, Ms. Sasaki." |
| ささきさん、おはようございます。(Sasaki-san, ohayō gozaimasu.) |
| First is ささきさん. "Ms. Sasaki." ささきさん. |
| This starts with Megumi's family name, "Sasaki," in Japanese. ささき. さ-さ-き. ささき. |
| After this is さん, a polite suffix attached to a person's name, さ-ん. さん. |
| The suffix can be used with any gender. In Megumi's case, it translates as "Ms." |
| Together, ささきさん, "Ms. Sasaki." ささきさん. |
| Next is おはようございます。"Good morning." お-は-よ-う-ご-ざ-い-ま-す. おはようございます。 |
| All together, it's ささきさん、おはようございます。"Good morning, Ms. Sasaki." |
| ささきん、おはようございます。 |
| In the second conversation, which takes place at noon, do you remember how Rin says, |
| "Good afternoon." |
| こんにちは。(Konnichiwa.) |
| こんにちは means "Good afternoon." |
| こ-ん-に-ち-は. こんにちは。 |
| こんにちは consists of two parts: |
| First is こんにち, a formal way of saying "today." こんにち. |
| Second is the particle, は, the topic-marking particle. は. Think of it like "as for" in the expression "as for today." |
| Together, こんにちは literally means "As for today." But it translates as "good afternoon" or "hello" depending on context. |
| こんにちは. |
| Note the pronunciation of は, here. It's pronounced wa instead of ha when used as a particle. |
| Also note: when pronouncing this word, こんにち be sure to pronounce the ん sound. こんにち (enunciated). |
| Do you remember how Ms. Tanaka says, |
| "Good afternoon, Ms. Sasaki." |
| ささきさん、こんにちは。(Sasaki-san, konnichiwa.) |
| Tanaka-sensei calls Rin Sasaki ささきさん. |
| This starts with Rin's family name, Sasaki. ささき. さ-さ-き. ささき. |
| After this is さん, a polite suffix attached to a person's name. さん. |
| The suffix can be used with any gender. In Rin's case, it translates as "Ms." |
| Together, ささきさん, "Ms. Sasaki." ささきさん. |
| Next is こんにちは, "Good afternoon." こんにちは. |
| All together, it's ささきさん、こんにちは。"Good afternoon, Ms. Sasaki." |
| ささきさん、こんにちは。 |
| In the third conversation, which takes place in the evening at 6 p.m., do you remember how Haruto says, |
| "Good evening, teacher." |
| せんせい、こんばんは。(Sensei, konbanwa.) |
| When addressing his teacher, Haruto simply uses せんせい without adding her name. People often address their teachers by the title, せんせい, without attaching it to a name when it's clear which teacher they're talking to. |
| Next is the greeting こんばんは, meaning "Good evening." こ-ん-ば-ん-は. こんばんは. |
| こんばんは consists of two parts. |
| First is こんばん, meaning "this evening." こんばん. |
| Second is the particle, は, the topic-marking particle. は. Think of it like "as for" in the expression "as for this evening." |
| Together, こんばんは literally means, "As for this evening," but it translates as "Good evening." |
| Pronunciation note: when pronouncing this word, be sure to clearly enunciate the ん sound in こんばんは. |
| All together, Haruto says, |
| せんせい、こんばんは。 |
| Do you remember how the teacher says, |
| "Good evening, Haruto." |
| はるとくん、こんばんは。(Haruto-kun, konbanwa.) |
| First is はるとくん, "Haruto." はるとくん. |
| This starts with Haruto's name in Japanese, はると. は-る-と. はると. |
| After this is くん, a suffix attached to a person's name. く-ん. くん. |
| It is often used to address males with whom the speaker has a close relationship, who are younger than the speaker, or who are of lower social status than the speaker. In this case, the teacher, the speaker, is of higher social status than Haruto, the student. There is no equivalent in English. Instead, the translation is contextual. In this case, there is no corresponding English translation, and はるとくん simply translates as "Haruto." |
| Together, it's はるとくん、こんばんは。"Good evening, Haruto." |
| はるとくん、こんばんは。 |
| こんにちは is the most general greeting, and the closest to "hello" in English. |
| It can be used in the morning or even at night. |
| When including a person's name in a greeting, it's more common to say the person's name before the greeting. In addition, using a person's name in a greeting, may come across as more formal. In informal situations, it's not so common to say someone's name when greeting them. |
| Let's review the greetings. |
| Listen and repeat, or speak along with the native speakers. |
| おはようございます。 |
| "Good morning." |
| おはようございます。 |
| こんにちは。 |
| "Good afternoon." |
| こんにちは。 |
| こんばんは。 |
| "Good evening." |
| こんばんは。 |
| たなかせんせい、おはようございます。 |
| "Good morning, Ms. Tanaka." |
| たなかせんせい、おはようございます。 |
| せんせい、こんばんは。 |
| "Good evening, teacher." |
| せんせい、こんばんは。 |
| おはよう。 |
| "Morning." |
| おはよう。 |
| Did you notice the last greeting? |
| おはよう。 |
| "Morning." |
| In informal situations, おはようございます is often shortened to おはよう.(enunciated) おはよう. |
| Please note that this abbreviated form should be avoided when speaking with people whom you don't know very well, who are older than you, or who may be regarded as your superior. |
| You should be aware of this shortened greeting, but you won't need it for this lesson. |
| Let's review. |
| Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speakers, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Ready? |
| Do you remember the polite way to say "Good morning?" |
| おはようございます。 |
| おはようございます。 |
| Do you remember how to say, "Good afternoon?" |
| こんにちは。 |
| こんにちは。 |
| Do you remember how to say, "Good evening?" |
| こんばんは。 |
| こんばんは。 |
| Let's practice. |
| Imagine you're Haruto, and you're in morning class. |
| Respond by saying, "Ms. Tanaka, good morning." |
| Ready? |
| はるとくん、おはようございます。 |
| たなかせんせい、おはようございます。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| たなかせんせい、おはようございます。 |
| たなかせんせい、おはようございます。 |
| Let's try another. |
| Imagine you're Megumi, and you're in afternoon class. |
| Respond by saying, "Hello." |
| Ready? |
| こんにちは。 |
| こんにちは。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| こんにちは。 |
| こんにちは。 |
| Imagine you're Rin, and you meet your neighbor. |
| Respond by saying, "Good evening." |
| Ready? |
| こんばんは。 |
| こんばんは。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| こんばんは。 |
| こんばんは。 |
| This is the end of this lesson. |
| In this lesson, you learned how to use basic greetings in Japanese. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of using basic greetings. |
| Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
| What's next? |
| Show us what you can do. |
| When you're ready, take your assessment. |
| You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
| Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
| Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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