Japanese has a small set of fixed phrases — greetings, polite interjections, situational expressions — that you'll hear and use every single day. They're more deeply ritualized than their English equivalents. Saying the wrong thing or skipping the expected phrase entirely is socially noticeable; getting them right is one of the fastest paths to sounding natural.
Greetings through the day
The greeting depends on the time of day and the level of formality. The "gozaimasu" tail (when present) makes the phrase more polite — drop it for friends and family, keep it for everyone else.
| Phrase | Reading | Use |
|---|---|---|
| おはよう（ございます） | ohayō (gozaimasu) | Good morning |
| こんにちは | konnichiwa | Hello / good afternoon (~10am-5pm) |
| こんばんは | konbanwa | Good evening |
| おやすみ（なさい） | oyasumi (nasai) | Good night (going to bed) |
Goodbyes
さようなら (sayōnara) is the famous "goodbye," but it's surprisingly rarely used in casual settings — it has a slightly formal, slightly final feeling, like saying "farewell" in English. For everyday "see you later" you'd use:
| Phrase | Reading | Use |
|---|---|---|
| さようなら | sayōnara | Goodbye (formal / lengthy parting) |
| じゃあね | jā ne | See ya (casual) |
| またね | mata ne | See you again (casual) |
| また明日 | mata ashita | See you tomorrow |
| お先に失礼します | osaki ni shitsurei shimasu | I'm leaving (work, before others) |
Thank you, sorry, excuse me
Three of the most-used phrases in any language. Japanese has a slightly different distribution than English — the same word can serve several purposes depending on context.
| Phrase | Reading | Use |
|---|---|---|
| ありがとう | arigatō | Thanks (casual) |
| ありがとうございます | arigatō gozaimasu | Thank you (polite) |
| ありがとうございました | arigatō gozaimashita | Thank you (for something already completed) |
| すみません | sumimasen | Excuse me / sorry / thanks (a lot of work) |
| ごめん（なさい） | gomen (nasai) | Sorry (more apologetic) |
| 申し訳ありません | mōshiwake arimasen | I am terribly sorry (very polite) |
The すみません Swiss army knife
すみません deserves its own paragraph. It does three jobs:
- Excuse me — getting attention, squeezing past someone, opening a question to a stranger.
- Sorry — minor apologies, especially when someone went out of their way for you.
- Thank you — particularly when the thanks comes with apology for the inconvenience caused. If a stranger picks up something you dropped and hands it back, すみません is more natural than ありがとう — because you're acknowledging the trouble.
When in doubt, you can almost always use すみません and be socially correct. It's the linguistic equivalent of a small bow.
Eating
Two formulaic phrases bookend any meal. They're optional with family but standard with anyone else, and not saying them can come across as rude or graceless.
| Phrase | Reading | When |
|---|---|---|
| いただきます | itadakimasu | Said before eating ("I humbly receive") |
| ごちそうさま | gochisōsama | Said after eating ("That was a feast") |
| ごちそうさまでした | gochisōsama deshita | Same, more polite (past tense form) |
They're directed at whoever provided the food — a host, a chef, or implicitly the cook. You'll say them even when eating alone at a restaurant; the staff will hear the second one as you leave the table.
Coming and going
A pair of formulaic exchanges happen when someone leaves the house and when they return. Both halves are required — if someone says 行ってきます, you say 行ってらっしゃい back.
| Said by | Phrase | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Person leaving | 行ってきます | ittekimasu | I'm going (and will come back) |
| Person staying | 行ってらっしゃい | itterasshai | "Off you go" / take care |
| Person returning | ただいま | tadaima | I'm home / I'm back |
| Person greeting them | おかえり（なさい） | okaeri (nasai) | Welcome back |
At work, with colleagues
A handful of phrases specific to work and shared-effort contexts. They're polite, slightly formal, and you'll hear them dozens of times a day in a Japanese workplace.
| Phrase | Reading | Use |
|---|---|---|
| お疲れ様（です） | otsukare-sama (desu) | Greeting/farewell to a coworker; "thanks for your work" |
| お疲れ様でした | otsukare-sama deshita | Same, said when leaving / job complete (past) |
| よろしくお願いします | yoroshiku onegai shimasu | A flexible "thanks in advance / I look forward to it" |
| 失礼します | shitsurei shimasu | "Excuse me" — entering an office, leaving a meeting |
よろしくお願いします is striking — it has no single English translation. Said at the start of cooperation ("nice to meet you, looking forward to working together"), at the end of an email request ("thank you in advance"), at the beginning of an event you're organizing ("hope you enjoy it"). Memorize it as a unit; you'll use it constantly.
Quick responses and acknowledgments
Tiny words that smooth conversation. Many have no exact English equivalent — they're acknowledgment markers, like English "mm-hmm" or "right" but with a much wider range.
| Phrase | Reading | Use |
|---|---|---|
| はい | hai | Yes / I hear you / acknowledged (polite) |
| ええ | ē | Yes / right (slightly less formal than はい) |
| うん | un | Yeah (casual) |
| いいえ | iie | No (formal) |
| ううん | uun | No (casual) |
| そうです | sō desu | That's right |
| そうですね | sō desu ne | That's right, isn't it / hmm let me think |
| なるほど | naruhodo | I see / makes sense |
What's missing from this guide
A complete tour of Japanese conversational phrases would fill a book. We've covered the highest-frequency ones — what you'll hear and use in your first month of conversation. Beyond this: honorific forms (keigo), regional expressions (Kansai-ben and friends), slang specific to age groups, and the rich layer of situational phrases for shopping, restaurants, transit, etc. You'll absorb most of those naturally from media and conversation. For now, drilling the phrases above will get you through any first interaction in Japanese without hitting an embarrassing gap.