In the beginning, all of my coworkers replied to me with Konnichiwa (こんにちは). However, at work, it is actually common to greet your coworkers with Ohayou (おはよう) or Ohayou gozaimasu (おはようございます) regardless of the time of the day. I have the feeling that it has something to do with politeness and respect.įor example, when I started working here in Japan I used to greet my coworkers with Konnichiwa (こんにちは). So even if it is still early morning or already evening and you would usually greet someone with Ohayou (おはよう) or Konbanwa (こんばんは), most Japanese people will just respond with exactly the same phrase you used. However, when you are living in Japan you will notice that most Japanese people just respond with the same phrase. Of course, there are a lot of other formal and informal Japanese greetings that could be used in this situation instead of Konnichiwa. In a similar way if I was waiting for a friend and he or she finally arrived I might smile and add a joyful “Aa!” meaning “Ah, there you are” or “Finally, you are here, yay”. However, if the meeting is unexpected I might start with the interjection “O!” just out of surprise. Well, usually just by repeating the exact same phrase Konnichiwa (こんにちは).
#WATASHI WA TOTEMO GENKI DESU HOW TO#
Let’s look at how to respond when somebody greets you with “Konnichiwa”. So know that we know the basic meaning of the phrase and when it is used. However, it is usually only used as a greeting during the day from around 11:00 o’clock in the morning until 17:00 o’clock in the afternoon. This all-purpose greeting can be used in casual situations when greeting your friends and in formal situations when greeting your coworkers or strangers. It is written with the Hiragana syllable は (ha) but pronounced “wa”. Konnichi (今日、こんにち) which means “Today”, “This day” or “These days” and the so-called subject marker or topic particle ha (は). The greeting actually consists of two words. Konnichiwa (今日は, こんにちは) is the most common way to say “ Hello” or “ Good afternoon” in Japanese.
#WATASHI WA TOTEMO GENKI DESU FULL#
Also, did you know that the phrase was originally the beginning of a full sentence? I am going to explain its original meaning in detail before we round off this post with a bunch of example sentences and dialogues. Even though it means “Good afternoon” or “Hello” and is usually used around noon or in the afternoon, it is common to reply by repeating the same greeting no matter the time of the day.īelow I have listed a few variations of “Konnichiwa” I sometimes like to use when I’m surprised to see someone or when I have been waiting and looking forward to meeting a friend. When someone greets you in Japanese with “Konnichiwa” it is best to respond with the same phrase “Konnichiwa”.
So how do you respond to “Konnichiwa”? Is there a best practice? I was wondering about this myself and so I decided to find out. “ Konnichiwa” is usually the first Japanese word you are going to learn to say and a basic greeting you will hear nearly every day.
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