Lesson

In this lesson, you will learn basic greetings and introductions in Japanese. Let's start with how to say "Hello". It's useful in many situations!

Here's the most common way to say "Hello" or "Good morning":

This phrase, おはようございます, is used in the morning. If you want to be less formal, you can say おはよう, which is like saying "Morning!"

Here's how to say "Good afternoon" or "Hello" during the day:

This phrase, こんにちは, is used from late morning until the evening. It’s a very common and useful greeting.

And here's how to say "Good evening":

Use こんばんは when it's evening or night time.

Now that you know some basic greetings, let’s learn how to introduce yourself. A common way to say "My name is..." in Japanese is:

You would replace the "〜" with your name. For example, if your name is "John," you would say: 私はジョンです.

Another way to introduce yourself is by saying:

This is a more formal way to say "My name is...". Replace the "〜" with your name. For example, ジョンと申します means "My name is John (formal)".

To ask someone "What is your name?", you can say:

This is a polite and common way to ask for someone's name. It literally translates to "Your name?". Another way to say this more formally is:

This translates to "What is your name?" and is a more formal version of the previous phrase.

Let's learn some ways to ask simple questions. Here’s how to ask "How are you?":

This phrase, お元気ですか？, is a polite way to ask "How are you?". A simpler way, but less formal, is:

If you're doing well, you can answer with:

This means "I'm fine/well". If you are just okay, you can say:

This means "I'm so-so". Now, to finish up, let's learn how to say "Goodbye":

This is the most common way to say "Goodbye", さようなら. There are other ways to say goodbye, but this is good for now.

Remember to practice these phrases! You're doing great!