{"id":62785,"date":"2024-11-05T09:44:10","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T00:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cotoacademy.com\/learn-japanese-blog-what-is-konnichiwa-in-english\/"},"modified":"2024-11-05T09:44:10","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T00:44:10","slug":"learn-japanese-blog-konnichiwa-english-ohayou-konbanwa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cotoacademy.com\/ja\/learn-japanese-blog-konnichiwa-english-ohayou-konbanwa\/","title":{"rendered":"Ko (\u3053) \u30fc \u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f (Konnichiwa) in English"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click Here to join our 30 day challenge to learn Hiragana <\/a><\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u306f\u3053\u3061\u3089<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we will cover:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does \u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f (Konnichiwa) mean?<\/a>
When do I use \u304a\u306f\u3088\u3046 (Ohayou) then?<\/a>
What about \u3053\u3093\u3070\u3093\u306f (Konbanwa)?<\/a>\n

What does \u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f (Konnichiwa) mean in Japanese?<\/h2>\n

Konnichiwa \u300c\u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f\u300d is one of the first words you learn in Japanese.  Often times, on social media posts, you may see it spelled as \u300c\u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u308f\u300d.  However, as you may have learned in your studies, the correct spelling is actually \u300c\u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f\u300d.<\/p>\n

\u300c\u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f\u300dis usually written in hiragana, but if you write it in kanji, it\u2019s\u300c\u4eca\u65e5\u306f\u300d, which can also be read as \u300c\u304d\u3087\u3046\u306f\u301c, kyo wa\u301c\u300d .  This directly translates to \u201ctoday is ~ \u201d.  Originally, people often greeted each other with \u300c\u4eca\u65e5\u306f\u5929\u6c17\u304c\u826f\u3044\u3067\u3059\u306d\u3001kyou wa tenki ga ii desune- Today, the weather is nice.\u300dor\u300c\u4eca\u65e5\u306f\u6691\u3044\u3067\u3059\u306d\u3001kyou wa atsui desune- Today, it is hot.\u300d.  Over time, people began to shorten their greetings by cutting off the latter portions, eventually resulting in \u300c\u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f, konnichiwa\u300d.<\/p>\n

What Part of Speech is Konnichiwa?<\/h3>\n

At times, people ask me, \u201cWhat part of speech is \u300c\u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f, konnichiwa- good day\u300d?  Is it a noun? Greetings, including \u300c\u304a\u306f\u3088\u3046,ohayo- good morning\u300d,\u300c\u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f, konnichiwa- good day, \u300d, and\u300c\u3053\u3093\u3070\u3093\u306f, konbanwa- good evening\u300dare not nouns, but interjection s. Interjections are words which we use when our hearts are stirred.<\/p>\n

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For example, the \u300c\u308f\u3041\u30fc\u3002\u300din\u300c\u308f\u3041\u30fc\u3002\u304d\u308c\u3044\u3060\u306a\u3041\u3002Waa-, kireidanaa- Waa, it\u2019s so beautiful!\u300d, and the \u300c\u3042\u3063\u3002\u300din\u300c\u3042\u3063\u3002\u5bbf\u984c\u3092\u5fd8\u308c\u305f\u3002 Aa, shukudai o wasureta- Aa, I forgot my homework!\u300dare interjections. Therefore, greetings are words which encompass the stirring of our hearts when we meet someone, and the feeling of wanting to communicate with the people we meet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Other Greetings Besides Konnichiwa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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When do I use \u304a\u306f\u3088\u3046 (Ohayou) then?<\/h3>\n

Well then, everyone, at what time do you change your greeting from \u300c\u304a\u306f\u3088\u3046, ohayo- good morning\u300dto\u300c\u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f, konnichiwa- good day\u300d? This is quite a difficult question! There is actually no fixed rule.  The television and radio station NHK, which uses the most correct Japanese in Japan, states that \u201cThe greeting\u300c\u304a\u306f\u3088\u3046,ohayo, good morning\u300dis generally acceptable until 9:00 am.<\/p>\n

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However, you should be cautious when using it after 9:00 am.\u201d In addition, a famous Tokyo hotel states that \u201cFor guests, we use \u300c\u304a\u306f\u3088\u3046\u3054\u3056\u3044\u307e\u3059, ohayogozaimasu- good morning (polite)\u300duntil around 10:30 am, and after that we use \u300c\u3044\u3089\u3063\u3057\u3083\u3044\u307e\u305b, irasshaimase- welcome\u300d.<\/p>\n

What about \u3053\u3093\u3070\u3093\u306f (Konbanwa)?<\/h3>\n
\"konbanwa<\/figure>

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How about the transition from \u300c\u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f, konnichiwa- good day\u300dto\u300c\u3053\u3093\u3070\u3093\u306f, konbanwa- good afternoon\u300d? This is actually even more difficult!
NHK states that \u201c\u300c\u3053\u3093\u3070\u3093\u306f,konbanwa- good afternoon\u300dis generally used after the sun has gone down and it gets pretty dark. It is better not to use it when the sun is still out.\u201d In short, when you transition greeting is dependent on the season. For me, I think in the summer I switch greetings around 7:00 pm, and in the winter around 5:30 pm.<\/p>\n

Japanese greetings allow you to communicate with the people you meet, while also keeping the seasons and time in mind. However, do you ever think that the greetings used by some store clerks in Japan are a little too obnoxious? I think those type of greetings might just be the requirements of the store manual and perhaps aren\u2019t the most sincere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

After having learned all of these, why not try putting these to use by greeting people over the phone<\/a>? Or, if you have a friend that you haven’t met in awhile, why not try using “Hisashiburi<\/a>” with them!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Click to tweet this article and share it with others!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Watch This Video To Learn More<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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