What konnichiwa, ohayou and arigatou really mean

Most people learn three Japanese words before they learn any kanji: konnichiwa (hello), ohayou (good morning) and arigatou (thank you). Each one hides a kanji, and once you see it, the greeting makes more sense. Konnichiwa is half of a sentence, ohayou says “it’s early”, and arigatou says “this is hard to have”.

Konnichiwa: “As for today…”

こんにちは (konnichiwa) is 今日は: 今日 (konnichi), today, plus は (wa), the particle that marks a topic, “as for”. It’s the opening of older, longer greetings, something like 今日はご機嫌いかがですか (konnichi wa gokigen ikaga desu ka), “how are you feeling today?” Over time people dropped the rest and kept the start.

That’s why it’s spelled with は and not わ: は is the particle, and as a particle it’s pronounced wa. You’ll see こんにちわ online, but it’s a mistake, or a joke.

The evening greeting works the same way: こんばんは (konbanwa) is 今晩は, “as for this evening…”.

Ohayou: “It’s early”

おはよう (ohayou) comes from 早い (hayai), early. It’s a softened form of お早く (o-hayaku), so the feeling is “you’re up early”. おはようございます (ohayou gozaimasu) is the polite version.

Because it’s the first greeting of the day, some workplaces, such as TV studios and restaurants, use おはようございます when a shift starts, even at seven in the evening.

Arigatou: “Hard to have”

ありがとう (arigatou) comes from 有り難い (arigatai): 有り (ari), to exist or to have, and 難い (gatai), hard. In older Japanese the word meant “rare, hard to find”. Something that rare is precious, so it came to mean “I’m grateful”. ありがとうございます (arigatou gozaimasu) is the polite form.

So every Japanese thank-you carries a small compliment: what you did for me is rare.

How to use them

• こんにちは。

  Konnichiwa.

  Hello. Good afternoon.

• おはよう！

  Ohayou!

  Morning! (to friends and family)

• おはようございます。

  Ohayou gozaimasu.

  Good morning. (polite)

• ありがとう。

  Arigatou.

  Thanks.

• どうもありがとうございます。

  Doumo arigatou gozaimasu.

  Thank you very much.

• Konnichiwa is a daytime greeting, from late morning to early evening. Before that, say ohayou gozaimasu; after dark, konbanwa.
• Konnichiwa sounds a little formal. Japanese people say it to neighbours, shop staff and people they don’t know well, but rarely to their own family.
• Arigatou on its own is casual. To a teacher, a stranger or a shop clerk, say arigatou gozaimasu.
• Spelling: all three are normally written in hiragana. The kanji spellings 今日は, お早う and 有り難う exist, but they look formal or old-fashioned.

Words with the same kanji

Remember it

Three greetings, three kanji: 今, now, 早, early, and 難, hard. Hello is “as for today”, good morning is “you’re early”, and thank you is “this was hard to come by”.

The kanji in this lesson

Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Sources

• Wiktionary: 今日は (konnichiwa)
• Wiktionary: おはよう
• Wiktionary: ありがとう

Written by the Sumi team with the help of AI, then checked against JMdict and KANJIDIC2. How we write lessons. Spotted a mistake? Email brightsmilesolutionssupport@gmail.com.