Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 1

5 Gozaimasu indicates politeness and formality. People who know each other well (family members, good friends) can use the short form. You should never use the short form with your superiors (teacher, boss, supervisor). Konnichiwa and konbanwa cover both formal and informal situations. B. Offering and Accepting, Thanking A: Douzo どうぞ 。 Go ahead. (Please take it) B: Aa, doumo. ああ、どうも 。 Oh, thanks. 5. douzo どうぞ go ahead, by all means 6. a(a) あ（あ） oh, ah 7. doumo どうも thank you, I’m sorry 8. +arigatou ありがとう thank you 9. +arigatou gozaimasu ありがとうございます thank you (polite) 10. +arigatou gozaimashita. ありがとうございました thank you for what you’ve done Douzo is used to offer things or invite people to go ahead. Arigatou (gozaimasu) expresses thanks in general. You should never use the short form with your superiors (teacher, boss, supervisor). Doumo expresses gratitude or apology. It can also be combined with arigatou gozaimasu (‘Thank you very much’) or sumimasen (‘I’m very sorry’). Gozaimashita indicates past and is used when the act is completed. C. Addressing Someone ほんだ A: Honda-san . 本田さん 。 Mr/s. Honda. B: Hai. はい。 Yes. 11. ~ san ~ さん Mr/s. X 12. hai はい yes (that’s right), here you go せんせい 13. +~ sensei X 先生 Prof./Dr. X ~ san is a title that can be attached to a given name, a family name, and even some roles. Don’t attach it to your own name or the names of people in your group when talking to outsiders. ~ sensei is a title that can be attached to teachers, professors, doctors, etc. You should not use ~ san to refer to your teacher. Hai means ‘that’s right,’ ‘present’ (in roll call), or ‘here you are’ (handing something over).