Good morning. 「おはよう。」 Ohayou.
Hello! Kon-ni-chi-wa.
I’ve been talking about greetings. Today, I’m going to teach you “Good morning” in Japanese.
It is “O-ha-yoh”. While “hello” is not used among close friends, “O-ha-yoh” is used for anyone.
When you wake up in the morning and see your mom, you say “O-ha-yoh”. At school, when you are getting into a classroom, you say “O-ha-yoh” to your classmates.
The way of saying the word is exactly the same as “good morning” in English.
There is one thing you need to know in Japanese language. In Japan, we have to change a way of talking to senior people. Polite expressions are preferable to them all the time.
A polite way of saying “O-ha-yoh” is “O-ha-yoh-go-zai-ma-su.” You simply add “go-zai-ma-su” to “o-ha-yoh.”
You will say this formal version of “good morning” when you see teachers, seniors, your friend’s parents and your boss. At the same time, don’t forget to bow.
You don’t have to bow bending your entire upper body for greetings, but at least, you need to move your head as you nod.
This word is usually written Hiragana alone. However, sometimes you might see the letter: “早” in the word, “O-ha-yoh”. The meaning of the Chinese character “早” is “early”.
It seems that Japanese people originally used the letter, but nowadays, people don’t use the letter often. So, hiragana itsels is fine.
Anyway, morning in Japan starts with “O-ha-yoh.”
Why don’t you say “O-ha-yoh” to Japanese people in the morning instead of “Kon-ni-chi-wa”?
Thanks for reading!