挨拶(Greetings)

挨拶 Greetings

Most greetings in Japanese are left in their hiragana forms, even if they contain kanji. Therefore, there is little kanji to learn from the basic greetings.

1.おはようございます。　Good morning.

2.こんにちは Good afternoon

3.こんばんは Good evening

4.（お）元気　（ですか）？　Lively? / Doing well? [Use for people you haven't seen in a while]

5.お元気でしたか？元気だった？ Been lively? Been well?

6.ただいま

　Respond: お帰り！

7. 初めまして 。Nice to meet you.

基本を超えて　Beyond the Basics

The former list of words are the kinds of greetings you can find in just about any elementary level Japanese textbook. Now for a further look at Japanese greetings.

元気にしている？ Are you well?

調子はどう(ですか）　How's it going? （Lit. How is your condition?)

ご機嫌いかがですか？How is your mood/spirits?

ご機嫌よう？ Spirits good?

お久しぶりです！ Long time no see.

*もうかりもっか　Making any money? (Osaka dialect)

Resonse to greeting questions

元気している/元気です。

調子よ Good mood, you know!

まあ なんとか やっています。(I've been managing somehow.)

ぼちぼち です / やっています。 (Little by little I've been getting by)

相変わらずだよ。（Ｓａｍｅ　ａｓ　ａｌｗａｙｓ）

全部：　お蔭様で　何もともなく　Thanks to you/God/Buddha. Nothing special.

漢字の復習	かんじのふくしゅう		記憶法
漢字	かんじ	Chinese characters
復習	ふくしゅう	Revenge, review
記憶法	きおくほう	mnemonic
挨拶	あいさつ
帰り	かえり	Return, come back
基本	きほん	Basics
超える	こえる	To cross over, pass through, go beyond
機嫌	きげん	Spirits, mood	“kihon” sounds like “nihon” Remember “Basic Japanese phrases”
（お）久しぶり	ひさしぶり		We bought the“coil” mattress at Bed Bath and Beyond.
調子	ちょうし	Tune,tone,key,mood,manner,style,knack,condition,state of health...
相変わらず	あいかわらず	Same as always
全部	ぜんぶ	all
お蔭様で	おかげさまで	Thanks to you,god,buddha

Of course, there are also many slang variants, which I'll include at a later time. :-)