| Greetings for Special Occasions (1) | |
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Greeting with appropriate words is important for socializing. Here are some useful expressions for special occasions. Try sound files to help with you pronunciation.
Click the link to hear the pronunciation.
Celebration
| Omedetou gozaimasu. おめでとうございます。 |
Congratulations. |
| Omedetou. おめでとう。 (casual) |
The form "gozaimasu（ございます）" is more polite. It is added when you are talking with somebody who is not a family members or a close friend. To reply, "Arigatou gozaimasu（ありがとうございます）" or "Arigatou（ありがとう）" is used.
| O-tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu. お誕生日おめでとうございます。 (formal) |
Happy Birthday. |
| Tanjoubi omedetou. 誕生日おめでとう。 (casual) |
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| Go-kekkon omedetou gozaimasu. ご結婚おめでとうございます。 (formal) |
Congratulations on your wedding. |
| Kekkon omedetou. 結婚おめでとう。 (casual) |
The honorific "o（お）" or "go（ご）" can be attached to the front of some nouns as a formal way of saying "your". It is very polite. Click here for more information.
To somebody who is sick
| Guai wa ikaga desu ka. 具合はいかがですか。 |
How are you feeling? (Literally means, How is your condition?) |
| Kaze wa dou desu ka. 風邪はどうですか。 |
How is your cold? |
| Okagesama de yoku narimashita. おかげさまでよくなりました。 |
Thanks to your help, I have gotten better. |
"Okagesama de（おかげさまで）" can be used whenever you announce good news in answer to someone's concerned inquiry.
| Odaiji ni. お大事に。 |
Please take care of yourself. |
To reply "Odaiji ni（お大事に）", "Arigatou gozaimasu（ありがとうございます）" is used.
Greetings for Special Occasions: (1), (2)
