Thank you and hello in JapaneseWith pronunciation, and the replies you'll hear back
Japanese sounds are simple for English speakers, and the vowels never change. The hard part is not speaking, it is catching the very polite set phrases staff say back to you. Here are 18 phrases people actually use in Japan, in the order worth learning them. The replies you will hear back are included too.
"Thank you" in Japanese
ありがとうございます
ah-ree-GAH-toh goh-zah-ee-MAHSS
arigatou gozaimasu
The final u is almost silent, so it ends in a soft "mass".
Thank you
ありがとうございます
ah-ree-GAH-toh goh-zah-ee-MAHSS
arigatou gozaimasu
Hello
こんにちは
kohn-nee-chee-WAH
konnichiwa
Staff greet you with いらっしゃいませ (ee-rah-shy-mah-seh). It is a welcome, not a question, and needs no reply.
Excuse me / sorry
すみません
soo-mee-mah-SEN
sumimasen
Also how you call a waiter over. Say it once, clearly.
Yes / No
はい / いいえ
HIGH / EE-eh
hai / iie
いいえ sounds blunt. To turn something down, 大丈夫です (dai-JOH-boo dess) is softer and far more common.
Please (when asking or ordering)
お願いします
oh-neh-gah-ee-shee-MAHSS
onegaishimasu
Point at what you want and add this. It works in every shop.
The respelling is an approximation. Japanese uses three writing systems and no spaces, but the sounds themselves are forgiving: five pure vowels and almost no consonant clusters. The real limit of a respelling is that Japanese uses pitch, not stress, so the capitals here are a rough guide rather than the truth. For place names, station names and anything you must get exactly right, show the written form on your phone instead of saying it. Staff will read it and point.
Five phrases is genuinely enough for Japanese
You do not need to work through a phrasebook before you go. Almost everything a traveller says falls into these five shapes, and they are listed under "Start with these five" above.
- Thank you … The one you will use most. If you learn a single word, make it this one.
- Hello … Said the moment you walk into a shop. Whether you say it changes how you are treated.
- Excuse me … Some languages split calling someone over and apologising into different words. Check the list above.
- How much is it? … Needed for every purchase and every meal. If you miss the number, ask them to show it.
- I don't understand … Without this you end up nodding along and walking off in the wrong direction.
Getting these five automatic beats memorising twenty. Twenty phrases you have to search your memory for are worth nothing at the moment you need them.
Politeness is not optional decoration, it is which word you pick
Japanese has several levels of thank you and they are not interchangeable. Say ありがとうございます (arigatou gozaimasu) to shop staff, drivers, hotel reception and anyone you do not know. Plain ありがとう (arigatou) is for friends, and using it with a stranger sounds like you are talking down to them. すみません (sumimasen) does triple duty as excuse me, sorry and a modest thank you when someone has gone out of their way, so if you learn one word, learn that one. A small nod of the head with any of these does more for you than perfect pronunciation.
The hard part is not speaking, it is understanding the reply
Almost every phrasebook only covers what you say. What actually stops people is the second after they finish talking, when the other person answers. How many of you. For here or to go. Card or cash. Go quiet and the exchange dies. Nod along and you get the wrong thing.
The good news is that the replies are a small, predictable set. Choose "You hear" in the list above and you will see only the ones that actually come back at you in Japan. Reading them once before you go is most of the work.
If you still cannot catch it, ask them to write it down. Numbers and place names are far easier to read than to hear.
Say it clearly rather than say it perfectly
Japanese uses three writing systems and no spaces, but the sounds themselves are forgiving: five pure vowels and almost no consonant clusters. The real limit of a respelling is that Japanese uses pitch, not stress, so the capitals here are a rough guide rather than the truth. For place names, station names and anything you must get exactly right, show the written form on your phone instead of saying it. Staff will read it and point.
The usual failure is not a wrong vowel, it is going quiet because you are unsure. Keep it short, say it at normal volume, and finish the phrase in one breath. Everyone can tell you are a visitor attempting Japanese, and if it does not land they will simply ask again. Copy the written form to your phone so you have something to show when speaking does not work.
Other languages
FAQ
Q.How do you say thank you in Japanese?
ありがとうございます, pronounced roughly ah-ree-GAH-toh goh-zah-ee-MAHSS. The final u is almost silent, so it ends in a soft "mass". If you learn one word before you travel, make it this one. It works at the till, when someone gives you directions, and when someone gives up a seat.
Q.Will the pronunciation guide alone get me understood?
Japanese uses three writing systems and no spaces, but the sounds themselves are forgiving: five pure vowels and almost no consonant clusters. The real limit of a respelling is that Japanese uses pitch, not stress, so the capitals here are a rough guide rather than the truth. For place names, station names and anything you must get exactly right, show the written form on your phone instead of saying it. Staff will read it and point.
Q.How much should I learn before I go?
Five phrases. Thank you, hello, excuse me, how much is it, and I don't understand. That covers nearly every situation a traveller hits. Getting those five automatic matters far more than adding a sixth, because at the moment you need them there is no time to think.
Q.Why bother when I have a translation app?
For getting something done, the app wins. People still learn a few words because it changes how they are treated. In a 2025 Preply survey of 1,526 US adults, 47 percent of those who used the local language said locals treated them better, 80 percent said learning phrases before a trip is important, and 58 percent actually did it. A greeting is less about transferring information and more about signalling that you made an effort.
Q.I can ask the question, but I cannot understand the answer.
That is the most common way this goes wrong, and it is why this page includes the other side. Choose "You hear" in the list above to see only what gets said back to you in Japan. There are not many variations: how many of you, eat in or take away, card or cash. Reading them once removes most of the surprise.
Q.Does this work offline?
Yes. Everything runs in the browser, with no account and nothing sent to a server. Open it once before you fly and it will usually still be there on the plane or in a dead zone. You can copy any phrase and show the screen when speaking does not work.
Reading a phrase is not the same as saying it
You can recognise every phrase on this page and still freeze at the counter, because there is no time to think. Inko lets you say Japanese out loud to an AI for 60 seconds a day, and afterwards it shows you what you could have said instead. A week before you fly is enough to make a difference.