おはようございます

Japanese

Etymology

Phrase consisting of おはよう (ohayō, early, formal, adverbial) + ございます (gozaimasu, it is, formal).

Pronunciation

  • IPA: [oha̠jo̞ː go̞za̠ima̠sɯᵝ], [oha̠jo̞ː go̞za̠ima̠sɯ̥ᵝ]

Interjection

おはようございます (romaji ohayō gozaimasu)

  1. good morning

Usage notes

In more casual speech, may be shortened to just おはよう (ohayō).

Also spelled in kanji various ways. Generally, the more kanji used, the more formal the written form. The following lists alternative forms in rough order from casual to formal.

Alternative forms

Last modified on 15 April 2013, at 12:16