*This post has romanised Japanese words to make this easier if you can’t read Japanese. And, furigana for beginners!
- 頑張りましょう！Let’s do our best!
皆様、こんにちにゃあー from Kiki and Koko! And, welcome to Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online where lessons are meticulously formulated word by word just for you! Perhaps if you’ve studied the previous lesson, you now know a few ways to greet people using Japanese language… But, now, it’s time to put that knowledge to the test!! —with a specially created quiz from our own resident quiz robot, QUIZBO™!
What good is knowing vocabulary if you don’t know when to use it? Well, we’re here to solve that today to make sure that you use the right word at the right time. QUIZBO™ got a little creative.
Below, you’ll see a series of scenarios and answers. Choose the most appropriate word to use in the following scenarios!
Ready? Let’s NihonGO!!
Scenario #1:
You’re off to a convention. It’s 8:30am, you rode the train to the last station before your stop; you step off and see your best friend that has a matching outfit– You’re both dressed as the twins from your favourite moth based kaijuu film. You look them in the face and say…
お早う！|
ohayou! ◎ They smile and respond with お早う!, ohayou!, and you both go about your day of fun. You win the cosplay contest that was scheduled midday and everything in life is perfect from then on.
こんばんは! | konbanwa! × Your friend suddenly wonders if it’s evening time and thinks you are now both late for the cosplay contest. Your friend tears off the costume in despair…. But, it’s okay, you didn’t spend much time on it. You explain what happened, they understand, and you get frozen yoghurt.
お早はようございます! | ohayou gozaimasu! × Your friend wonders why you’re speaking so formally, and then wonders if you’re really who you say you are… They don’t do anything out of the ordinary…. you win the cosplay contest with them… but there’s always a sense of doubt, whether your brain was stolen by aliens.
はじめまして!|Hajimemashite! × Your friend is confused, wondering if you’re the wrong person… Suddenly, another person steps off the train behind you. It’s you. They greet your friend properly and walk off together. You find out you weren’t you all along. You were Urutoraman this whole time, so you continue your awesome life despite your answer’s incorrectness.
Scenario #2:
You’re meeting a coworker for a lovely dinner at an indoor fast-food playhouse. You remove your shoes, placing them in the shoe holder guarded by a clown statue. You look around for them, but the statue turns out to be your coworker. You jump, startled, realising it’s your coworker, but realise you have to say something…
こんばんは! | konbanwa! ◎ They smile and respond こんばんは!, konbanwa!, but then, their smile fades—their real one, not the painted one—and they say they have something important to discuss with you about their life choices and how they’ve wanted to be a clown all of their life. You sit down and talk the night away. You and your coworker have never been closer. You’ve made a friend.
お早うございます! | ohayou gozaimasu! × They look startled, looking around, wondering if they’ve been standing there all night. They realise they can at least order from the breakfast menu, now. You tell them, it’s still evening. They’re not mad… just disappointed. But, you still enjoy a great evening wearing clown’s clothes, even if this was wrong.
すみません! | sumimasen! × They tilt their head in confusion. Your face makes them believe you thought you’ve brought this clown statue to life and wanted to formally apologise. They say, OKです, okee desu. It’s okay, then walk off and out of the store. Some say they’re still roaming the streets of Akihabara to this day. Oh, and this answer is wrong.
こんにちは! | konnichiwa! × They tilt their head, wondering what time it is, but you continue on with your evening, dressed in a clown suit. They’re in the clown suit, that is. Oh, and this answer is wrong.
Scenario #3:
It’s about 3pm. You’re approaching the lift in your office building. You stand there; it hasn’t arrived, yet. Your coworker who you talk with everyday walks up next to you to wait as well. What do you say?
こんにちは! | konnichiwa! ◎ They smile and respond こんにちは! , konnichiwa! and you go about your day. You find a 100 yen bill on the ground later that day… Good for you!
何もない! | nanimo nai! × This literally means ‘nothing’… It’s valid to say nothing, but then it defeats the point of the quiz, I suppose. Or, maybe you literally said nanimonai out loud… Yeah, I don’t think that’d work either. Try again~!
お久しぶりですね！| ohisashiburi desune! × They think you’re joking. You just spoke yesterday. They smile, but deep down, they think the joke was terrible. But you’ll never know because you couldn’t read their mind.. or can you..? No.. no, you can’t.
はじめまして！| hajimemashite! × They think you’re joking. You talk everyday. They ask you if you’re feeling alright. You insist you meant to say hajimemashite despite it still being incorrect. You end up in the infirmary and waste the rest of the workday. Everything is cleared up with a conversation, but you’ll never get back that evening.. or that ride in the lift you could have had… at least you learned something.
Scenario #4:
It’s about 9am. You’re on time for class but your professor is 15 minutes late. You and the other students decide to give them five more minutes. Your professor shows up! Regardless of whether they were a few minutes late or early, what do you say?
お早うございます!|ohayou gozaimasu! ◎ They smile, dissheveled. They respond in kind and explain they were late, but not because they were fighting crime. The class is suspicious but hopeful.
こんばんは! | konbanwa! × They think this is a joke about them being late.. They don’t say anything back, and they never give the secret surprise they had for everyone. It was cake…. Okay, they did give the strawberry shortcake to everyone later on in the class, and everything was fine. But, the answer was still completely wrong.
すみません！| sumimasen! × They think you’re apologising or trying to get their attention…. Both end in a moment of staring at each other in silence. They continue by unlocking the classroom door. You wasted a few moments of each other’s lives.
お早う！| Ohayou! × They force a smile because you’re trying your best, but they subtly feel their years earning their PhD for this position as a professor were completely wasted to be given the same treatment as a common student. You reminded them of their their thousands of dollars of college debt they accumulated in the states. Their day isn’t as nice as it could have been.
Scenario #5:
There’s a new student in your class. You haven’t spoken to them before, but you’d like to greet them. At the beginning of lunch hour, you walk over to their desk, suddenly pink bubbles and an ornate frame appear around your view of the new student. Their hair blows in the wind. You realise now you’re in a shoujo manga, a graphic novel marketed for young ladies. It doesn’t matter, though, because you know what to say:
はじめまして！｜hajimemashite! ◎ They smile nervously, blushing. They turn away, and reply in kind. Will your acquaintance blossom into a friendship? Only time will tell.
こんばんは! | konbanwa! ×They tilt their head and the anime bubbles fade away. They say it’s still early. You always remember this encounter every time you meet them and it turns into a shounen manga quest to become the strongest greeter that ever was!
お久しぶりですね！| ohisashiburi desune! ×They look confused, blushing. They’re too embarrassed to say they don’t remember you. They reply the same way, and you stand there silently whilst they try to remember where you’re from. They avoid you the entire school year because they couldn’t bear to admit they didn’t remember you. In the end, it was all a rift in time that caused you to
Scenario #6:
Who’s that selling shoes out of the back of a van? Why, it’s you’re old friend, Mr. Nekoyashiki! Remember when you two used to sell sushi tacos out of the back of his van? Wait, is that the same van? No time to see, he’s making eye contact with you already. What do you say?
お久しぶりですね！| ohisashiburi desune! ◎ They agree with a hearty laugh and a 久ひさしぶり!, hisashiburi!. They recall all that you used to do together, how you two would always go for frozen yoghurt, and suggest you go for some… for old time’s sake. You say you’d like that very much. He finishes his shoe sale and you two go to your favourite frozen yoghurt place.
すみませんが・・・ | sumimasen ga… × They tell you they’ll be with you in a moment, assuming you’re just another customer waiting in queue for some top-of-the-line punna brand shoes. He gets in a long conversation with the guy before you, and end up going home. But, on the way home you find a portal to another dimension where you had the correct answer. This isn’t that dimension.
こんにちは! | konnichiwa! × He looks at you and realises that he recognises you from somewhere, but he just can’t put his finger on it… You both stand there awkwardly as the person purchasing the shoes suddenly takes off his sunglasses and moustache, whipping out a badge. He says he’s the federal shoe salesman inspector, and you were taking part in the purchase of off brand shoes sold by a guy without a license. You both get to catch up with each other and talk as much as you like… in jail. But, don’t worry, it’s chilli night.
Scenario #7:
You’re late! You overslept! You’re running down the street with a piece of toast smeared with jam hanging from your mouth. In your hurry, you accidentally brush shoulders with someone. You stop, give a bow, and say……?
すみません！| sumimasen! ◎ They say 大丈夫です, daijoubu desu, it’s okay. But, they suddenly realise they recognise you from somewhere. Did you two go to university together? Dance class? You lie awake that night, but remember suddenly, it’s Tanaka from your survivalist group! You phone them– They weren’t wearing their glasses that day to train for the robocolypse. Everything in life makes sense again.
お久しぶりですね！| ohisashiburi desune! × They’re taken off guard, very confused. They say they don’t know you and continue to walk. You walk more slowly, trying to figure out what you should have said. You were late for your survivalist meeting and failed to learn how to identify edible berries in the wild.
こんばんは! | konbanwa! × They look at you strangely, and grimace, then continue to walk. Nothing bad happened, but you confused them, and that’s half the battle! … No, wait, you’re trying to communicate, not confuse them. Battle failed. Try again, we’re sure you’ll get it!
Scenario #8:
You’re in queue. The person in front of you has a dog that looks just like the one from your favourite American 70s sitcom, ‘Good Happening and Son!!?’ You’ve always wondered what breed it was… You want to politely get their attention. What do you say?
すみませんが・・・| sumimasenga… ◎ They turn to you and you ask the kind of dog they have. They say, they don’t have a dog. The dog’s eyes light up blue and it transforms into a large robot. The robocolypse has begun.
こんばんは! | konbanwa! × It was 7am when they arrived, and with your こんばんは, konbanwa, they think must have been in queue all day long. They stand in front of the queue and make a speech about how queues have stolen their lives. They start an anti-queue uprising. Queues turned to crowds. Order was lost.
お久しぶりですね！| ohisashiburi desune! × They turn back to you and look at you strangely. They say they’ve never met you before in their life. The dog stares at you. They’ve seen you before. They know what you did. You hold an uncomfortable stare with the dog for the next hour without ever properly asking your question.
And there you have it! 8 Scenarios to assist you in knowing what phrase to use at what time. These scenarios should definitely keep you on the edge of your seat and should be essential to your survival in using Japanese language. Are each of them completely realistic? Well, maybe not, but hopefully it’ll help you remember these phrases. If you’re stuck, just pay attention to keywords like the time of day or the actual action.
By the way, did you get them all correct? If you didn’t, feel free to come back again, and/or explore the rest of the site! (whether or not you got them correct) If you did get them all correct, let us know in the comments below! If you have questions, they might be featured in the next Your Questions Answered~ So, leave a comment below for a chance!
Speaking may assist in your survival in Japanese language, but perhaps you’d be interested in learning to read? Mayhaps? We would be honoured if you would learn with us. Just go to Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Blog or Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online. Follow the blog to continue to have Japanese language and other fun stuff thrown right into your inbox! You don’t even have to type in keywords or barely lift a finger, it’s right there.
私たちと一緒に勉強緒してありがとうございました！
Thank you for revising with us!
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