はい ≠ yes – What does hai mean in Japanese? Yes, no, here! uh-huh, right, here you go, I understand

はい in Japanese is a word essential for proper communication in Japanese. If you want a quick translation then yes is fine. But, if you want to know more than how to say yes in Japanese はい is much more complex. はい is a word that is hard to translate directly from Japanese to English since it has so many usages. More than simply being a word that means something, it is a word that facilitates communication between people. Let’s take a look and how はい does this in Japanese.

What does はい Mean in Japanese?

はい can be translated as several different words depending on the context:

• yes
• no
• here!
• here you go
• alright…
• I understand
• uh-huh (go on)
• right

This is just a sample of the possible ways you could translate はい. As you see it means more than yes. Let’s take a look at two examples:

A：準備じゅんびできた？ – Are you ready?
B：はい、準備できた – Yes, I’m ready

Above, Person-A is asking the question, and Person-B answers with はい which means yes here.

https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/

  A：電話でんわはまだ来きていない？– Have we got the phone call yet? (literally: have we not gotten…)
B：はい、まだです – No, not yet

Now we can see in this situation that the English word is no. That is because はい does not mean just yes. It means something like, affirmative to your last question. Even if the question is a negative one we would still say はい to affirm what we are asked. So, in order to understand はい better, we will need to look more at the context where it is used as a response.

はい as a Response

Instead of thinking of how to translate this word into English, it is much more beneficial to learn how to use it correctly. In it itself はい does not mean much. はい gets its meaning from the context where it is used between people in a conversation.

Why is Japanese so Hard: Simplifying Context

Other than just telling someone yes or no, here are some other ways to respond with はい.

Accepting or Agreeing

In Japanese one use of はい is to tell someone that you accept their proposal or agree to their request. If someone asks you or tells you to do something you would say はい to tell them ok. 

A：これを捨すててくれる？ – Could you throw this away for me?
B：はい、いいよ – Sure, no problem

Responding when Called

Also, you say はい when being called. For example in a classroom of kids during role-call.

Teacher：田中君たなかくん – Tanaka-kun
Student：はい – HereOr even, when not talking about a specific person you can say はい. For example when there is a room of people and someone is asking questions to everyone and wants a response from a non-specified person.

A：傘かさをなくしてしまいましたが、誰だれか知しりませんか？ – I lost my umbrella, has anyone seen it?
B：はい、廊下ろうかで拾ひろいました – Yes, I picked it up in the hallwayAbove, this はい is not only affirming that Person-B has seen the umbrella but also it is said to respond to Person-A. It is the same as the first example where the teacher is calling on the student who responds with here. We could have substituted yes with something else like I found it.

Managing the Conversation with はい

There is a word in Japanese, 相槌あいづち which are words that are used to tell the speaker you are listening, understanding, or agree with what they are saying.

簡潔な説明 – Simple Tips for Explaining things in Japanese

You guessed it, はい is one of these words. In Japanese conversations, people give much, much more feedback while listening than in English.  This is a whole other topic on its own but はい is said in this context to tell the speaker, please continue I’m listening. Or it could mean something different depending on how you say it or the context.

次郎じろう：ねえ、太郎たろう – Hey, Taro
太郎：はい – yeah
次郎：昨日きのう久ひさしぶりに花子はなこに会あいに行いこうと思おもって、家いえに行ったんだけでね
– Yesterday I went to see Hanako since it has been a while
太郎：はいはい – uh-huh
次郎：家に着ついたら花子はいなくて、お父とうさんに聞きいてみたら…
– Well when I got there she was not there so I asked her dad about her
太郎：うんうん – yeah, yeah
次郎：パリに引ひっ越こしたって – He told me she moved to Paris

Other Times to say はい

So basically we have はい above used in conversations and as responses. That is not the only time when you may say はい.

Affirming one’s own Speech

People may also say はい like they are talking to themselves in a way to affirm what they have just said:

A：昨日ラーメンを食たべた？ – Did you eat ramen yesterday?
B：いや、違ちがう。ラーメンじゃなくて、うどんを食べた。はい – No, I had udon, not Ramen.

Here, there is not really a translation for はい. I guess we could think of the はい as meaning, right udon, or yeah it was udon, not ramen.

はい Accompanies Peoples Actions to Aid Communication

Another use of はい is to bring people’s attention to what someone is doing. For example, if someone is leading a group on a tour and they want to get peoples attention:

はい、皆様みなさま。もうそろそろ着きます
Alright, everyone. We will be there soon.

Or even you could say はい when handing something to someone or when accepting something.

A：はい、どうぞ – Alright, here you go
B：はい、どうも – Oh, thanks

Someone may say はい when talking to a group of people to signal transition from one topic to another.

はい、それでは続つづきまして… – Ok, so moving on
はい、以上です – Ok, that’s all

Asking for Someone to repeat something

はい also is a filler word that shows up in many other situations. For example when someone says something and you don’t quite hear them.

はい？何と言った？
hm? What did you say?

Stop!

Finally, はい, as we know, can be said to get people’s attention. It can also be used a step further to tell people to stop. Let’s say for example for whatever reason you have someone blindfolded and are telling them to walk forward. Once that person gets to the point you want them to be you could say はい firmly to get their attention and have them stop.

はい！そこまで
stop! there

はい does not really mean stop here. it could mean wait, there, or something else. It is just a signal to tell get someone’s attention and to listen to you. 

Resources

• 現代日本語「はい」の意味分析