ありがとう – How to say Thank you in Japanese

There are a few different ways to say Thank you in Japanese. Let’s take a look.

How to say Thank you in Japanese

The main way to say thank you in Japanese is ありがとうございます or ありがとう. Saying the full ありがとうございます is the more polite way to say thank you. ありがとう is fine but is less formal.

If you want to be even more formal you can also say どうもありがとうございます. By adding this どうも it sounds more polite but also more formal. You can also just say どうも itself to mean thank you.

どうも – The Japanese meaning of Domo: Thanks, Greetings, and much more

This is a quick, informal polite way to say thank you.

Grammar notes on ありがとうございます

The word ございます is a verb and has a past tense, ございました. In Japanese, you can say thank you with this word in the presence and past tense, ありがとうございました. Basically, you would use the past tense after something is done for you.

It is a bit more complicated than that but you can read about it above.

Other ways to say Thank you in Japanese

There are other words for different situations that mean something more specific but can translate to thank you for, something or other. For example, there is a word after you eat, ごちそうさまでした which is a way to say thank you to who is hosting your meal. Along with other meanings:

What does Gochisosama deshita mean?

There are other set phrases people say such as:

• お世話せわになりました – Thank you for your help
• ご苦労様くろうさまでした – Thank you for your trouble/work
• お疲つかれ様さまでした –  Thank you for your hard work

All of these have different forms or variations for tense and so on. I also won’t get into the social usage of these here, but just make sure before you try saying any set phrases in Japanese that you have a good idea of what you are saying, and if it is ok for the situation.

If you are interested in learning Japanese I have reviewed what I consider the best resource for Japanese Grammar below:

Resources

• Thank you – (Weblio)