おはよう、そしてこんにちは
ohayou, soshite konnichiwa
The Japanese phrase for "good morning and good afternoon" is おはよう、そしてこんにちは (ohayou, soshite konnichiwa).
This phrase is a greeting used to welcome people at both the start of the day and during the midday period. While the phrase is grammatically correct, a native speaker would rarely combine these two greetings into a single phrase in natural conversation. They are typically used separately depending on the time of day. こんにちは is an appropriate greeting for any time between around 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
What does it mean word for word?
The term こんにちは literally translates to "as for today" or "regarding this day", serving as a standard daytime greeting.
How do you pronounce it?
ohayou, soshite konnichiwa
Did you know?
- In the Japanese entertainment and service industries, おはよう is often used as a greeting regardless of the time of day, even at night.
- Using こんにちは with close family members or very intimate friends can actually feel cold or overly distant in Japanese.
- The phrase こんにちは is actually a fragment of a longer, older sentence that would conclude with something like 'How are you today?'
Example conversation
Yui greets Hiroto at a flexible-hours community center.
- 結衣 Yui大翔さん、おはよう、そしてこんにちは！Hiroto-san, ohayou, soshite konnichiwa!Hiroto, good morning and good afternoon!
- 大翔 Hirotoあはは、結衣さん、こんにちは。Ahaha, Yui-san, konnichiwa.Haha, hello, Yui.
- 結衣 Yuiもうお昼ですよ。Mou ohiru desu yo.It's already noon, you know.
- 大翔 Hirotoそうですね。いい天気です。Sou desu ne. Ii tenki desu.That's true. The weather is nice.
