みんな、こんにちは
minna, konnichiwa
In Japanese, hello family is expressed as みんな、こんにちは (minna, konnichiwa).
This phrase is used to address a group of family members or close friends. Because Japanese often omits specific nouns like 'family' in casual greetings, みんな (everyone) is the natural way to address a group of family members.
How does it change in a sentence?
In the word こんにちは, the particle 'wa' is written with the character 'ha' (は) in Japanese script, even though it is pronounced as 'wa'.
How do you pronounce it?
minna, konnichiwa
Did you know?
- The word こんにちは is actually a fragment of a much longer, historical greeting that used to end with a polite phrase meaning 'How are you doing today?'
- Because こんにちは is tied to the 'day', it is strictly a daytime greeting. If you were greeting your family in the morning or evening, you must switch to おはよう or こんばんは, as using 'day' at night would be nonsensical.
- While みんな means 'everyone', Japanese speakers often use the word 家族 (family) to describe their group to outsiders, but almost never use it when speaking directly to those family members.
Examples in context
- みんな、こんにちは！元気？Minna, konnichiwa! Genki?Hello, everyone! How are you?
- みんな、こんにちは。ご飯を食べよう。Minna, konnichiwa. Gohan o tabeyou.Hello, everyone. Let's eat.
Example conversation
Yui enters the living room where her family is gathered.
- 結衣 Yuiみんな、こんにちは！Minna, konnichiwa!Hello everyone!
- 大翔 Hiroto結衣、おかえり！Yui, okaeri!Welcome home, Yui!
- 結衣 Yuiただいま。みんな何してたの？Tadaima. Minna nani shiteta no?I'm home. What were you all doing?
- 大翔 Hirotoテレビを見ていたよ。Terebi o mite ita yo.We were watching TV.
