今日は
konnichi wa[kõ̞ɲ̟ːit͡ɕiβ̞a̠]
Hello in Japanese is 今日は (konnichi wa). Wiktionary also lists 今晩は (konban wa).
Meaning: greeting (intj)
Ways to say it
| Japanese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| 今日は | konnichi wa | [kõ̞ɲ̟ːit͡ɕiβ̞a̠] (narrow) |
| 今晩は | konban wa | [kõ̞mbã̠ɰ̃β̞a̠] (narrow) |
今日は is a versatile greeting that can also be used in formal situations. For a formal way to say hello when meeting someone for the first time, you can use Hajimemashite (Nice to meet you). In formal settings, it is more appropriate to use Ohayou Gozaimasu when saying Good morning. If you want to say hello informally, you can use Genki? which translates to How are you?
Which one should you use?
今日は is used for daytime greetings, whereas 今晩は is used specifically for evening greetings.
How do you pronounce it?
konnichi wa
Did you know?
- In Japanese, the 'wa' in 今日は is actually the particle は, which marks the topic of a sentence. This reveals that the greeting is grammatically an unfinished thought waiting for a predicate.
- In very formal Japanese etiquette, a greeting like 今日は is often accompanied by a specific depth of bowing. The degree of the bow can signal the level of respect more than the words themselves.
- While English speakers use 'hello' to answer the phone, Japanese speakers almost never use 今日は for this purpose. They instead use different specific greetings or simply start with a name.
Examples in context
- 今日は。Hello!Tatoeba #778577 by marloncori, translation #373330 by CK
Example conversation
Ren and Himari meet on the street during the afternoon.
- 蓮 Ren今日は、陽葵さん。Konnichiwa, Himari-san.Hello, Himari.
- 陽葵 Himariあ、蓮さん。今日は！A, Ren-san. Konnichiwa!Oh, Ren. Hello!
- 蓮 Renどこへ行くところですか。Doko e iku tokoro desu ka.Where are you headed?
- 陽葵 Himari図書館に行きます。Toshokan ni ikimasu.I'm going to the library.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hello” translations and entries 今日は, 今晩は, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 今日は, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
