こんにちは
konnichiwa
The Japanese phrase for "hi there" is こんにちは (konnichiwa).
こんにちは is a friendly greeting used to say hello to someone.
How do you pronounce it?
konnichiwa
Did you know?
- The phrase こんにちは literally translates to 'today is…', treating the day itself as the topic of conversation before the speaker pauses.
- The spelling of the phrase ends with the character は (ha) instead of the phonetic わ (wa). This is because the word functions grammatically as a topic marker in its original long-form sentence.
- When saying こんにちは, Japanese speakers often perform a slight bow. The depth and duration of the bow change depending on the social status of the person being greeted.
Examples in context
- こんにちは、元気ですか？Konnichiwa, genki desu ka?Hi there, how are you?
- こんにちは、いい天気ですね。Konnichiwa, ii tenki desu ne.Hi there, the weather is nice, isn't it?
- 先生、こんにちは。Sensei, konnichiwa.Hello there, teacher.
Example conversation
Yui and Yota run into each other on the street during the day.
- 結衣 Yuiこんにちは、陽太さん。Konnichiwa, Yota-san.Hi there, Yota.
- 陽太 Yotaあ、結衣さん、こんにちは。A, Yui-san, konnichiwa.Oh, hi there, Yui.
- 結衣 Yuiどこへ行くんですか？Doko e iku n desu ka?Where are you going?
- 陽太 Yota図書館へ行きます。Toshokan e ikimasu.I'm going to the library.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry こんにちは, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
