Which one should you use?
While お大事に is a standard polite way to wish someone well during illness, お体をお大事に specifically conveys the idea of 'Please take care of your health'. For a general sense of 'Be careful' or 'Take care' among friends or family, you would use 気をつけてね. For a very formal version meaning 'Please take good care of yourself', use ご自愛ください.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
お大事に is polite and is the standard respectful way to address acquaintances or patients. For more formal settings, you can use お体をお大事に as a parting phrase in professional environments or ご自愛ください to mean 'Please take good care of yourself'. Conversely, 気をつけてね is informal and suited for friends or family.
How does it change in a sentence?
To make the phrase a complete, polite imperative sentence, you can add してください to the end, resulting in お大事にしてください.
How do you pronounce it?
odaiji ni
Did you know?
- In highly formal letters or professional emails, you might see the phrase ご自愛ください, which specifically emphasizes 'loving or caring for one's own body'.
- The word daiji in the phrase literally translates to 'an important thing', implying that the person's health is a precious object to be protected.
- If you use お大事に toward someone who is perfectly healthy, it can be interpreted as a subtle, perhaps even rude, suggestion that they appear unwell.
Examples in context
- どうぞお大事に。Please take care of yourself.This example shows a polite way to say 'Please take care of yourself' using お大事に.Tatoeba #201342 by bunbuku, translation #38550 by CK
- お体をお大事に。Take care of yourself.This example shows how to say 'Take care of yourself' using お大事に.Tatoeba #226911 by bunbuku, translation #64257 by CK
- 元気でいてください。ご自愛ください。Take care and stay well.
- 仕事の後もお体をお大事に。Take care of your health even after work.
- 元気になるまでお大事に。Take care until you recover.
- 旅行の間、気をつけてね。Take care during your trip.
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A colleague is leaving the office early because of a cold.
- 陽葵 Himari蓮さん、風邪ですか？Ren-san, kaze desu ka?Ren, do you have a cold?
- 蓮 Renはい、少し熱があります。Hai, sukoshi netsu ga arimasu.Yes, I have a slight fever.
- 陽葵 Himari無理しないで、お大事に。Muri shinai de, o daiji ni.Don't overdo it, take care of yourself.
- 蓮 Renありがとうございます。Arigatou gozaimasu.Thank you very much.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry お大事に, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries お大事に, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
