What does “gomennasai” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “gomennasai” to mean ‘I’m sorry’ or such in Japanese. It is one of the very basic Japanese phrases and thus quite often used in daily conversations. So, many Japanese learners know this phrase, I think. Interestingly, however, many of them don’t know its original meaning. In this blog post, therefore, I will explain this phrase in detail based on its components. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand this phrase more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “gomennasai”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “gomennasai”.
- gomennasai – ごめんなさい : a Japanese phrase for ‘I’m sorry’, ‘excuse me’, or such.
This is a flexible phrase which we can use to express our apologies in Japanese. So, it can mean ‘I’m sorry’, ‘excuse me’, or such depending on the situation and context. Many Japanese learners also have the same understanding, I think. Interestingly, however, its original meaning and concept are a bit different from today’s.
Before going into the details, let me explain the kanji expression of this phrase. It would help us to better understand the details of the original meaning and concept.
“Gomennasai” in kanji
Japanese people normally write “gomennasai” in hiragana, but it can be written in kanji as follows:
- gomennasai – 御免なさい (ごめんなさい) : the kanji expression of “gomennasai”, working in the same way as its hiragana expression.
Japanese people rarely use this kanji expression. In formal situations, however, this could work naturally.
This kanji expression helps us to understand the structure of the phrase. To understand its original meaning and concept, let me explain its breakdown.
Breakdown of “gomennasai”
“Gomennasai” consists of the following three parts:
- go – 御 (ご) : a prefix used to make its following word polite.
- men – 免 (めん) : a word used to mean ‘approval’, ‘exemption’, or such.
- nasai – なさい : the command form of the verb, “nasaru”, which means ‘to do’, ‘to perform’, ‘to have’, ‘to make’, or such politely in Japanese.
From these three components, we can understand that “gomennasai” literally means ‘make an approval’ politely in Japanese. This literal interpretation is not completely in line with the original meaning and concept, but still very close. Actually, this phrase used to mean ‘make an approval on one’s apology’, in other words, ‘accept one’s apology’. Again, but it was originally a command-formed phrase. So, this was used by a speaker to ask his/her listeners to accept his/her apology. As times changed, its usage also changed. Today, we can use it to say “I’m sorry”, “Excuse me”, or such in Japanese.
When we meet new Japanese phrases, we should check their components in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, components tell us a lot about meanings of phrases they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “gomennasai” through the detailed check above.
Then, let me explain how to use “gomennasai” through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “I’m sorry for yesterday” in Japanese
kinou wa gomennasai – 昨日はごめんなさい (きのうはごめんなさい)
I’m sorry for yesterday.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kinou – 昨日 (きのう) : a noun meaning ‘yesterday’ in Japanese. This can also work as an adverb.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works as a topic marker after “kinou” to put a focus on it.
This is a typical usage of “gomennasai”. This example sentence is very helpful when we want to say “I’m sorry for yesterday” in Japanese. It’s worth knowing.
Example #2: another usage of “gomennasai”
「gomennasai」to kare ga it ta – 「ごめんなさい」と彼が言った (「ごめんなさい」とかれがいった)
“I’m sorry”, he said.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- to – と : a case particle working as a quote marker. In the example, this works after “gomennasai” to indicate what he said.
- kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
- ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “kare” to make the subject word in the sentence.
- it – 言っ (いっ) : one conjugation of the verb, “iu”, which means ‘to say’, ‘to tell’, or such in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. In the example, this is used after “it” to make its past tense form, “it ta”.
This is another typical usage of “gomennasai”. When we want to say “I’m sorry” in Japanese, anyway, this phrase is very helpful.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “gomennasai” as well as its original meaning and concept. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- gomennasai – ごめんなさい : a Japanese phrase for ‘I’m sorry’, ‘excuse me’, or such. This is a flexible phrase which we can use to express our apologies in Japanese. This phrase used to mean ‘make an approval on one’s apology’, in other words, ‘accept one’s apology’ in Japanese. This is the original meaning and concept of the phrase. As times changed, its usage also changed. Today, we can use this to say “I’m sorry” or such in Japanese.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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