Ohayō gozaimasu is the Japanese greeting for ‘good morning’

What does “ohayō gozaimasu” mean in Japanese?

First of all, the grammatically correct expression is “ohayou gozaimasu”. Native speakers, however, quite often pronounce it “ohayō gozaimasu”. Or perhaps I should say, they always use the correct pronunciation exactly matching the written expression, but it just sounds like “ohayō gozaimasu”.

In this blog post, I will explain this morning greeting in detail based on its parts. And also, I will explain how to use it through an example sentence. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “ohayō gozaimasu” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “ohayō gozaimasu”
• Breakdown of “ohayō gozaimasu”
  • Definition and meaning of “ohayō”
  • Definition and meaning of “gozaimasu”
• Original meaning of “ohayō gozaimasu”
• Example: how to use “ohayō gozaimasu”
• Summary

Definition and meaning of “ohayō gozaimasu”

Let me start with the definition and meaning of “ohayō gozaimasu”.

• ohayō gozaimasu – おはようございます : a morning greeting which sounds very similar to the grammatically correct one, “ohayou gozaimasu”. This is usually translated into English as “good morning”.

The definition and meaning are not that difficult, I think. To understand this greeting more clearly, however, let me explain its parts in detail, one by one.

Breakdown of “ohayō gozaimasu”

As the appearance suggests, “ohayō gozaimasu” consists of two parts: “ohayō” and “gozaimasu”. Let me explain them in more detail as follows.

Definition and meaning of “ohayō”

Below are the definition and meaning of “ohayō”.

• ohayō – おはよう : a morning greeting which sounds very similar to the grammatically correct one, “ohayou”. This is usually translated into English as “good morning”.

To tell the truth, we can use this part alone to say “good morning” in Japanese. However, this sounds less polite. So, Japanese native speakers use this mainly to greet their friends and family members.

Again, but the grammatically correct expression is “ohayou”. This originally came from “ohayai” and it can be split into the following two parts:

• o – お : a prefix making its following word polite. This can also be found in other words like “osusume“, “onegai“, and “omotenashi“.
• hayai – 早い (はやい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘early’ in Japanese.

From these two parts, we can understand that “ohayai” is the polite version of “hayai” and literally means ‘early’ in Japanese. “Ohayou” inherited its role and meaning. So, the first half of the morning greeting is the Japanese polite expression for ‘early’.

Definition and meaning of “gozaimasu”

Below are the definition and meaning of “gozaimasu”.

• gozaimasu – ございます : a Japanese polite expression for ‘to be’, ‘to have’, ‘to exist’, or such. This is used to express the existence of things.

Native speakers often use this expression to mean ‘to have (something)’ politely in Japanese. Grammatically, this can be further split into the following two parts:

• gozai – ござい : a word originally coming from one conjugation of the verb, “gozaru”, which was used to express the existence of things very politely in the old Japanese language. This can be translated into English as ‘to be’, ‘to have’, ‘to exist’, or such.
• masu – ます : an auxiliary verb used after a verb to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese masu form. In the expression, this is used after “gozai” to make it sound polite.

From these two parts, we can understand that “gozaimasu” is a very polite Japanese expression for ‘to be’, ‘to have’, ‘to exist’, or such. This is the second half of the morning greeting.

Original meaning of “ohayō gozaimasu”

So far, I’ve explained the parts of the morning greeting in detail. Naturally, the next question arises: what will happen when these parts come together? Literally, they mean ‘to be early’, ‘to have early’, ‘to exist early’, or such politely in Japanese. However, what do they really mean?

It is said that “ohayō gozaimasu” – and the correct written expression, “ohayou gozaimasu” – originally meant ‘glad to have you here early’. It was used to express someone’s gratitude to have someone else at a particular place early in the morning. Perhaps, this interpretation is a bit weird to Japanese learners as the greeting does not contain any word referring to a particular person or place. In reality, however, it is not weird at all. We know that greetings are normally directed to the listeners and they are often physically together with the speaker. So, “you” and “here” can be understood from the context and situation. Additionally, we would be happier to be together with someone than to be alone early in the morning. I think, therefore, the original meaning and usage are very understandable. Today, the greeting is translated as just “good morning”, but the original meaning, ‘glad to have you here early’ is always behind it.

Then, let me explain how to use “ohayō gozaimasu” through the example sentence below.

Example: how to use “ohayō gozaimasu”

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• sensei – 先生 (せんせい) : a noun meaning ‘teacher’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “sensei” to make the subject in the sentence.
• seito – 生徒 (せいと) : a noun meaning ‘student’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
• ni – に : a case particle use to say in which direction an action goes. In the example, this is used after “seito” to indicate the object to which the action described by “it ta” is directed.
• to – と : a case particle working as a quote marker. In the example, this works after the clause to indicate what “sensei” said.
• 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. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese ta form. In the example, this is used after “it” to make its past tense form, “it ta”.

This is a typical usage of “ohayō gozaimasu”. When we want to say “good morning” in Japanese, this greeting is always a very good option.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meaning of “ohayō gozaimasu” in detail based on its parts. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentence. Let me summarize them as follows.

• ohayō gozaimasu – おはようございます : a morning greeting which sounds very similar to the grammatically correct one, “ohayou gozaimasu”. This is usually translated into English as “good morning”. This meant ‘glad to have you here early’ and thus was used to express someone’s gratitude to have someone else at a particular place early in the morning. Today, this greeting is translated as just ‘good morning’, but the original meaning is always behind it.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.