Okawari is the Japanese word for ‘second helping’, explained

What does “okawari” mean in Japanese?

Japanese people say “okawari” to mean ‘second helping’, ‘another cup’, ‘another glass’, or ‘another one’ in Japanese. In this blog post, I will explain this word in detail based on its components. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meanings of “okawari”
• Components of “okawari”
  • Example #1: how to say “another cup of tea” in Japanese
  • Example #2: how to say “another bowl of rice” in Japanese
• Summary

Definition and meanings of “okawari”

Let me start with the definition and meanings as follows.

• okawari – お代わり/お替わり (おかわり) : a noun meaning ‘second helping’, ‘seconds’, ‘another cup’, ‘another glass’, or more generally ‘another one’ in Japanese.

It has several meanings, but all have the same concept. To understand this word more clearly, let me explain its components in detail, one by one.

Components of “okawari”

Below are the components:

• o – お : a prefix making its following word polite.
• kawari – 代わり/替わり (かわり) : both kanji expressions mean ‘substitute’ or ‘spare’ in this context.

From these two components, we can understand that “okawari” is literally a polite expression for ‘substitute’ or ‘spare’. This concept is not completely in line with the meanings, but still very close, I think.

When we meet new Japanese expressions, 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 expressions they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “okawari” through the detailed check above. Then, let me explain how to use it through the example sentences below.

Example #1: how to say “another cup of tea” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• ocha – お茶 (おちゃ) : a noun meaning ‘tea’, especially ‘green tea’, in Japanese.
• no – の : a case particle used to join two nouns. Normally the preceding noun works to modify the meaning of the following one. In the example, this joins “ocha” and “okawari”. The formed phrase literally means ‘another cup of tea’ in Japanese.
• wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “ocha no okawari” to make the object word in the sentence.
• kudasai – 下さい (ください) : one conjugation of the verb, “kudasaru”, which means ‘to give’ or such in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “okawari”. In the example, it works as a part of the commonly-used phrase, “ocha no okawari”, which means ‘another cup of tea’ in Japanese. This phrase should be learnt together with the structure, “[something] no okawari”, which means ‘another one of [something]’. For a better understanding, let me explain another usage of this structure.

Example #2: how to say “another bowl of rice” in Japanese

Below is the new word used in the example sentence.

• gohan – ご飯 (ごはん) : a noun meaning ‘rice’ in Japanese.

This is another typical usage of “okawari”. Again it works as a part of the structure. In this example, however, it follows “gohan”. So the formed phrase means ‘another bowl of rice’. This structure would help us a lot to ask another one of something in, for example, Japanese restaurants.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained “okawari” in detail based on its components. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.

• okawari – お代わり/お替わり (おかわり) : a noun meaning ‘second helping’, ‘seconds’, ‘another cup’, ‘another glass’, or more generally ‘another one’ in Japanese. This consists of the two components, “o” and “kawari”. And these mean ‘substitute’ or ‘spare’ in a polite way. This concept is not completely in line with the meanings, but still very close, I think.
• no okawari – のお代わり/のお替わり (のおかわり) : a Japanese expression for ‘another one of [something]’. This structure would help us a lot to ask another one of something in, for example, Japanese restaurants.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.