What does “sayonara” mean in Japanese?
“Sayonara” is the colloquial version of “sayounara” which native speakers use to say “goodbye” in Japanese. Probably, many Japanese learners know this phrase well because it is one of the very basic greetings in Japanese and because it is quite often used in Japanese movies, songs, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this phrase in detail based on its grammatical components. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “sayonara” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meaning of “sayonara”
Let me start with the definition and meaning of “sayonara”.
- sayonara – さよなら : a Japanese phrase for ‘goodbye’. This is the colloquial version of “sayounara”.
Again, but native speakers use this phrase to say “goodbye” in Japanese. They tend to use it in casual situations because it can sound a bit impolite. Interestingly, however, in casual situations it sounds a bit too serious. So, I would say that this phrase is much less often used in Japanese conversations than Japanese learners expect. For the daily use, native speakers would use other goodbye phrases, I think.
The definition and meaning are simple and clear, I think. To understand this phrase more clearly, however, let me explain its grammatical components in detail, one by one.
Breakdown of “sayonara”
As I explained above, “sayonara” is the colloquial version of “sayounara”. To better understand the casual version, let me explain the grammatical components of the official one. It consists of the following two parts:
- sayou – 左様 (さよう) : an old Japanese word referring to what someone has just said. This can be translated into English as ‘so’.
- nara – なら : the shortened version of the conjunction, “naraba”, which can work to make a conditional clause in a sentence. This is often translated into English as ‘if’ or such.
From these two components, we can understand that “sayounara” and its colloquial version, “sayonara”, literally mean ‘if so’. This literal interpretation seems to be completely different from what the phrases really mean. It’s worth mentioning here, however, that Japanese people in the past used these phrases to end the conversation which had just been made. They said at the end of the conversation “if you say so, then.” This fact would help us to understand why the phrases literally meaning ‘if so’ can work phrases for ‘goodbye’ in Japanese, I think.
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 “sayonara” through the detailed check above.
Then, let me explain how to use “sayonara” through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “goodbye” in Japanese
kanojo wa kare ni sayonara to it ta – 彼女は彼にさよならと言った (かのじょはかれにさよならといった)
She said goodbye to him.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “kanojo” to make the subject in the sentence.
- kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
- ni – に : a case particle used to say to whom an action is directed. In the example, this is used after “kare” to indicate to whom “kanojo” said “sayonara”.
- to – と : a case particle working as a quote marker. In the example, this is used after “sayonara” to indicate what “kanojo” 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 “sayonara”. In the example, it works as a goodbye greeting which “kanojo” said to “kare”. When we want to say “goodbye” in Japanese, this phrase is one option.
Example #2: another usage of “sayonara”
kanojo no sayonara wo kiki taku nakat ta – 彼女のさよならを聞きたくなかった (かのじょのさよならをききたくなかった)
I didn’t want to hear her goodbye.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- no – の : a case particle used after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive form. In the example, this is used after “kanojo” to make its possessive form, “kanojo no”, which means ‘her’ in Japanese.
- wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “kanojo no sayonara” to make the object in the sentence.
- kiki – 聞き (きき) : one conjugation of the verb, “kiku”, which means ‘to hear’, ‘to listen’, or such in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- taku – たく : one conjugation of the auxiliary verb, “tai”, which is used to make the desire form of its preceding verb. In the example, this is used after “kiki” to add the meaning of ‘to want’ to it.
- nakat – なかっ : one conjugation of the auxiliary verb, “nai“, which is used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to deny its meaning. In the example, this is used after “kiki taku” to deny its meaning. The formed phrase can be translated into English as ‘not to want to hear’.
This is another typical usage of “sayonara”. In this example, it works as a part of the noun phrase, “kanojo no sayonara”, which means ‘her goodbye’ in Japanese.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meaning of “sayonara” in detail based on its grammatical components. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- sayonara – さよなら : a Japanese phrase for ‘goodbye’. This is the colloquial version of “sayounara”. This phrase literally means ‘if so’ in Japanese. Japanese people in the past used this phrase to end the conversation which had just been made with meaning ‘if you say so, then.’ This fact would help us to understand why this phrase can work to say “goodbye” today.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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