How to Say Thank You in Japanese: ありがとう and Beyond

ありがとう (arigatou) is one of the few Japanese words most people know before they start studying. It's also a word you can get wrong on day one, because said to the wrong person it comes across as too familiar. Japanese has a whole ladder of thank-yous, and which rung you stand on depends on who you're talking to.

Here's the ladder, from the most casual at the top to the most formal at the bottom.

If you only learn one, learn ありがとうございます. It's never rude, and it fits almost every situation a visitor or a beginner will be in.

ありがとう or ありがとうございます

The short form is for people inside your circle: friends, family, a partner, classmates your own age. The long form is for everyone outside it, which includes strangers, shop staff, teachers, your boss, and people noticeably older than you. Adding ございます doesn't make you more grateful. It makes the sentence polite.

The relationship isn't always symmetrical. A manager might say ありがとう to a junior employee and get ありがとうございます back, and nobody finds that odd.

The word comes from 有り難い (ありがたい, arigatai), an old adjective that literally means "hard to exist", so rare and therefore precious. You'll sometimes see it written 有難う, but in everyday writing it's almost always hiragana. If you can't read it yet, our hiragana guide is the place to start.

When it becomes ありがとうございました

ございました is the past tense, and it's used when the thing you're grateful for is over and done. A waiter says ありがとうございました as you walk out of the restaurant because the meal is finished. At the end of a lesson, students say it to the teacher.

ありがとうございます fits when the kindness is happening now or is still going on: someone hands you a present, pays you a compliment, or is in the middle of helping you.

• 昨日はありがとうございました。 (きのうは ありがとうございました, kinou wa arigatou gozaimashita): Thank you for yesterday.
• いつもありがとうございます。 (itsumo arigatou gozaimasu): Thank you, as always. This one stays in the present because the help is ongoing.

There's a wide grey zone where both are heard, and Japanese speakers don't all draw the line in the same place. A safe habit: if you're thanking someone for something that happened earlier, use ございました. Casual ありがとう has no past tense to worry about. It covers both.

Saying what you're thankful for

With a noun, just put it in front. プレゼント、ありがとう (purezento, arigatou) is "thanks for the present." In polite writing you'll also see the two linked with を: メールをありがとうございます, "thank you for the email."

With an action, use the て-form of the verb plus くれて. The くれて part means the person did it for you.

• 来てくれてありがとう。 (きてくれて ありがとう, kite kurete arigatou): Thanks for coming.
• 手伝ってくれてありがとう。 (てつだってくれて ありがとう, tetsudatte kurete arigatou): Thanks for helping me.
• 教えてくださってありがとうございます。 (おしえてくださって ありがとうございます, oshiete kudasatte arigatou gozaimasu): Thank you for telling me. くださって is the respectful version of くれて.

Why people say すみません instead

すみません (sumimasen) is usually taught as "excuse me" or "sorry", but you'll hear it constantly where English would use "thank you". Someone holds the elevator for you. A stranger picks up the glove you dropped. A neighbor brings over some fruit. In each case, すみません acknowledges that the other person went to some trouble for you.

It doesn't replace ありがとうございます so much as sit next to it, and many people say both in one breath: すみません、ありがとうございます. Use it for small unexpected favors, especially from strangers. For a birthday present from a friend, plain thanks sounds better than an apology. In fast speech it often comes out as すいません (suimasen).

Thanks without the word ありがとう

Some of the most common expressions of gratitude don't contain ありがとう at all.

• 助かりました (たすかりました, tasukarimashita). Literally "I was saved", and closer to "that was a huge help." Say it when someone's help solved a real problem for you. The casual versions are 助かった and 助かる.
• お世話になりました (おせわになりました, osewa ni narimashita). "Thank you for looking after me." This is for care received over a period of time: said to a host family when you leave, to coworkers on your last day, to a doctor after treatment. The ongoing version, お世話になっております, opens a huge share of Japanese business emails.
• 恐れ入ります (おそれいります, osoreirimasu). A humble, formal phrase that sits somewhere between "thank you" and "I'm sorry to trouble you." Hotel and shop staff use it with customers, and office workers use it with clients. As a learner you mainly need to recognize it.
• ごちそうさまでした (gochisousama deshita). Said at the end of a meal. It thanks whoever cooked, and if someone treated you, it thanks them for paying too.
• 感謝しています (かんしゃしています, kansha shite imasu). "I'm grateful." 感謝 is the noun for gratitude. It sounds heavier than ありがとう and shows up in speeches, letters and heartfelt moments more than in daily small talk.

The casual end

どうも (doumo) on its own is a clipped, all-purpose thanks. It's what a lot of people say to a cashier or to someone who steps aside for them. It's light enough that it wouldn't suit a real favor.

サンキュー (sankyuu) is the English "thank you" in katakana. It's breezy and a little playful, fine between friends and out of place anywhere formal. あざす (azasu), also written あざっす, is ありがとうございます said so fast that most of it falls off. You'll hear it from young men, in sports clubs and in anime. It's good to recognize, and probably not one to use yourself until you have Japanese friends who say it to you first.

How to reply when someone thanks you

Textbooks give どういたしまして (dou itashimashite) for "you're welcome", and it's correct. In real conversations it's less common than you'd expect, partly because it can sound a bit formal, as if you're confirming that you did do them a favor. Most replies wave the thanks away instead.

• いえいえ (ie ie): "no, no", the everyday reply, and fine in polite company.
• とんでもないです (tondemonai desu): "not at all", polite and common at work.
• こちらこそ (kochira koso): "I should be thanking you", for when the favor went both ways.
• ううん or いいよ (uun, ii yo): "nah" or "it's fine", between friends.
• お役に立ててよかったです (おやくにたてて よかったです, oyaku ni tatete yokatta desu): "I'm glad I could help."

Two pronunciation details

The う at the end of ありがとう lengthens the お sound before it. Hold it for an extra beat: a-ri-ga-tō, not a-ri-ga-to. And in standard Tokyo speech, the final う of ございます is barely voiced, so the word ends closer to "gozaimas" than "gozaimasu".

Common questions