Greetings

When you're trying to learn a new foreign language, it's always good to know a few of the basic phrases. Recently, we've been learning things that required a lot of thinking but phrases just need to be memorized. I would say it's that time now to give you something easier to do.

It is important to note though that most of these words are less common in spoken Japanese and may even be seen as unnatural depending on the situation. You might just hear more natural phases like どないでっか? (donaidekka), instead of げんきですか? (genki desu ka). Try to listen to real Japanese conversations to pick up the more natural ways.

That is not to say they should never be used because you will likely still hear them and they are the most basic to learn first instead of the more colloquial or regional phrases. There are many different ways of saying these and they vary depending on the region where they are used as well as within various groups of people such as age or gender; it will be too much for this lesson alone to cover.

Cultural Aspect of すみません

As it is, すみません (sumimasen) can mean either "Excuse me", "Sorry" or "Thank you" in English and may seem rather formal. You may also find that many Japanese people will use the more colloquial すいません (suimasen) instead but this is generally used only in spoken Japanese as it is considered easier to say; do not use it in formal writing.

You might have noticed that すみません (sumimasen) or すいません (suimasen) is used quite a lot and wonder why Japanese people are always saying "sorry" all the time. From a western perspective, this may sound strange and make you feel weak, unreliable or a push over so try not to compare it to English.

This expression comes from the Japanese culture of 申し訳ない (moushiwakenai) meaning "no excuses" or "feeling of regret". This is when you feel sorry for causing trouble to other people and recognise the impact that your actions can cause. Traditionally, it was taught that causing trouble for others is very bad.

For that reason, whenever you feel like you are making an unreasonable request or causing trouble for someone else, you can use すみません which relates to the phrase 済むことができない (sumu koto ga dekinai) "It cannot be dealt with".

The verb 済む (sumu) means "to deal with" and in the polite negative form becomes 済みません (sumimasen). When you cause trouble for other people, you feel uneasy and unsure what to do that you may think "I can't deal with this feeling".

Imagine one day you became ill and was unable to do anything but a close friend came over and decided to go out of their way to help you by doing the shopping, cleaning up or even cook a nice meal for you.

In this situation, you may feel sorry that you made your friend go through so much trouble to help you so you might say すみません (sumimasen) to them to emphasise this. After all, they were doing it all for you, not themself. In this case, it carries the meaning of "Sorry for making you do all of this for me". It is why it may also mean "thank you".

Of course, it still means "excuse me" too. Let's say you are in a clothes shop and want to try something on but not sure if you are allowed so you may begin by saying すみません (sumimasen) to a member of staff since you will likely feel that you are causing them a problem (they are working but you have just interfered and stopped them so they can help you).

Hopefully, this will help you understand when to use すみません (sumimasen) instead of ごめんなさい (gomen nasai), which is used less often in this context, especially with people who are not in higher social status than you.

Notes on Formality

Dropping どうも (doumo) from "Thank you" can make this sound less formal; ありがとう (arigatou) would be similar to just "thanks" in English. Adding ございます (gozaimasu) to the end makes this even politer: どうもありがとうございます (doumo arigatou gozaimasu); similar to the English "Thank you very much". どうも is less formal then ありがとう and is similar to "Cheers" in English.

The above examples should not be taken to literal, as their meanings in Japanese are quite different. Hopefully, you can see the differences in politeness level, when interpreted in English.

ございます is yet another verb ending similar to です but adds that extra bit of politeness and formality. It's actually the polite form of the verb ござる (gozaru), the very old version of です; please do not randomly use ござる, even though it may be heard in historical dramas or Anime with samurai's and such, as it is outdated and may even make you look or sound rather silly.

Add ございます to the end of おはよう makes it more polite. However, it does not work with こんばんは.

Also, "sorry" can also be made more politer and formal by adding なさい (nasai) to the end: ごめんなさい (gomen nasai); this would be similar to "I am very sorry".