How To Say Excuse Me In Japanese – Learn It Now!

The phrase is お邪魔します o jama shimasu and the primary word in it is 邪魔 jama which means “nuisance” in Japanese. The お is attached for ... Skiptocontent JapaneseTactics Menu JapaneseTactics Menu Yourmomisprobablytheonewhotaughtyoumannerswhenyouwereakid,butthatwasallinEnglish,amIright?IfyouwanttobepolitewhilevisitingJapan,thenyou’llneedtolearnsomenewwords.Andinparticular,howtosayexcusemeinJapanese. ThecoolthingaboutJapanese,isthewiderangeofexpressionsyoucanuseinordertosaythesamethings. DidIsay“cool”?PerhapsImeantfrustrating,lol! Butnoreally,thereareanumberofphrasesandexpressionsthatyoucanusewhenspeakingJapanesethatalltranslateinto“excuseme”inEnglish,butthemaindifferencebetweenthemisthecontextofwhenyou’lluseoneovertheother. Forexample,youuseonewordwhenyouaccidentallybumpintosomebody,andadifferentwordwhenenteringintosomeone’shomeoroffice. Let’scheckouteachofthesedifferentwordsnow,alongwiththeexplanationsonwhentheyshouldbeused. Contents hide 1) WhenYouInconvenienceSomeone 2) InFormalSituations,WhenYouEnterAndExit 3) WhenYouNeedToGetSomeone’sAttention 4) IfYouEnterAFriend’sHouse 5) It’sBetterToBeTooPolite WhenYouInconvenienceSomeone ThefirstwordIwanttocoverwillbethemostusefulforyoutoknowanduse.ItisすみませんsumimasenandisequivalenttotheEnglish“excuseme”whenyoufeellikeyou’rebotheringsomeone. Thiscouldbeifyouaccidentallystepontheirfoot,interruptthemwhilethey’reworkingonsomething,ormanyotherdailysituations. Asforme,Iworkinanofficethathasareallylong,andreallynarrowhallwaythatreceivesalotoffoottrafficeachandeveryday. Whenyou’regoingdownthishall,andyouseesomeonecomingatyou,youbothhavetohugoppositesidesofthewallsinordertoavoidacollision. Insituationslikethis,Ifindmyselfsaying“excuseme”or“sorry”alotofthetimes,becauseit’skindofawkwardbeingthatclosetosomeonewhoisyouco-worker.Thisisthesortofsituationthatisperfectforすみません. Ifyou’vereadsomeoftheotherpostsonthisblog,you’llknowthatthissamewordcanalsobeusedtosaysorryoreventhankyouinJapaneseanditalldependsonthecontextofthesituation. Sodon’tworryaboutmisusingthisword,oreveroverusingit.It’soneofthosesafe,nicewordstousealot. Somethingthat’sinterestingtonotewhenitcomestothedifferencebetweenculturesishowyoubehavewhenyousitdownatarestaurant. InAmerica,yousitthereandwaitforthewaiterorwaitresstocomeandtakeyourorder,butinJapanyouactuallyraiseyouhandintheairandsayすみませんinordertoletthestaffknowthatyouarereadytoorder. Thisisgoodtoknow,becauseifyou’revisitingJapanforthefirsttime,youmightendupsittingthereforalongtimewonderingwhynoonehascomebytoserveyou! It’soneofthosethingsthatseemscompletelyreversedbetweenourtwocultures. InFormalSituations,WhenYouEnterAndExit Ifyou’veeverwatchedalotofJapaneseshowsthathavepeopleworkinginanofficeorotherformalsituations,thenyou’venodoubtcomeacrossthisnextphrase. Thefullversionofitis失礼しますshitsureishimasuandlikealloftheotherphraseswe’llcoverinthisarticle,itgetstranslatedas“excuseme”inEnglish,butthereareacouplethingsyoushouldknowthatmakeitdifferentfromすみません. Firstlet’stakealookatthetwowordsituses.Thefirstoneis失礼shitsureiwhichliterallymeans“discourtesy”inJapaneseandgetsusedalotwhenonepersonsaysthatsomeonewasrudetothem. Thesecondwordisしますshimasuwhichisthepoliteformoftheverb“todo”andgetsaddedheretoturntheentirephraseintosomethinglike“Iamdoingadiscourtesy”or“Iambeingrude.” Thisisawayofacknowledgingthatyouractionsareimposingontheotherperson,andtakinguptheirvaluabletime. It’softenusedrightafterapersonenterssomeone’selseofficetospeakwiththem,andthenagainrightbeforetheyleave. Theinterestingthingisthatthiswordwillbeusedevenifthepersonenteringtheroomwassummonedthere! Thiswordismostoftenusedwhenspeakingtothosewhoareaboveyouinsocialstatus,suchasyourbossoraveryimportantguestthatmaybevisitingyourcompany. Andmanytimesinanimeitwillbeusedbyastudentwhohasbeencalledbeforethe“allpowerfulstudentcouncil”forwhateverreason. It’salittletostifftousewithfriendsandfamily,soyoucanreverttoすみませんwhenyou’renotinasituationthatrequiresyoutoactpoliteandprofessional. WhenYouNeedToGetSomeone’sAttention Haveyouevertriedtogetsomeone’sattention,butitwasalittlehardduetothecrowdofpeoplesurroundingthemoryou? UsuallyinEnglishwewillsortofyellouteither“Hey!”or“Excuseme!”assimplyawaytogettheotherpersontonoticethatyouwanttotalkwiththemaboutsomething. Well,inJapanesethereisanequivalentwordtouseinthesesamesituations.Thewordisちょっとchottoandit’soneofthosesuperusefulwordsthathasalotofversatilityanduses. Oneofthoseother commonuseshappenstobe“no”whenyouwanttoturndownaninvitationtogotothemovies,oroutonadatewithsomeoneyou’renottoowildabout. What’sinterestingaboutthiswordisthatthewaypeoplesayitwillchangeforeachofthedifferentmeanings.Notthepronunciationofthewordperse,butrathertheloudnessorforceofitchangeswhentheymeanonething,orsomethingelse. Forthepurposesoftoday’slesson,youwouldsayちょっとwithprettymuchthesamefeelingasyouwouldwiththeEnglish“Uh,excuseme!”thatyouusewhentryingtogetsomehelpfromastoreemployeewhoisabouttodisappearintothebackroom. Niceandpolite,butloudenoughsothatyoucanmakesurethattheotherpersonhearsyouandturnsyourway. IfYouEnterAFriend’sHouse ThelastphrasethatIwantedtocovertodayiskindofsimilartothesecondonewewentover(失礼します)whichgetsusedalotwhenenteringaroomand“intruding”onsomeone. Inthisnextcasehowever,itisusedprimarilywhenenteringintosomeone’shouse(usuallyafriend)orevensometimestheirpersonalroom. Thephraseisお邪魔しますojamashimasuandtheprimarywordinitis邪魔jamawhichmeans“nuisance”inJapanese. Theおisattachedforpoliteness,andyoualreadyknowaboutしますfromtheearliersection,sowhenwetakealookatthisphraseinitsentirety,ittranslatesassomethinglike“Iampolitelybotheringyou”or“Ihonorablydisturb”inEnglish. Thosebothsoundalittleawkwardwhentranslateddirectly,andyouwouldneversaythoseexactwords,soabetterunderstandingofitwouldbesomethingalongthelinesof“excusemefordisturbingyou.” Theotherwayyoucouldgoaboutitistojustthinkofitasasetphraseusedwhenenteringsomeoneelse’shome. Whenyouareleavingafriend’shouse,therearemanywaystosaygoodbye,butoneoptionthatyouhaveavailabletoyouis お邪魔しましたojamashimashitawhichis thesamephraseasabove,butconjugatedintothepasttense. Soitwouldbemorelikesaying,“sorrytohavebotheredyou”asafarewellacknowledgement. It’sBetterToBeTooPolite TheJapanesecultureisknownforbeingextremelypolite.Oneofthewaysthatthisisexpressed,iswhendealingwithforeigners. Forthemostpart,it’snotexpectedthatyouwillknowandspeakJapanesewhenyouvisitJapanonholidayandsuch. Butthat’soneofthebestreasonstolearnalittleJapanese,andthentouseitcorrectlyandpolitely.Youwillsurprisealotofpeopleinagreatway! SoIhopethatthephrasesandexplanationsthatI’vegivenheretodaywereeasytolearnandunderstand.Iknowthatthey’llbeusefulforyouthenexttimeyouhaveanopportunitytousethem! Whatotherwayshaveyouusedtosayexcuseme?HaveyouheardthesewordsbeforeinanimeorTVshows? FurtherResourcesforLearningJapanese: #1RecommendationforBeginners #2SeeHowILearnJapanese #3GetMyeBook(SecretstoLearningJapanese)forFree またね！ 6thoughtson“HowToSayExcuseMeInJapanese–LearnItNow!” HiNick, WithallthehonorandrespectinJapaneseculture,Ithinkitwouldbehardtojudgetheappropriatesettingtouseeachdifferentformofexcuseme,withoutoffendingsomeone,soIwouldstickwith sumimasen. IsawaJapandocumentarytonightonthenuclearpowerplantmeltdown,andtheownershadtogetontheirknees,bowandacceptpublichumiliationforthedisaster.IwouldlovetoseethatinAmerica,butneverwill!TheyhavesucharegardforrespectinJapan!  Ithinkthatitisverydifferentthatyouwouldcallthewaiterwhenyouareready,butthatwouldberatheruseful!SometimesinAmerica,wehadtosay“pardonmemiss,canIhavethecheck”.Otherwiseyouwouldhaveanuncomfortablewaittoleave. OneoldSaturdayNightLiveepisodehadoneactorsaying,wellexcuuuuuuuse,meeeeee!Averysarcastic,rude,butfunnywayofusingtheterm. ThankfortheenjoyabletimeIspentonyoursite,Iwillhavetoreturn! Chas Reply Yeah,thelanguageissobigandtherearesomanydifferentsituationsthatcallforalternativeversionsofthesamewords,thatit’sprettyeasyforthelearnertogetthingsmixedup. Pickingthemostcommonwordandstickingwithitisasolidplan.Asanon-Japaneseperson,yougivenapassformostsituations,andsoknowingatleastthisonewordforexcusemewillstilltakeyouprettyfar. Yeah,it’sprettyinterestingthedifferencesbetweencultureswhenitcomestotakingresponsibilityforsomethingbadthathashappenedwhileyouwereincharge.TheJapanesepeopleareveryadmirableinthisregards,andhopefullysomeoftheirhumilitywillbepassedontopeopleinotherpartsoftheworld.  Reply HiNick, FranklyI’msomeonewholovestolearndifferentlanguages.MostoftenIfindthatpeoplearemorehappierandeasilygetalongwithyouifyoucanjustsayagreetingintheirmothertongue,thatistheirlocallanguage.Japaneseisoneofthemostusefullanguagesworthlearning.AndIwilldomybesttogetthebasics. Todayyouhavethoughtmetwothings,howtosayexcusemeinJapanesewhenIinconveniencesomeoneandthenwhenIenterintosomeone’sroom.Althoughitwasnoteasydigesting,especiallybecausemybrainisabitfatiguedafteralonghoursofworkandreadingthisarticle.LetmeseeifIrememberthosetwophraseswell. IfIinconvenientsomeone,eitherbydisturbingthem,steppingontheirfootorinterruptthem,therightworthtouseisすみません sumimasen (whichistranslatedintoEnglishexcuseme)right? AndthenifIenterintosomeone’shousetherightexcusephrasetousehereis, お邪魔します ojamashimasu,right?IhaveBookmarkedthispageforreferencelater,asisaid,mybrainfeelsabittiredandsoIneedtohavesomerest,lateron,Iwillcomehereandlearnmore. Thanksalotforsharingthisusefulinformationwithus.IloveJapaneseandiwilllearnalotfromyourwebsite., Stephen. Reply HeyStephen,yougotit!Ifyoucanrememberwhatyou’vewritten,thenyoushouldbegoodwheneveryoufindyourselfinoneofthosesituations. Itotallygetthatthearticleispackedwithinformationandcancausefatigue,butyou’vegottherightideawithbookmarkingthepagesothatyoucanreferencebacktoitatalatertime. That’swhatIreallytrytodowithmywholesite,beausefulreferencethatpeoplecanuseasapartoftheirstratigyforlearningJapanese.  Letmeknowifyoueverhaveanyotherquestions!   Reply HiNick Thankyouthisismuchappreciated! Itisgoodtoseesomeone(you)andaculture(Japanese)whofocusonbeingcourteousanpolite. YourarticlehelpedmetonotjustunderstandyourspecifictopiconhowtosayexcusemeinJapanese,butalsounderstandalotmoreabouttheJapaneseculture. Keepupthegoodwork! Cheers David Reply HeyDave,noproblem!Yeah,IknowthatAmericanssuchasmyselfarerathernotoriousaroundtheworldforbeingkindofontheself-centeredsidewhenitcomestothingslikeotherculturesandsuch.  Butofcourseitreallydependsontheindividual,andthereareplentyofpeoplewholiketolearnabouttheJapanesecultureandtheircustoms,andthentoparticipateinarespectfulway. Reply LeaveaCommentCancelreplyCommentNameEmailWebsite SubscribeBelow: