Saying Hello! Discussion

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Glad to finally get to speaking in Japanese, hope that sentence structure comes soon

When the voice says "Ohayou gozaimasu" it sounds like they cut off the "u" in "su". Is that how it's said or is it supposed to be "su"?

When I hear "おはよう" it sounds more like "おはいよう". Is that just me?

 

 

こんばんは has a "ng" sound I sometimes hear. Konbangwa.

Never mind. I think I misread that question. Gomen nasai. X_X

When I did this drill, I got confused when I saw "Your boss greets you in the morning." was the answer to "Ohayou gozaimasu" because I always thought that the one with higher status / authority always used the casual forms with lower status people.

@Ginnily-san, to add to Masako-san's comment, this is a very common practice and can make visiting Japan difficult. When I go to work, my fellow teachers say ohayou gozaimasu to me and only ohayou to the students. And when I go shopping, employees use keigo (really formal Japanese) because customer's are above the employees. I am generally polite with everyone to the best of my ability because the hierarchy can be quite confusing. So yeah, short version, say the full version and you are always safe. If you want to work out the hierarchy, full for those equal to or above in a work setting that requires respect. Short version for friends and people lower than you on the totem pole. (be careful not to offend by not using enough politeness)

Ginnily-san, If I understood your question correctly, the answer is "Yes!" Usually authority figures (teacher, boss etc.) are older than their students or employees. You're supposed to talk in a formal way to an elder person. And, you can talk in a casual way to younger person (unless you have a boss who is younger than you!).

I noticed in the cartoon between the student and teacher that the teacher says the casual form of 'good morning' and the student replies with the formal. So authority figures aren't as formal when talking to students/ employees?

thanks for showing us both the casual and polite forms.. i noticed in other sites they only show the polite form that's why when i watch japanese shows it's hard to understand what they're saying because they are using the casual form