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How to Say ‘Thank you very much.’ in Japanese

ありがとうございます。

arigatou gozai masu

[ah-ree-gah-toh goh-zah-ee mahs]

💬 Usage Tip: [ありがとう] becomes more polite with [ございます]: [ありがとうございます]. For something someone has just done, Japanese often uses the past form [ありがとうございました] instead.

Phrase Breakdown

ありがとう

arigatou

[ah-ree-gah-toh]

thank you

A common casual expression of thanks; here it combines into a more polite phrase.

Example

本当にありがとう。

Thank you very much.

ございます

gozai masu

polite ending for thank you

Adds politeness to ありがとう, making it ありがとうございます.

Example

ありがとうございます。

Thank you very much.

Words in this phrase

ござい

gozai

[goh-zah-ee]

to be / polite part of fixed expression

Part of the polite set phrase ありがとうございます.

Example

ありがとうございまして、感謝します。

Thank you very much; I appreciate it.

ます

masu

[mahs]

polite ending

A polite verb ending often used in formal speech.

Example

ありがとうございます、と言いました。

I said, 'Thank you very much.'

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