350 CHAPTER 8. SET PHRASES
formal polite
formal polite
casual polite
informal
informal
very informal
- ”Thank you”, ”Excuse me”
A prime example that Japanese conceptualises certain things differently,
can actually mean ”thank you” and ”excuse me” at the same time
when used. While meaning a simple ”excuse me” used when for instance
bumping into someone in the street, it is also used when someone does
something for you that will indebt you to them, such as catching your hat
and handing it back if the wind catches it, or fixing some typos on a page
you had wriĴen. Using in these instances means both ”thank
you for doing this for me” as well as ”I’m sorry to have caused you to do
this for me” at the same time.
This is technically the polite negative of
, ”to end”, indicating
that the debt between the two parties involved in the act that required the
does not end after this. Variations on the theme include the
more colloquial and very informal and.
- ”Is that so?”, ”Really”, ”I see”, ”Aha”
This is a typical phrase that doesn’t mean what it seems to mean, even if
half the time it does. Much like how half the time when a Japanese person
says , they won’t mean ”yes” but are only indicating they’re listening,
is used to acknowledge that the speaker is still being listened
to just as much as it’s used to genuinely ask ”is that so?”.
Only the context of the conversation is an indicator whether it’s just
a polite way to show that someone is still being listened to, or whether the
listener is genuinely wondering about something said.
