01/04/2015

Submittingyourselftothe50shadesofarigatgozaimasu|TheJapanTimes

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Submittingyourselftothe50shadesofarigat
gozaimasu
BY DANIEL MORALES
SPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES

ARTICLE HISTORY MAR 30, 2015

DoyourememberthefirstdayofJapaneseclassorthefirstdayyouresolvedtofinally
learnthelanguageonyourown?WhatabouttheveryfirstJapanesewordsyouever
learned?Theresagoodchancearigatgozaimasu()werethosefirst
wordsand/oryoulearnedthemonthatfirstdayofstudy.OfcoursetheJapanesewords
forthankyouaresowidelyknownthatyoumaynotevenhaveneededtolearnthem
theymighthavebeensomethingyouwerealreadyawareof.
Unfortunately,however,manystudentsabilitytoexpresstheirappreciationnever
expandsbeyondthissinglephrase.Learninghowtodiversifythewaysofsayingthanks
willallowyoutobeappreciativemorenaturallyinmanydifferentsituations.
Sure,wecanattachtheallpurposeadverbdmo(toagreatextent)tothefrontto
giveusdmoarigatgozaimasu(thankyouverymuch),thereby
drawingoutthenumberofsyllablesand,thus,thelevelofpolitenessjustslightly,and
dmoarigataloneisserviceableinmorecasualsituations.Butthesevariationsdont
reallygiveusanythingbeyondwhatwealreadyknow.
Wecanalsoturnthephraseintopasttense:arigatgozaimashita(
).Thisisusefulaftersomeonehascompletedsomethingforyou.Forexample,an
audiencehaspolitelyattendedaconferenceuntiltheveryend,youhavecompleteda
phonecallwithaservicerepresentativeorsomeonehasreturnedadroppedwallettoyou.
However,thisshouldbeusedwithcautioninabusinessatmosphereassomecompanies
askworkerstousepresenttensesoasnottoimplyacompletionoftheirrelationshipwith
aclienttheyarehopingforcontinuedhappyreturnsinthefuture.
Dmowilldofineincasualsituationstoexpressaquickthanks,butitalsolatcheson
easilytosumimasen()aswell.Whiledmosumimasenisoftenusedtomean
ExcusemeorImsorry,itisalsousedwhenreceivingunexpectedfavors,suchas
whensomeoneholdsthedoororotherwisegoesoutoftheirwaytobehelpful.

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Submittingyourselftothe50shadesofarigatgozaimasu|TheJapanTimes

Inthissamesense,thewordkyshuku(tobeobligedortotrouble)alsohasasplit
personality.Ithasanegativequalitytoit,andusedatthefrontofasentenceitcanbea
greatwaytoapologizebeforemakingarequestofsomeone:Kyshukudesuga,
gomeiwakudenakereba,chottotesudatteitadakemasendeshka?(
Itsterribleofme,butifit
isnttoomuchtrouble,couldIaskyoutohelpmeforaminute?)
Aswithsumimasen,kyshukucanbeconsideredanextremelypoliteandrespectfulway
toshowappreciationforanunexpectedsituation,inthiscaseunexpectedpraise.WhenI
taughtataJapanesejuniorhighschool,thewomanwhohelpedorganizeandservethe
townskyshoku(,schoollunches)wasawonderfulperson,ahardworkerand
legitimatelyinterestedinmakingsurethestudentshadadiverseselectionofdelicious,
healthymeals.
Atonepoint,shewasrecognizedunexpectedlyforherworkinfrontoftheschoolduringa
meeting.Atthementionofhername,sheturnedbrightredandwasclearlyalittle
embarrassed.ThefirstwordsoutofhermouthwereKyshukudesu(
Imterriblyobliged).Thisisagreatwaytohumblyacceptpraiseandexpressyour
appreciationforit.Notethatkyshukuandkyshokuareremarkablysimilarjustwith
thefirstoanduswappedaroundsobesurenottomistakethem.
Amoredirectvariationofthankyouistasukarimasu(),whichliterallymeans
Iam/willbehelped.Thisismostfrequentlyexpressedinthepasttense
tasukarimashita(),whichshouldbeusedrightaftersomeonehashelpedyou
insomewayandmeanssomethingalongthelinesofIappreciatethehelporThatwas
abighelp.Youcanusepresenttensetasukarimasuwhensomeoneisagreeingtodoa
favortoexpressthatyouwillreallyappreciatewhattheyareabouttodo.
AndifyouwanttothankpeoplelikeSolidSnakefromtheMetalGearSolidvideogame
franchise,thephraseyouarelookingforiskarigadekita(Ioweyouone).A
searchinGoogleshowsover84,000hitsforthisphrase,butonly21,000forthemore
politedistalformkarigadekimashita,whichsuggeststhatthisphraseisquitecasualand
notsomethingyoushouldbustoutinfrontofthebossman.Saveitforyourcomradesin
arms.
Ofcourse,youdontalwayshavetoreinventthewheeleverytimeyousaythankyou.This
isprovenbykaraokeclassicsthatfeaturearigat.
YujiroIshiharasYogiriyokonyamoarigat(literally,
ThankyouAgain,Tonight,NightFog)isaclassicthatisslowenoughforbeginnersand
perfectforthoseofuscursedwithhikuikoe(,deepvoices).Inthesong,two
lovebirdsthanktheyogiri(,nightfog)forcoveringthepainwhiletheyreapart.
AndYoshiIkuzo,themanwiththebeststagenameinallofJapan(itsahomonymfor
Herewego!),hasthemoreepicsongArigatnoUta(Thethank
yousong)inwhichIkuzothanksthingsforgivinghimcourage.Itsagreatsongthat
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Submittingyourselftothe50shadesofarigatgozaimasu|TheJapanTimes

helpsstudentsnotehowtheparticlewo()isusedtomarksomethingforwhich
someoneisthankful,inthiscaseYkiwoarigat(Thankyoufor
thecourage).Youcancopythisstructureinyoureverydaylifewithphrasessuchas
messjiwoarigat(thankyouforthemessage).
Varyingthewayyousaythankyouisaneasywaytosoundmorenaturalandnative
withJapanese.Theseareagoodstart,butlanguagestudentsshouldalwaysaimtobe
gluttonsforpunishment:Youshouldneverbesatisfiedwithwhatyouhavecontinueto
teaseoutanotherfiftyshadesofarigatthatarentyetinyourarsenal.
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Submittingyourselftothe50shadesofarigatgozaimasu|TheJapanTimes

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