Japanese, explained
What does 「ありがとう」(arigatou) mean?
有難うarigatou
“Thank you.” ありがとう is the everyday way to express gratitude in Japanese. Make it more polite by adding ございます → ありがとうございます (arigatou gozaimasu). It’s almost always written in kana, though the kanji form is 有難う.
Polite, casual, and past
Gratitude in Japanese scales with the situation. To a friend, plain ありがとう is perfect. To a stranger, boss, or in a shop, use ありがとうございます. And when you’re thanking someone for something already done, it shifts to the past: ありがとうございました (arigatou gozaimashita).
Examples
- 手伝ってくれてありがとう。
- Tetsudatte kurete arigatou. — Thanks for helping me.
- 来てくれてありがとうございます。
- Kite kurete arigatou gozaimasu. — Thank you for coming.
How people really say it
- ありがと！
- arigato! — Casual “thanks!” (the final う often gets dropped).
- どうも。
- dōmo. — A quick, light “thanks” — very common.
- サンキュー！
- sankyū! — Slangy “thank you,” borrowed from English.
Synonyms & related
- どうも — thanks (light)
- 感謝します — I’m grateful (formal)
- 助かります — that’s a big help
- サンキュー — thanks (slang)
Hear どうも and ありがとう in real Japanese
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