Learn what the difference between 'arigato gozaimasu' and 'arigato gozaimashita' is
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| Question: | |
| What is the difference between ARIGATŌ GOZAIMASU and ARIGATŌ GOZAIMASHITA? | |
| Clarification of Question: | |
| When your teacher lends you his book, you say "arigatō gozaimasu". | |
| Then, when you return the book to your teacher, what would you say? | |
| You say "arigatō gozaimashita." | |
| Do you know when you say “arigatō gozaimasu” and “arigatō gozaimashita”? | |
| Explanation: | |
| * Arigatō gozaimasu. | |
| When you say "thank you" right after you receive kindness or favor from someone, you say “Arigatō gozaimasu.” | |
| * Arigatō gozaimashita. | |
| When you say "thank you" for the action you appreciate is completely finished or is done a while ago. The part “gozaimashita” is the past tense of “gozaimasu”, so that’s why “arigatou gozaimashita” | |
| is used for appreciating “done/past action”. | |
| So, when you are offered a seat by someone, you say "arigatō gozaimasu". When you get off the train and you want to say "thank you" again to that person, you say "arigatou gozaimashita" because his favor was completed before. | |
| More Examples: | |
| When you host a party and say "Thanks for coming" to your guests when you welcome them at the beginning of the party, you say, “arigatō gozaimasu.” | |
| Then, when the party is over and the guests are leaving, you say, “Arigato gozaimashita” to your guests. | |
| One more example. | |
| When you want to say “thank you for calling” when you receive a phone call from your client, you say “o-denwa, arigatō gozaimasu.” | |
| Then, when you want to say “thank you for calling” at the end of the call, you say, “o-denwa, arigatō gozaimashita.” |
46 Comments
HideWhat Japanese learning question do you have?
I have know and used both phrases for many years but never knew the real difference. I thought ありがとうございました was the an honorific phrase; now, having completed this lesson, I know; ありがとうございました
What is the difference between ます and ました
Example: 林檎を食べます。林檎を食べました
Hopefully you get this right away
Hi フランシス,
Thanks for your comment!
Good summarization!
Sincerely,
Erica
Team JapanesePod101.com
I summarized this as:
ありがとうございます。 = Thank you
ありがとうございました。 = Thank you for what you did.
Hi シリル
Glad to hear that you learned well with the lesson!
Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Cristiane (クリスチアネ)
Team JapanesePod101.com
Great explanation Makes a lot of sense Now I know how to use it properly Thank you very much !
ありがとうございました 😄
Hi Alexis,
Thank you for commenting! We are glad that you enjoyed the lesson! If you ever have any questions, please let us know!
Sincerely,
Cristiane (クリスチアネ)
Team Japanesepod101.com
Thank you for doing this video.
Before, I thought that "gozaimashita" was used when you're very very very thankful for something. The most thankful you can be. Now you teached me the right way to use this two phrases. Arigatou!
Rino san,
Konnichiwa.
That is good.
Rafael san,
Konnichiwa.
Thank you for your questions.
1. unfortunately, desu and da don’t make any sense in this case.
2. gozaimasu indicates a high politeness level.
3. if that is Watashi wa Rafael de “Gozaimasu”, the sentence is perfect.
Álvaro san,
こんにちは。
がんばってください。
:smile:
Yuki 由紀
JapanesePod101.com
これは覚えやすいと思います。ひろ子先生、ありがとうございました。:sunglasses: