by Tomoyuki Higuchi
How do you say “You’re welcome.” in Japanese?
Today’s phrase is :
You’re welcome.
どういたしまして
douitashimashite*
*We do not clearly pronounce the vowels in the middle of a word. We pronounce “dou” like “dō”.
“どういたしまして” is quite formal, so we often simply say :
いいえ。
iie**
**We pronounce “ii” like “ī”.
Or to our friends :
ううん。
uun
“いいえ” and “ううん” mean “No.”. It includes the meaning of “No problem.” in this kind of situation.
(formal)
どういたしまして。
(polite)
いいえ。
(casual)
ううん。