How to Say ‘You're welcome.’ in Japanese
どういたしまして。
dou itashi mashi te
[doh ee-tah-shee mah-shee teh]
🇯🇵 In Japan: This is polite and correct, but in everyday Japan people often reply to thanks with something softer like [いえいえ] or just a smile and nod. [どういたしまして。] can sound a little formal or textbook-ish in casual situations.
Phrase Breakdown
どう
dou
[doh]
how; in what way
どう often means 'how,' but in this fixed phrase it is part of 'you're welcome.'
どうしますか。
What will you do?
いたし
itashi
[ee-tah-shee]
do (humble form stem)
いたし is the stem of いたします, a humble and polite form of します.
私がいたします。
I will do it.
まし
mashi
[mah-shee]
polite past stem part
まし is part of the polite verb ending in expressions like ました or まして.
勉強しました。
I studied.
て
te
[teh]
and; te-form ending
て is a common verb ending used to connect actions or form set expressions.
見てください。
Please look.
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