🙏📅⬅️

How to Say ‘Thank you for yesterday.’ in Japanese

昨日はありがとうございました。

kinou wa arigatou gozai mashi ta

[kee-noh wah ah-ree-gah-toh goh-zah-ee mah-shee tah]

💬 Usage Tip: ありがとうございました ends in た, the past form, because you're thanking someone for something already finished. For help that's still going on, you'd use ありがとうございます.

🇯🇵 In Japan: In Japan, thanking someone again for a past meeting is expected the next time you contact them. It's often the very first thing you say on a follow-up call.

Phrase Breakdown

昨日は

kinou wa

as for yesterday

昨日 (kinou) means 'yesterday'. は (pronounced 'wa') marks it as the topic.

Example

昨日は雨でした。

It was rainy yesterday.

Words in this phrase

昨日

kinou

[kee-noh]

yesterday

A time word meaning the day before today.

Example

昨日は忙しかったです。

Yesterday was busy.

は

[wah]

topic marker

は marks the topic of the sentence.

Example

空席はありますか。

Are there any seats available?

ありがとうございました。

arigatou gozai mashi ta

thank you very much

The past form of the thanks, used for a past favor or event.

Example

先日はありがとうございました。

Thank you for the other day.

Words in this phrase

ありがとう

arigatou

[ah-ree-gah-toh]

thank you

A common way to say thank you.

Example

ありがとう、助かります。

Thank you, that helps.

ござい

gozai

[goh-zah-ee]

to be; to exist (very polite)

A very polite version of あります, often used by staff in restaurants and hotels.

Example

駐車場がございます。

There is a parking lot.

まし

mashi

[mah-shee]

polite past stem

Part of the polite past ending in a verb phrase.

Example

昨日は多くのことを学びました。

I learned many things yesterday.

た

[tah]

past tense ending

This ending completes the polite past tense form.

Example

空席がございました。

There were vacant seats.

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