How to Say ‘Excuse me, good evening.’ in Japanese
すみません、こんばんは。
sumi mase n konbanwa
[soo-mee mah-seh n kon-bahn-wah]
🇯🇵 In Japan: Opening with すみません before greeting a stranger softens the approach. It signals you know you're interrupting, which comes across as polite rather than pushy in a Japanese bar.
Phrase Breakdown
すみません、
sumi mase n
excuse me
A polite way to get someone's attention. The 'u' in 'su' is often soft: 'sumimasen'.
すみません、駅はどこですか？
Excuse me, where is the station?
Words in this phrase
すみ
sumi
[soo-mee]
excuse me; sorry
A polite attention-getter and light apology. Used to call a pharmacist/staff or to be polite before asking for help.
すみません、薬剤師さん。
Excuse me, pharmacist.
ませ
mase
[mah-seh]
polite negative (part of ません)
「ませ」 is part of 「ません」, the polite negative form.
はいていません。
I haven’t vomited.
ん
n
[n]
negative ending
The final sound completing the negative polite form.
一人は魚が食べられません。
One person cannot eat fish.
こんばんは。
konbanwa
good evening
An evening greeting. The final は is pronounced 'wa': 'konbanwa'.
先生、こんばんは。
Good evening, teacher.
Words in this phrase
こんばんは
konbanwa
[kon-bahn-wah]
good evening
A common evening greeting used politely when meeting or speaking to someone at night.
イベントで最初に会った方にこんばんはとあいさつしました。
I greeted someone I first met at the event by saying, "Good evening."
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