How to Say ‘Understood.’ in Japanese
わかりました。
wakari mashi ta
[wah-kah-ree mah-shee tah]
💬 Usage Tip: Past form used as a set phrase meaning “Got it / Understood.” Useful to end an exchange cleanly.
🇯🇵 In Japan: You’ll hear this a lot from teachers/office staff. It signals they’ve accepted the information and will handle it.
Phrase Breakdown
わかり
wakari
[wah-kah-ree]
understand (polite past stem)
Stem of わかりました (polite past). Indicates the speaker has understood what was said; common response from school staff.
はい、わかりました。
Yes, I understand.
まし
mashi
[mah-shee]
polite verb ending (part of 〜ました)
Part of the polite past form 〜ました. Used after a verb stem to make it polite and past/complete: わかり + ました.
承知しました、わかりました。
Certainly, understood.
た
ta
[tah]
past marker (part of 〜た)
Past marker in polite past 〜ました. Here it completes “understood.”
わかりました、後ほど連絡します。
Understood; I will contact you later.
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