Greetings + the polite copula です
Japanese has two registers running in parallel — casual and polite. Beginners stick to the polite -ます/です forms because they're safe everywhere: with strangers, coworkers, teachers, shopkeepers. The casual forms come later. Today: time-of-day greetings and です, the little word that turns any noun into a polite sentence.
Greetings by time of day
おはよう = good morning, casual (to family or close friends). おはよう ございます = the polite version, used at work and with anyone outside your inner circle. こんにちは = hello / good afternoon, used roughly from late morning to dusk. こんばんは = good evening, after dark. Notice the は at the end of こんにちは and こんばんは — it's the topic particle, said 'wa'.
Goodbyes
さようなら = goodbye. It sounds final — Japanese speakers don't use it as casually as English 'bye'; they save it for when they won't see you for a while. また あした = see you tomorrow, much warmer for daily partings. また ね = see you (casual) — for friends. To a coworker leaving the office: おつかれさま でした (thanks for your hard work) is more common than さようなら.
です — the polite 'is'
です is a polite copula that goes at the end of a sentence. After a noun, it means 'is/am/are'. Pattern: [noun] です. ほん です = (it) is a book. せんせい です = (I/he/she) am/is a teacher. Japanese loves to leave the subject unspoken when context makes it obvious — you don't have to say 'I' every time the way English does.
Names and self-introduction
To say your name: わたし は アナ です. = I am Anna. Literally: 'as for me, Anna is'. The は ('wa') is the topic particle — we'll meet it properly in lesson 3. After meeting someone, the standard line is はじめまして (nice to meet you), often followed by どうぞ よろしく (please be kind to me / pleased to know you).
Bowing instead of handshakes
Greetings in Japan come with a small bow — usually a quick nod for casual encounters, deeper for formal ones. You don't have to copy this perfectly as a learner, but knowing it helps the words make sense: おはよう ございます sounds different when you imagine it spoken with a slight bow rather than a wave.
