おはよう (ohayō) means “good morning.” Use おはよう with people you know well and おはようございます in polite settings. In some workplaces, especially those with shifts, the greeting can be used when someone starts work even later in the day.
also ohayo / お早う / おはようございます / おっす
good morning · morning
Sentences
おはよう · the casual form
casual。？
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おはよう
おはよう ［0］
good morning
interjection · the ウ音便 of お早く, early — it says the hour, not 'good'
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よく
よく
well
adverb · the adverbial of いい, which is irregular — not いく
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寝れた
ねれた
managed to sleep
colloquial potential past of 寝る · ら抜き; the careful form is 寝られた
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Morning. Sleep okay?
おはようございます · to a superior
polite、。
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部長
ぶちょう ［0］
department head
noun · a rank, so it replaces name ＋ さん the way 先生 does
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おはよう
おはよう ［0］
good morning
interjection · on its own this would land short pointed upward
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ございます
ございます
polite ending
polite existential · the same ございます as in ありがとうございます
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Good morning, sir.
今朝は早く · the adjective, plainly
plain past。
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今朝
けさ ［1］
this morning
noun · used adverbially, no particle needed; 今 now ＋ 朝 morning
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は
は
as for — the topic
particle · written は, read わ
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早く
はやく ［1］
early
adverbial of 早い · early in time — 速く is fast in speed
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起きた
おきた
got up
past of 起きる · also the verb for something happening
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I got up early this morning.
夜勤でも · why the hour does not matter
plain。
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夜勤
やきん ［0］
night shift
noun · 夜 night ＋ 勤 duty; 夜勤明け is coming off one
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でも
でも
even on
particle · で at ＋ も even — even in that situation
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おはよう
おはよう ［0］
good morning
interjection · it marks the start of your shift, not the time of day
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ございます
ございます
polite ending
polite existential · the full form is what workplaces use
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と
と
that — quoting
quotative particle · marks the words being reported
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言う
いう ［0］
say
godan verb · 言います／言った; often written いう in this frame
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Even on a night shift you say ohayou gozaimasu.
お早いですね · the source adjective alive
polite。
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お早い
おはやい
early — politely
お ＋ 早い · said to someone who arrived before you; a small compliment
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です
です
polite ending
copula · sits after an i-adjective unchanged
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ね
ね
aren't you
sentence-final particle · turns the remark into a friendly observation
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You're early, aren't you.
Forms
おはよう
Casual. Family, friends, anyone below or beside you. Pointed at a boss on its own it is short — the ございます is what carries the politeness.
おはよう＋ございます
The polite form and the workplace default. Notice it is the same ございます as in ありがとうございます — the polite existential.
Name ＋ さん＋おはよう
Name first, greeting second, exactly as with こんにちは. With a title the title wins: 部長、おはようございます.
お早い＋ですね
The source adjective doing ordinary work: you're early. Useful proof that the greeting is a grammatical form and not a noise.
Meaning
It says it is early. 早い is early, お makes it polite, and the adverbial お早く softened to お早う. There is no good in it and no morning either — it is a remark about the hour, left over from something longer along the lines of you have come early, haven't you.
Same sound change as ありがとう. An い-adjective's 〜く rounded to 〜う in polite speech: 有り難く → ありがとう, おめでたく → おめでとう, お早く → おはよう. Three of the most-said things in Japanese are the same construction, and none of them is a fixed noise.
Which is why studios say it at midnight. Because the word marks the start of your working day rather than the sun's, television, theatre, kitchens and night shifts open with おはようございます whenever the shift begins. It is not a joke and not slang — it is the literal meaning of the phrase being used straight.
The band ends, and nobody says where. Late morning it gives way to こんにちは, and in an office the second meeting of the day usually gets お疲れ様です instead of anything. A safe habit is おはようございます for the first contact and something else after that.
Inside the word
Both are はやい. 早い is early on a clock — 早朝 early morning, 早退 leaving early. 速い is quick in motion — 速度 speed. The greeting takes the first, because it is about the hour.
お is the beautifying prefix, and it is fused in — there is no greeting はよう in standard Japanese, though western dialects keep はよ and はよう alive. The same お sits in お先に and お疲れ様.
Kanjium gives お早う ［0］: heiban, no fall anywhere in the word, so it stays level and a following particle stays high. The parent adjective 早い is ［2］ — the accent moved when the ending did, exactly as it does in ありがとう.
Watch out
It is the casual half. Upward it reads as clipped, the way morning does against good morning. In a Japanese office the full おはようございます is standard even between people who otherwise speak casually.
There is no good and no morning in the Japanese — it is an adjective meaning early. That is why it survives intact at 2am in a television studio, and why translating it back as good morning hides what it is doing.
The morning greeting happens once. Meeting someone again later gets お疲れ様です or nothing at all — a second おはようございます suggests you did not register the first.
It is a real contraction of おはようございます, and it is narrow: male, sporty, and only between people already close. From a learner to a new acquaintance it lands as an impression of Japanese rather than as Japanese.
Also asked
Good morning — but literally it is early. It is お早く, the polite adverbial form of 早い (early), with the く softened to う. Nothing in the word means good or morning.
Politeness. おはよう is casual and belongs with family, friends and anyone below or beside you. ございます makes it polite, and it is the standard at work, at school and with anyone you would use です with.
Because the phrase marks the start of your working day, not the time of day. Television, theatre, kitchens and any shift industry open with it whenever the shift begins — which is the literal meaning of it's early being used straight.
There is no published cutoff. Late morning it hands over to こんにちは, and the judgement is made on the light and the setting. In an office the practical rule is: the first time you see someone that day, whatever the hour.
おはよう in kana, which is how it is normally written. The kanji spelling お早う exists and shows where it came from, but it looks stiff in ordinary use. The long vowel is a う because it is one.
The Japanese is おはよう, ending in う, so a strict transcription is ohayou or ohayō. English writes it ohayo, which is fine in English and loses the ending that explains the word.
References
Kotobank: 御早う — Defines the morning greeting and derives it from おはやく by u-onbin.
Nearby
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