さようなら (sayōnara) means “goodbye.” It can mark an ordinary departure, including at school, but may sound more final than casual じゃあね in some contexts. Its older form relates to 左様なら, “if that is so.” The situation sets the tone.
also sayonara / さよなら / 左様なら
goodbye · farewell
Sentences
先生、さようなら · a school farewell
plain、。
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先生
せんせい ［3］
teacher
noun · addressed directly, with no さん and no name needed
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さようなら
さようなら ［4,5］
goodbye
interjection · farewell historically derived from 左様ならば
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Goodbye, teacher.
じゃあ、また明日 · what is said instead
casual、。
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じゃあ
じゃあ
well then; right
conjunction · それでは worn down; the same shape as さようなら
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また
また
again
adverb · again; また明日 explicitly refers to tomorrow
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明日
あした ［3］
tomorrow
noun · あした spoken, あす in announcements, みょうにち in formal writing
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ね
ね
right?
sentence-final particle · softens it into a shared plan
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Right — see you tomorrow.
お先に失礼します · leaving the office
polite。
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お先に
おさきに
ahead of you; first
set phrase · acknowledges that you are going while others stay
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失礼
しつれい ［2］
rudeness; discourtesy
noun · 失 to lose ＋ 礼 courtesy — you name your own rudeness
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します
します
do — polite
polite of する · turns 失礼 into an act you are committing
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I'll be off — sorry to leave before you.
元気でね · a real parting
casual。
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元気
げんき ［1］
well; in good spirits
na-adjective · health and energy together, not just not-ill
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で
で
be — and stay that way
て-form of the copula after a na-adjective · 元気で = keep well
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ね
ね
won't you
sentence-final particle · turns the instruction into a warm request
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Take care of yourself.
では、これで · the same trick, unfinished
polite、。
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では
では
well then; in that case
conjunction · the formal それでは; さようなら is built the same way
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これ
これ
this
pronoun · here it means this point, not a physical object
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で
で
with; at — the boundary
particle · marks the point something stops: これで, at this point
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失礼
しつれい ［2］
rudeness; discourtesy
noun · again naming your own departure as the rude act
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します
します
do — polite
polite of する · 失礼します as you go
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Well then — I'll leave it there.
Forms
さようなら
On its own, for a parting with some weight in it — the end of school, leaving a place for good, someone you may not see again.
先生＋さようなら
A familiar school farewell, used between students and teachers at the end of the day.
さよなら
A shortened form of さようなら. It also appears in titles and in expressions about giving something up.
じゃあね／また明日／お疲れ様でした
Common choices for routine partings. また明日 explicitly means see you tomorrow; さようなら can also be used when people will meet again, especially at school.
Meaning
さようなら is a farewell meaning “goodbye.” The dictionary also records its older use as a conjunction, from 左様ならば, roughly “if that is so.” Its origin helps explain the form, but does not mean a modern speaker is consciously leaving an if-clause unfinished.
Choose the farewell for the setting. じゃあね and またね work among friends. お先に失礼します is a common choice when leaving work before others; お疲れ様でした is a common response.
It can sound more definite than a casual “bye.” The Japan Foundation’s Irodori notes that さようなら is relatively uncommon in daily life and often used for a long or permanent separation. That is a usage tendency, not a promise that you will never meet again.
School is a familiar everyday setting. Students and teachers may say さようなら at the end of the day. This ordinary use is an important counterexample to the idea that the word always means a final farewell.
Inside the word
左様 means “that way” or “so”; 左 does not mean “left” in this expression. The dictionary traces the farewell to 左様ならば.
The older introductory phrase means roughly “if that is so.” Over time it became a conventional farewell. This history does not by itself determine how final a present-day goodbye sounds.
Kanjium lists 左様なら with accent variants [4] and [5]: a downstep after な or after the final ら. These are dictionary-form patterns; farewell intonation in actual conversation may differ.
Watch out
With friends you expect to see soon, じゃあね or またね is often a better everyday choice. さようなら can sound more definite, but it is also a familiar school farewell.
失礼します or 失礼いたします is useful when excusing yourself from a formal interaction. Choose the expression for the situation instead of translating every English “goodbye” as さようなら.
A school class may say it and meet again the next day. A separation can give the word a final tone, but permanence is not part of every use.
さよなら is a shortened form of さようなら. Do not assume the shorter spelling automatically creates a particular emotional tone; context matters.
Also asked
It means goodbye. It developed from the older introductory expression 左様ならば, roughly “if that is so.” That origin is separate from its present-day use as a farewell.
Yes. It is familiar in school farewells and can also be used for more definite partings. In many routine conversations, じゃあね, またね or 失礼します is a more suitable choice.
じゃあね or またね is useful among friends; また明日 means see you tomorrow. At work, お先に失礼します is a common way to excuse yourself when others are still working.
さよなら is a shortened form of さようなら. Both mean goodbye. Spelling alone does not establish a fixed difference in seriousness or emotional weight.
No. It can accompany a final or long separation, but it is also used at school when everyone expects to meet again. The situation determines how final it sounds.
お先に失礼します when leaving before others, with お疲れ様でした a common reply. These expressions function as workplace parting formulas without literally using the word goodbye.
References
Japan Foundation Irodori: Starter, Lesson 1, p. L1-17 — School farewells, more definite partings and alternatives for ordinary daily interactions.
Digital Daijisen: 左様なら (via Kotobank) — The conjunction and farewell senses, and origin in 左様ならば.
National Diet Library reference database: さよなら and さようなら — Kitakyushu Central Library cites dictionaries for さよなら as a changed form of さようなら.
Kanjium pitch-accent data — Uros O. — Dictionary-form accent variants for 左様なら [4,5].
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