Lingo Kaiava

What does "お疲れ様" mean?otsukaresama

Thanks for your hard work — the all-purpose workplace greeting.

Language
🇯🇵 Japanese
Romaji
o-tsu-ka-re-SA-ma
Register
Safe anywhere

How it's actually used

Said when leaving the office, when a colleague finishes something, when you pass someone in the hall, and when a project ends. It functions as hello, goodbye, thank you, and well done all at once. お疲れ is the casual clip.

Examples

Before you say it

Do not translate it as "you must be tired" — that reads as odd. It acknowledges effort, and Japanese offices run on it.

Now actually use it out loud

Reading a definition isn't the same as saying it to someone. Lingo Kaiava is a voice tutor set to Japanese — it uses お疲れ様 the way locals do, corrects you in the moment, and never "fixes" the way real people actually talk into textbook Japanese.

Practice Japanese free →

Free to start. No signup for your first conversation.

More slang like this

All Japanese slang →

Help us improve