How to say “Good morning” in Japanese

おはようございます (ohayou gozaimasu) is the polite good morning; おはよう (ohayou) is the casual one for friends, family, and roommates. Same split as every Japanese greeting pair: the ございます tail is what carries the politeness, so dropping it is a statement about your relationship with the listener, not about the time of day.

Unlike English "good morning," おはようございます isn't strictly tied to the clock. It works roughly until late morning in everyday life, but in workplaces it means something closer to "hello, this is the first time I'm seeing you on this shift" — which is why staff at restaurants, TV studios, and night-shift jobs greet each other with おはようございます at 9 p.m. If you start an evening shift, you still say it.

Pronunciation note: it's o-ha-YOU, a long final vowel — おはよう, not おはよ. Clipping the vowel is the most common learner slip, and it's exactly the kind of thing an AI grader hears even when a textbook can't.