Hi I was wondering if anyone has a favorite Japanese word. My favoritie is Hisashiburi. I really like the way it sounds and its pretty useful when meeting old friends!
Thanks Volk83 san! That's a very nice suggestion as a forum topic.
Japanese people use your favorite phrase, 久しぶり hisashiburi, all the time! You're right that it's such a handy phrase to remember.
There's also an alternative phrase you can use. And this phrase has many ending varieties. You can use any one of the following:
ご無沙汰しました Gobusata shimashita.
ご無沙汰しています Gobusata shiteimasu.
ご無沙汰していました Gobusata shiteimashita.
ご無沙汰です Gobusata desu.
ご無沙汰でした Gobusata deshita.
ご無沙汰！Gobusata!
They all mean, "It's been a long time!".
The first one has the "do" verb in the past tense (i.e. "We did gobusata") , the second one has the "do" verb in the present progressive (i.e. "We are doing gobusata"), the third one has the "do" verb in the past progressive (i.e. "We were doing gobusata"), the fourth one has the present tense "be" verb (i.e. "It's gobusata"), the fifth one has the past tense "be" verb (i.e. "It was gobusata"). The last one is simply just the noun "Gobusata"!
Don't ask me why any of them is possible.... I really don't know why! It's just such a flexible expression!
Wow thats quite a bit!! so there is no set conditions on using one of the "gobusata" phrase to another...they are all interchangable? But thank you Sakura for this new phrase!! I think it is nice to know more than one word for the same thing, I think it adds spice to your vocabulary^^
Exactly! It's nice to have a variety in your vocabulary. And yes, all the gobusata phrases mean the same thing, but the last one (the shortest one) is very casual. So I would only use it to my friends.
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