5 ways to use the words 「どうも」(doumo)

The original meaning of「どうも」is “something we cannot explain in words”.
This vague, fuzzy word is used in many situations.
I’d like to explain 5 different ways to use it.

1.To place an emphasis on the following phrases.
We put 「どうも」before the specific phrases to emphasize them

・どうも　ありがとうございました (Thank you very much)
・どうも　すみません (I’m so sorry)
・どうも　しつれいしました (I’m sorry to bother you)

2. Short greeting
「どうも」 is used to say ‘Hi’, ‘Hello’ in casual occasions.

・どうも　たなかです（Hi, I’m Tanaka）
・a mother:「これが、むすこの　けん　です」(This is my son, Ken)
a son:「どうも」(Hi)

3. Hearsay, guess
When we combine 「どうも」and 「～のようだ／～らしい／～そうだ」,it means “It seems that”, “They say that”


・どうも　きょうは　あめ　らしい　(It seems　as though it will rain today)
・どうも　たなかさんは　おこっている　ようだ (I guess Mr. Tanaka is angry)
・どうも　かぜが　はやっている　そうだ　(They say that a cold is spreading)

4. Unsatisfied/regretful feeling
When we combine 「どうも」and negative sentences, we express that we are unsatisfied about the matters.


・なんど　やっても　どうも　うまくいかない
(I tried again and again but I cannot make it for some reasons)
・あの　はんけつには　どうも　なっとく　できない
(The judgment seems to be right but I’m not convinced of that)

5. Express we don’t know why
This is the most difficult part. We put 「どうも」to express that we don’t know the reason, we don’t know how it happens.


・どうも　ちょうしが　おかしい (I’m not in good shape for some reasons)
・どうも　すうがくは　にがてだ (I don’t know why but I’m poor at math)
・どうも　あのひとは　うんがいい ( He is lucky for some reasons)

Different way to use polite expressions

Polite expressions are used to show respect, but did you know there are different ways of using them?

Example 1
Imagine a married couple that usually uses casual expressions with one another. One day, the wife suddenly starts using polite expressions to her husband. This is not because she wants to show respect, but to show that she is angry at him or that there is an emotional gap between them.

Example 2
Mr. A and Mr. B are classmates or co-workers, they are of the same age or are in similar positions. They know it's more natural to use casual expressions but for some reason, Mr.A uses polite expressions to Mr.B. This shows Mr. A doesn't want to be friends with Mr. B.

As we can see with these examples, polite expressions can sometimes be used when you don't want to show intimacy or closeness with a person.

How do Japanese people express “NO”?

In Japan, we don’t often say “NO” directly and it’s difficult for foreign people to understand what we really mean.
Here are 3 examples of how we express “NO” in conversations.

1. Just smile and don’t respond

If you say “Please invite me to your house” and your Japanese friend just smile and doesn't respond, or say “OK, someday” and never talks about it again, it means “NO”.

2. I’ll think about it / I’ll check my schedule

These expressions are often used in business scenes. If they only use these phrases and don’t give you any specific schedule, such as, “I’ll call you back tomorrow” or “ I suppose we can proceed if my boss says yes”, their answers are in most part “NO”.

3. Sorry I’m busy

Although many Japanese people are really busy, this phrase tends to be used to express “NO”. We like to use this phrase because we don’t need to explain the real reason and hurt someone’s feelings.

Similarity between Japanese and English

Japan and U.K. have several things in common which are:

1 Both are islands
2 Both are close to the continental mainland (Japan to China/ U.K. to Europe)
3 Both have been influenced by the culture from each continent and there are many imported words
4 There is often no one-to-one correspondence between a word's pronunciation and its spelling.

Let’s look at examples of No3
-English
hors d’oeuvre/rendez-vous(French origin) kindergarten/hamburger (German origin) incredible/dormant(Italian origin)

-Japanese
Of course Kanji is imported from China and we use many Katakana words which are from western countries

Let’s look at examples of No4
-English
debt, doubt, subtle, island, victuals: These have consonants which are not pronounced
body, come, note: These “o”s are pronounced differently

-Japanese
One Kanji has in most parts “Japanese original pronunciation” and “China origin pronunciation” and how to read it varies according to its combinations.
For example, how to read 「和」:
和・らぐ (yawa-ragu)
和・む (nago-mu)
平・和 (hei-wa)
大・和 (yamato)
日・和 (hiyori)