10 Most Used Japanese Expressions: How to Say Them With Natural Pitch Accent

You already know these words. Do you say them correctly?

If you've studied Japanese for even a month, you know こんにちは, ありがとうございます, and すみません. You probably say them every single day.

And that's exactly why they matter more than any advanced vocabulary you could learn this week. These expressions come out of your mouth dozens of times a day, in the first three seconds of every conversation. If the pitch and rhythm are slightly off, your listener notices immediately — not consciously, but they feel it. If they're right, you sound natural before you've said anything difficult.

Here's the trap: because these words feel easy, most learners never check them. They learned こんにちは in week one and never looked back.

In this article you'll learn the correct pitch accent and rhythm for the 10 most-used Japanese expressions, plus the three sound rules that fix most of the mistakes English speakers make with them. Some will seem too easy — please read those sections anyway, record yourself, and compare.

The three rules behind every expression below

Before the list, understand the three principles. Once these click, you can fix hundreds of words on your own.

1. Every hiragana gets the same length.

Japanese rhythm is counted in equal beats (mora). こ・ん・に・ち・は is five beats — all the same length. English speakers tend to squeeze the small ones and stretch the stressed one. Don't.

2. Pitch is high or low, not strong or weak.

English marks important syllables with stress (louder, longer, punchier). Japanese marks them with pitch (simply higher). When you stress a Japanese syllable, it sounds foreign even when the pitch happens to be correct.

3. Some vowels are unvoiced — you shape them but barely say them.

The す in ございます, the し in よろしく. Native speakers whisper these. Pronouncing them fully makes your speech sound slow and textbook-ish.

Greetings: keep them flat and long enough

1. こんにちは

The most common mistake is dropping the ん: konichiwa instead of こんにちは. Say it in five equal beats — こ・ん・に・ち・は — and give ん its own full beat.

• Pitch: flat. There is no drop. こ starts low, and the rest stays level.

• Many learners let the pitch fall on に or ち, which sounds oddly emphatic.

• Rhythm check: if it's over in a rush, you dropped the ん.

2. おはようございます

Two things to fix here.

• おはよう has a long vowel. よう = two beats. A short ohayo sounds clipped.

• The pitch is mostly flat, with the last high point around ま in ございます.

• す is unvoiced. It's closer to "mas" than "masu." You can say ございます clearly — it's not wrong — but ございまs sounds far more natural.

3. おはよう (casual)

To friends your age or younger, just おはよう. Again: long よう, and no pitch drop at the end. A falling おはよう↓ sounds like a different word shape entirely.

Thanks and yes: the small words you say most

4. ありがとうございます

• The R in り is a flap — a quick tap of the tongue, close to the "d" in American English ladder. Not an English R, not an L.

• り is the high point. Say it higher than the surrounding beats — but don't punch it. Higher, not louder.

• とう is two beats. ありがとうございます. Cutting it short is one of the most audible learner mistakes.

5. ありがとう (casual)

Same rules, shorter phrase. Use it with friends and people younger than you.

6. はい

It looks like the easiest word in the language, and learners still get it wrong.

• は and い are the same length and the same volume.

• It's not はI and not HAi. It's evenly はい.

• Use it as a reply, and also as あいづち — the little "I'm listening" sounds you make while someone else talks.

• In a classroom, when your name is called, はい is the standard answer.

7. うん (casual)

The casual version of はい, and constantly used as あいづち — sometimes without even opening your mouth.

• Your tongue doesn't touch anywhere. It's a nasal hum, not an "n" with tongue contact.

• Not "un" with a clear vowel + consonant. Let it stay in your nose.

8. どうも

Three beats: ど・う・も. どう is long.

• The pitch is high on ど, then it drops. Start high, come down.

• Useful because it does double duty: a light "thanks," and a casual "hi" when you spot someone.

Set phrases: where pitch stays but intonation changes

9. すみません

In real speech, most people say すいません rather than すみません. Both are fine; すいません is what you'll actually hear.

The key insight: the pitch accent doesn't change between uses — the intonation does.

• Calling a waiter or getting someone's attention: the ending lifts and carries.

• Apologizing: the ending settles down.

• Same word, same accent pattern, completely different message.

10. そうですね / そうですか

Two close cousins with different jobs:

• そうですね — "that's right," agreement.

• そうですか — "oh, is that so?" taking in new information.

The pronunciation warning here is the で. English speakers often let it slide toward the English "the" sound, especially when the phrase appears in the middle of a sentence. で is a clean, crisp D + E. Check that you're not softening it.

Bonus: ええと (let me see)

Not a phrase you memorize so much as a habit you copy.

• Use it while you're thinking.

• Here's the natural part: when you say ええと, you're not looking at the other person. Your eyes go up or away, because you're searching your memory.

• If you look straight at them and say ええ, it reads as agreement — "yeah, right" — not hesitation. Same sound, opposite meaning, decided entirely by your eyes.

Bonus: よろしくお願いします

Everyone learns this for self-introductions. But it's also the phrase that starts things.

• At the start of a meeting, the host says よろしくお願いします and everyone answers よろしくお願いします.

• At the start of an online lesson, your teacher says it and you say it back.

• お願いします alone works as a lighter version.

• The し in よろしく is unvoiced. Whisper it. Practice until you can say the whole phrase quickly and smoothly — speed is part of sounding natural here.

Bonus: 失礼します

The closing counterpart, with two hard spots:

• つ — a single beat, ts + u, not "tsoo."

• The vowel in し is unvoiced again.

Use it when you leave, or when you end a lesson or meeting.

Conclusion

Ten expressions, three underlying rules. Give every hiragana the same length — especially ん and long vowels like よう and どう. Make high pitch higher, never louder. Let unvoiced vowels stay quiet, so ございます becomes "gozaimas" and よろしく flows fast. Keep こんにちは, おはよう, and はい flat, with no dramatic drops. Remember that すみません changes meaning through intonation, not accent — and that ええと comes with your eyes looking away.

None of this is advanced Japanese. It's the Japanese you already say every day, said correctly. That's what "sounding natural" actually means.

Next Action: Start Today!

Open the voice recorder on your phone right now and record yourself saying all ten expressions, one after another. Then play it back and listen to yourself objectively — as if it were someone else — while comparing to my audio in the video. Focus on one thing only in this first pass: is こんにちは flat with a full ん, and is ございます ending in "mas"? Fix those two, re-record tomorrow, and move to the next item on the list. Two minutes a day beats an hour once.

Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/DNQSM_IpZmk