はい

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. はい、田中です。▶ —
   Yes, this is Tanaka.
2. はい、わかりました。▶ —
   Yes, understood.

Collocations

Mnemonic

はい hai — Japanese's polite-default affirmative. Tiered: うん (intimate) < ええ (soft yes) < はい (neutral polite) < かしこまりました ("understood, certainly" — service / customer). Trap: hai is not a 1:1 English "yes" — it also signals listening (aizuchi), acknowledgment, agreement, and phone answering. はい often means "I hear you" rather than "yes I agree". Business phone calls open with 「はい、〇〇会社です」. Homophones 配 (allocation) and 拝 (bow) split by kanji. Foreign learners typically pick up はい first.

Quick check

1. Standard opening for a business phone call?

   • はい、〇〇会社、〇〇部の田中です (formal company answer)
   • もしもし (casual)
   • こんにちは (afternoon greeting)
   • やあ (slang)