お疲れ様
おつかれさま
hepburn otsukaresama
thank you for your work / good job
Part of speech · expression
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- お疲れ様でした!Thanks for your hard work!
- お先に。— お疲れ様!I'm leaving. — Take care!
Collocations
お疲れ様 (otsukaresama, "thank you for the work")お疲れ様でした (deshita, past — at end of work)お疲れ様です (desu, ongoing greeting)ご苦労様 (gokurousama, "well done" — superior→subordinate only)お先に失礼します (osaki ni shitsurei shimasu, "leaving first")
Mnemonic
お疲れ様 otsukaresama — お (honorific) + 疲れ (tiredness) + 様 (honorific suffix). Literal "you must be tired" → "thanks for your hard work" — a social ritual of labor acknowledgement. The keystone Japanese workplace handshake: (1) greeting on encounter 「お疲れ様です」 (present, ongoing acknowledgment), (2) parting 「お疲れ様でした」 (past, completion), (3) internal phone-call opener, (4) closing of business emails. ご苦労様 (gokurousama) means the same but only from superior to subordinate — using it upward is rude. お疲れ様 is bidirectional and safe. The word compresses Japan's labor ethic, hierarchy cognition, and greeting system. Must-master on day one for foreign hires.
Quick check
Hierarchical usage of お疲れ様 vs ご苦労様?