さようなら
さようなら
hepburn sayounara
goodbye (longer farewell)
Part of speech · expression
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- さようなら、また明日。Goodbye, see you tomorrow.
- 先生にさようならを言いました。I said goodbye to the teacher.
Collocations
さようなら (sayounara, goodbye — formal/final)またね (mata ne, see you — casual)バイバイ (baibai, bye — casual loan)お先に失礼します (osaki ni shitsurei shimasu, "I leave first" — office)お疲れ様でした (otsukaresama deshita, "thanks for your work" — office)
Mnemonic
さようなら sayounara — etymology: a clipping of さようならば ("if that is so"), i.e. "well then [let us part]". Counter-intuitively, native speakers rarely use it casually — it sounds formal, even final, like a permanent parting. Close circles prefer またね, バイバイ, じゃあね. Workplaces use お疲れ様 or お先に失礼します. さようなら survives in school dismissal, formal farewells, and funerals — registers of ceremonial closure. A classic foreigner overuse.
Quick check
Most natural goodbye to a close friend in Japanese?