"どうぞ。"
Translation:Here you are.
52 Comments
The first time i was in Japan my Japanese was very poor. My sister and I went to a ryokan where our communication consisted of emphatic gestures and horrendously mispronounced phrases. The staff continually said どうぞ to us and through inference we worked out the meaning, we were so darn happy.
Meaning? That word can literally mean anything, if you don't know what to say just say どうぞ and japanese people will know exactly what you mean.
I can see why they used "here you go" but it feels weird to me too. I always thought "if you please" was a closer appoximation-it covers more of the situations of どうぞ like offering a seat or letting someone ahead of you in line
This a pretty flexible word. Should be used in better context if they expect an exact answer
I'm currently a foreigner in Japan with only very basic Japanese. Dozo is one of the top 3 words I've used, along with arigatou gosaimasu (thank you very much) and sumimasen (excuse me / sorry). This word is useful to know and to say!
Also, I was taught the English translation for dozo as "Here, for you" which might work better for you.
Can confirm, during my study trip "hai, arigatou gozaimashita", "ano, sumimasen", "douzo?" and "sou(desu(ka/ne))" were my most used words, FAR AND WIDE!
Just a quick correction or two - 'doUzo' どうぞ, 'arigatou goZaimasu' ありがとうございます.
Doesn't it also mean the Englisch "please" in a polite manner. I would prefer much more this translation...
Yes. Despite its brevity, どうぞ conveys much more politeness than the English "here".
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If it was about politeness even "Here you go" doesn't match it. I believe that there is no problem with "Here".
So now I see that we (or at least I definitely was) were incorrectly taught in school that どうぞ only meant "Here you go", and is only for when you're giving someone something. Where in fact it is the shortened version of どうぞよろしく which gives it the more "Please" meaning, as in "Please, take this" etc. I am so annoyed that it took 10 years of knowing basic/intermediate level Japanese, having two half Japanese sisters, and a father who has lived in Japan for 25 years for someone to actually share that with me. What. The. Bleep.
どうぞよろしく means "please treat me well". It's used like "Nice to meet you." You'd never use it as "Here you go". So rest assured they weren't keeping anything from you.
Hmm, with this word you offer something so I don't think that translation works well.
Aye, actually. However, it's a very nuanced word. With so little context, Duo should arguably accept that but bear in mind that it typically carries a much more polite and complex meaning, depending on the situation where it is used.
Can I translate どうぞ like "help yourself" instead of using tue given translation? P.S Thhis was not accepted, so I am asking the community about it.
Maybe in some instances "help yourself" would be sort of equivalent, but I don't think it matches the level of politeness and true meaning as correctly as "Here, for you." For example, there is one seat left on the train but you see that someone else wants it. You would say [どうぞ]. "Here, for you" is more accurate in this sense, unless you say "Help yourself" in a super nice way that probably only some people can pull off.
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"Please" in English is like "Bitte" in German. You use it when you ask for something, but you can also use it when you offer something. The use of one word is probably a shortened version of something like "May it please you to ..." I think for どうぞ, a single "please" should be considered correct in many cases.
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I know dozou in japanese is very flexible in its use. But it does not translate to "here you go" at all. I know this english phrase became popular some years ago, it should not take precedence over more accurate phrases in a learning environment. Ha! I hope foreign speakers wishing to learn english are not immersed in such phrases or they would sound peculiar with such a prolific use of idiomatic, colloquial slang which is only a frugal usage in everyday speech.
Perhaps it should. Depends on native English usage, and whether the same is meant as "here you go".
On NHK's early morning English lessons, the skit once spent half an hour trying to explain a US waitress' "Here you go." Go? Go where? I think "There you are" is a better equivalent when どうぞ is used while giving something.
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That would be a waitress in a diner, not a waiter in an upscale restaurant, say, for the English expression. For such universal "situation phrases," one can only learn social equivalents, not translations.
if there is a Turkish speaker here who didn't get it; it has just the same meaning with "buyrun"
In what contexts is this usually used in? Duolingo offers no context for anything when so much of language is based on context.
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i'm not very familiar with english, what exactly does "here you are" means? i only can think in the literal meaning.
imagine you are in the bus and there is one empty seat and an old man with you. You should say "douzo" to let him sit. Or you are having a conversation with someone, after finishing your sentences you can say "douzo" to let that person talk. it 'basically' means "please go on" or "after you". if you didn't get it just let me know. i can simplify it.
I'm looking through what everybody is saying, but I still don't understand what this word is used for.
here you go is not so polite -- without any context "help yourself" is reasonable in English, I believe
When you let some sit on your chair..how can you said " here you go"??..translation to english is wrong here..
No, that'd work just fine. There would be places where it wouldn't quite translate that way, but it's a good approximation. English isn't ever going to have one perfect catch-all translation for some of Japanese's token words and phrases.
