【No. 1097】How to Go to a Bathroom Part 1
Today I'd like to tell you about how to express in Japanese that you want to go to a bathroom.
The most simple expression is that "toile ni ittekimasu" (トイレに行ってきます - I will go to a toilet).
However, such a direct expression is not elegant.
In my opinion, the most common and accepted expression is "otearai ni ittekimasu" (お手洗いに行ってきます - I will go to an otearai), here the "otearai" (お手洗い) is a place where you wash your hands.
Japanese people have been sure to wash their hands carefully after urinating/defecating since a long time ago.
Because of this, "to go to a bathroom" has come to be expressed as "otearai ni iku" (お手洗いに行く - I will go to an otearai).
昨日はトイレの使い方についての話題を投稿しました。
今日は、誰かと話しているときにトイレに行きたくなった場合、日本語でどのように表現すればいいかを紹介します。
もっともシンプルな言い方は、「トイレに行ってきます」です。
しかし、このような直接的な表現は上品ではありません。
個人的に最も無難でよく使われる表現は、「お手洗いに行ってきます」です。
日本では昔から、用を足した後は手を洗う習慣がありました。
このことから、トイレに行くことを「お手洗いに行く」と表現するようになりました。
Corrections (1)
- How to Go to a Bathroom Part 1
- How to Go to the Bathroom: Part 1
- I posted an entry about how to use a toilet yesterday.
- This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
- Today I'd like to tell you about how to express in Japanese that you want to go to a bathroom.
- Today I'd like to tell you about how to express in Japanese that you want to go to the bathroom.
- The most simple expression is that "toile ni ittekimasu" (トイレに行ってきます - I will go to a toilet).
-
The most simple expression is that *toile ni ittekimasu* (トイレに行ってきます - I will go to a toilet).
Italicize phrases from foreign languages.
- However, such a direct expression is not elegant.
- This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
- In my opinion, the most common and accepted expression is "otearai ni ittekimasu" (お手洗いに行ってきます - I will go to an otearai), here the "otearai" (お手洗い) is a place where you wash your hands.
-
In my opinion, the most common and accepted expression is *otearai ni ittekimasu*(お手洗いに行ってきます - I will go to an *otearai*), here the *otearai* (お手洗い) is a place where you wash your hands.
The same comment from above concerning italicizing foreign words and phrases applies here.
- Japanese people have been sure to wash their hands carefully after urinating/defecating since a long time ago.
- Japanese people have been sure to wash their hands carefully after urinating/defecating since a long time ago.
- Because of this, "to go to a bathroom" has come to be expressed as "otearai ni iku" (お手洗いに行く - I will go to an otearai).
-
Because of this, "to go to a bathroom" has come to be expressed as *otearai ni iku* (お手洗いに行く - I will go to an *otearai*).
The same comment from above concerning italicizing foreign words and phrases applies here.
Personally, I would have structured the Japanese words and their explanations slightly differently. The text in parentheses is meant to explain the preceding word or phrase. Therefore, I would have said: Because of this, "to go to a bathroom" has come to be expressed as *お手洗いに行く* (*otearai ni iku* - I will go to an otearai). (Note that I'm also using asterisks here to indicate italicization.) Here the text in parentheses gives us an explanation of both pronunciation and meaning. As you wrote the sentence originally, the native Japanese text inside the parentheses didn't clarify anything for an English speaker.
Thank you so much for the corrections and helpful comments!
I learned something new :)
Also, since the native Japanese text inside the parentheses in the last sentence was a very minor supplementary explanation for some Japanese people, I removed it to avoid confusion.