Japanese Words #6 – Ganbatte Kudasai (がんばってください)
Ganbatte is a great Japanese word. It is used all the time, and has a meaning which is actually very easy to pick up and understand. This makes it a very popular word for even the most green Japanese speaker.
In its most common usage, Ganbatte is used to convey encouragement or support. You can say ‘ganbatte kudasai’ to someone that has a difficult task ahead of them, to encourage them, kind of like telling them to ‘hang in there’. The shorter ‘ganbatte’ has basically the same meaning, but is used when the speaker is more familiar with the target of the encouragement.
When speaking from a position of considerable superiority, you may also use the derivation ‘ganbare’. This is often used to encourage children, or you may also hear it, mixed with ‘ganbatte’ from spectators at a sporting event, cheering on their team.
‘Ganbatte’ is derived from the Japanese word ‘ganbaru’, which means to ‘work hard’ or ‘do your best’. So when you say ‘ganbatte’ to someone, you are essentially telling them to ‘give it your best shot’. You can also use it about yourself, to say things like ‘ganbarimasu’ (I’ll do my best), or ‘ganbarimashita’ (I did my best).
Given that ‘ganbatte’ is, at its core, telling the target to ‘work hard and do their best’, there is a view amongst some Japanese people that it is not an appropriate thing to say to someone that is in a truly disasterous situation that will require a great deal of hard work and help to dig out of. For example, after the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami in North-Eastern Japan, some television commentators and others expressed the view that telling the people of the region to ‘ganbaru’ was not appropriate, because it was the responsibility of the whole country to pull together and help those that had been affected. They argued that saying ‘ganbatte’ to people in such circumstances was rude and could cause offense. Of course, this didn’t stop people throughout the world, including all over the place in Japan, from using the word ‘ganbatte’ over and over again on posters and stickers, not to mention all over the web.
Personally, I believe that in the vast majority of cases, saying ‘ganbatte’ to someone is viewed as a positive thing, and depending on how it is used, it can be a powerful way of expressing encouragement and even sympathy. It can even be used ironically, especially where the speaker and target are very familiar with each other.
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Related posts:
- Japanese Words #1 – Muzukashii
- Japanese Words #2 – Ashi
- Japanese Words #4 – Otsukaresama & Gokurosama
- Using Japanese Words to Remember Numbers
Tags: Encouragement, Ganbatte, Japanese, Japanese Learning, Words
