Useful phrases in Japanese #1

My Japanese is still at a state that could best be described as somewhere between "non-existent" and "severely broken". I can read some of the language although for the most part I can either pronounce it because it's written in kana or I can understand it because it's one of the kanji I have learned, but typically not both.

However, I do know a little and some of the little I know includes useful phrases so you can go about life without being a total jerk. I thought I'd start sharing some of those in installments.

Today, I'll discuss what is possibly the most useful word in Japanese.

Sumimasen (すみません)

This word can be used for anything from getting a waiter's attention to apologizing to thanking someone or trying to plow your way through a crowded train station (it's a flexible word). If you are going to visit Japan and only learn one word before coming here, this is probably it.

In cases like getting attention, it's a bit like "excuse me" and is acceptable to use in restaurants, when requesting assistance or generally on the street (e.g. if you see someone drop something). In cases where you're moving through a crowd the meaning can vary between "excuse me" and "sorry" depending whether you're just cutting through or whether you're (lightly) bumping into anyone. It can also mean "thank you" in the sense of "thank you for doing me a favour" (e.g. "thank you for finding that thing I dropped").

Note that while "sumimasen" is fine for lightly bumping into someone, if you totally plow into someone because neither of you were looking where you were going, you probably want to use "gomennasai" (ごめんなさい) a few times instead of "sumimasen" since it's more apologetic. If it's both of your fault, the person you plowed into will probably also apologize profusely.