Have you heard of the word doumo [どうも]? In this article, we will try to understand the full meaning behind this word. Remember that we will use both romanizations in this article, doumo and dōmo.
Whenever we hear this word being said in various situations and with various meanings, it ends up leaving us confused. So, what does doumo or dōmo really mean? In what occasions and how to use it?
Table of Content
Meaning of the word doum
According to the basic dictionary, the word dōmo [どうも] means thank you, but how does it relate to arigatou? In reality, this word has nothing to do with gratitude.
The word doumo [どうも] is the combination of the word dou [どう] and the particle mo [も] where dou can convey the meaning of "how?" and mo the meaning of "never, even, so much, and also".
The word doumo [どうも] is constructed in the same way as the word totemo [とても] which means very. In reality, both can have the same meaning.
The original meaning of the word doumo [どうも] can be literally translated into Portuguese as:
- it doesn't matter how;
- Anyway;
- in all cases;
- I understand that;
- for some reason;
- I don't know why;
Thus, Doumo is an adverb used to indicate that one cannot make a definitive statement about something due to the lack of concrete evidence.
Many Japanese words have a meaning but their usage goes far beyond having nothing to do with the original meaning. This happens with doumo that is usually used to thank, greet and say goodbye.
Situations in which Doumo is used
どうも is used before arigatou to give the meaning of "thank you so much", it is used in formal occasions, and usually expresses humility and words like "very, sorry".
Currently, doumo is often used in informal occasions without arigatou to thank some friends and acquaintances. Other common occasions where you can use doumo as a thank you is when you are in a store and someone opens or holds the door for you; you can thank them by saying dōmo.
The doumo alone is usually used when people do simple favors for you without needing or asking, it's as if you're thanking them and at the same time saying, I'm sorry for the inconvenience.
The same thing happens if you need to leave a conversation quickly. You just bumped into a friend, you exchanged a few words but you are in a hurry, you can say doumo, you are expressing: excuse me? I have to go... (don't think about using this instead of saying goodbye on formal occasions).
When you bump into someone you can use doumo to apologize and thank them. When entering a store and the person says welcome or greets you, you can say doumo. Simplifying, on various occasions doumo can mean thanks, apologies, and greetings.
The most common use is in the phrase doumo arigatou gozaimasu [どうも有難うございます], the most formal way to say thank you.
How is dōmo used in texts and conversations?
Doumo is also an adverb and needs to be used in other situations, phrases and expressions within conversations, let's see some examples of use below:
- この文の意味がどうもよく分からない 。
- Kono bun no imi ga dome yokuwakaranai;
- I don't know why, but I can't understand this sentence very well;
The above sentence shows that he cannot make a definitive statement about something.
- このごろどうも体の調子がよくないんです。
- Kono goro dome The condition of my body is not good;
- I don't know why, but lately I haven't been feeling well;
In this sentence the final predicate is overtly negative. Note that this phrase literally used the body (体) to talk about his health condition.
- どうも理解できない。
- Dōmo I can't understand;
- I simply can't understand this;
- No matter how, I can't understand
- I somehow don't understand;
In this sentence we observe the different translations of the expression in Japanese.
- あの商人はどうもしつこいよね。
- shonin wa year dome You're so persistent;
- This merchant is quite persistent, isn't he?
- I think the shopkeeper is very annoying;
Now the dōmo was used to express a lot and a lot.
The examples above may end up being found written in another way using different terms and expressions instead of doumo. Therefore, it may be uncommon to use or find doumo in sentences, but it is present and justifies its meaning. There are simply various ways to say something in japonês.
With this article, we conclude that doumo [どうも] can be used as greetings, thanks, apologies, adverb, and negative. I hope you liked it and found it useful, we appreciate the comments and shares.