KanjiPadHow to Write Yes in Japanese — はい
はい
“Yes” in Japanese is はい, hai — two hiragana, five strokes, the shortest phrase on this list. It rhymes with English “hi”.
はい does more work than English “yes”. It answers a question, but it also means “I’m listening”, “present” when a name is called, and “here you are” when handing something over. In conversation Japanese speakers scatter はい, ええ and うん through the other person’s sentences as backchannel — silence would read as inattention, not politeness.
It travels with the body. A はい is normally paired with a small nod, and a deeper nod for a more emphatic yes; answering a superior with a flat, still はい can seem grudging.
Unlike こんにちは and さようなら, はい is not a fragment of anything — it is simply an answering word, and it is written in kana only.
Writing はい, character by character
5 strokes in all. Each animation plays once — press ↻ to watch it again.
- は1
Stroke order
Here は is read exactly as written, ha. It is only pronounced wa when it acts as the topic particle, as in こんにちは.
- い2
Stroke order
Two separate strokes, left then right — both are short, and the left one is longer.
Write it yourself
Reading stroke order is not the same as owning it. Draw はい one character at a time and see whether your hand agrees with the animation.
Variants and politeness
Agreement by register, from most to least formal:
- はいhai
- Neutral and always safe. Works with anyone, in any situation.
- ええē
- Softer and a little more conversational than はい; common among adults talking comfortably.
- うんun
- Casual, a hummed yes. Friends and family only — never to a customer or a boss.
- そうですsō desu
- “That’s right” — confirming a fact rather than agreeing to a request.
- かしこまりましたkashikomarimashita
- “Certainly.” Service-industry formal: accepting an instruction from a customer or a superior.
Common mistakes
- Answering a negative question the English wayAsked “you’re not going?”, Japanese はい agrees with the question — “right, I’m not”. English “yes” would flip it. This trips up almost everyone.
- Reading はい as “I agree”Often it only means “I’m following you”. A string of はい through a proposal is not a promise to accept it.
- Using うん at workうん to a manager or a customer is genuinely rude. Keep it for people you would use first names with.
More everyday phrases
Practise はい stroke by stroke — the app grades every stroke as you write it.