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May I help you?

Japanese translation: どのようなお車をお探しでしょうか?


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04:29 Nov 5, 2008
English to Japanese translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: May I help you?
Does anybody know what is the exact Japanese phrase sales people use when a customer enters a shop and looks a bit lost? The corresponding English phrase would be "May I help you?". What is the Japanese equivalent? Thanks!
Wei Peng Loy
Local time: 03:19
Japanese translation:どのようなお車をお探しでしょうか?
Explanation:
Will be most appropriate for your context.
Selected response from:

patent_pending
Local time: 04:19
Grading comment
Thanks. As you've mentioned that there's no specific equivalent to "may I help you" in Japanese, this would be the best answer for me.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +4いらっしゃいませmiyazaki
4 +4なにかお探しですか？Kazuhiko
4 +2どのようなお車をお探しでしょうか?patent_pending
Summary of reference entries provided
It's another case of "it depends on the situation..."
Yumico Tanaka

  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
may i help you?
なにかお探しですか？


Explanation:
The phrase literally means "Is there anything particualr that you are looking for?" Since there is no equivalent of "May I help you?" in Japanese, I think "なにかお探しですか" is the phrase you will most likely hear under such commercial circumstances. However, when a customer enters a store or restaurant, you may also hear the sales clerk or waiter say "いらっしゃいませ" to greet you.

Kazuhiko
Local time: 04:19
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  hikated: To the asker's added note, "Can he say お手伝いできることがありますか。", I disagree. A Japanese native wouldn't say this kind of textbook Japanese. In a car showroom, we might say どのような車をお探しでしょうか. 「ご案内いたします」could be a usful sentence with little more phrases if you like.
14 mins
agree  yonyon
1 hr
agree  alajaponaise
3 hrs
agree  NaokoNYC
18 hrs
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5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +4
may i help you?
いらっしゃいませ


Explanation:
間違いないと思います。

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Note added at 6 mins (2008-11-05 04:36:00 GMT)
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I am sure this is the one. While it is not a question form, that is what people say when you enter a store.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 mins (2008-11-05 04:38:33 GMT)
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It can be "何かお探しですか？(Are you looking for something particular?)", if you look a bit lost. But people can still say the phrase I mentioned lightly, just to allow themselves to start conversation with customers.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 49 mins (2008-11-05 05:19:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Then, it should be "何かお探しですか？” will be fine. Or, "何をお探しですか？” "お手伝いできることがありますか？" sounds more like somebody is actually trying to help with chore or certain work.

miyazaki
Canada
Local time: 15:19
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
Notes to answerer
Asker: The answer I'm looking for is not いらっしゃいませ. Isn't there any other phrases to use besides this? For example, if the customer has entered a car showroom and the sales person has greeted him by いらっしゃいませ. Then the customer is looking around at the cars. What can the sales person say next? Can he say お手伝いできることがありますか。


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Can Altinbay: そうですね。
6 mins
  -> ありがとうございます。
agree  scallions: I was writing an answer; "In general, it is「いらっしゃいませ」as a greeting. When a customer looks lost,「何かお探しですか」could follow." So I agree 100%
13 mins
  -> Thank you, I realized about the part "looks lost" a bit later, so I added the comment...
agree  jackamano: まず、間違いありませんね
28 mins
  -> ありがとうございます。
agree  yumom
1 hr
agree  lieder: もちろん入店時の決まり文句ですね。スーパーとかで何度も言われるのはちょっと迷惑にさえ感じてしまうのですが、、、。// Just supporting this anwer, it could happen in an actual situation, I guess. On the other hand, I'd hit a second answer as others are furthering. ‐
2 hrs
disagree  humbird: Too broad and does not fit in this context.
1 day9 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
may i help you?
どのようなお車をお探しでしょうか?


Explanation:
Will be most appropriate for your context.

patent_pending
Local time: 04:19
Native speaker of: Native in TetumTetum
Grading comment
Thanks. As you've mentioned that there's no specific equivalent to "may I help you" in Japanese, this would be the best answer for me.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  humbird: Very appropriate to this context. The saleman needs to know what kind of car the visitor wants.
1 day7 hrs
agree  lieder: If the asker searches for one specific phrase s/he'd use in the above situation, this would mostly fit. -
3 days21 hrs
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Reference comments


1 hr peer agreement (net): +3
Reference: It's another case of "it depends on the situation..."

Reference information:
Heed Hikated's answer if it's a car showroom.
If it was in a food exhibition, どのような車would be replaced with どこの国の料理. No matter where it is, the customer who heard いらっしゃいませwill instantly know that the sayer is the staff to 1) welcome and 2) help you. (why else will they greet you? )
The staff don't literally say "May I help you" in Japan. They tend to be more specific and time effective.

Yumico Tanaka
Australia
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 3

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  hikated: Yes, basically to Japanese natives, いらっしゃいませ still means "May I help you?", too. Yet the asker seems like not in the mood of using いらっしゃいませ, so I understood that little more active phrase is wanted here.
19 mins
agree  humbird
1 day7 hrs
agree  miyazaki: I think, at the end, everyone is going to the same direction ("いらっしゃいませ", "何かお探しですか？(or with more words to fit specific situation such as cars)"), so I hope this discussion helps the asker understand Japanese-language-specific situation...
1 day7 hrs
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PRO / non-PRO		Non-PRO (1): xxxsnowiee


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Changes made by editors
Nov 5, 2008 - Changes made by KathyT:
LevelPRO => Non-PRO


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