Question
My department is organizing a company dinner. It’s the first time we are having a company dinner since the pandemic and I’m actually quite excited about it. I’ve never been to a Japanese company dinner before and I’m looking forward to it.
When my colleague asked me whether I’m going, I wanted to tell him in Japanese “Of course, I’m going”. But I realized I don’t know how to say “Of course” in Japanese. How do I say “Of course!” in Japanese?
Answer by Professional Japanese Teacher
もちろん
Mochiron
Of course!
もちろん Mochiron literally means “without argument” to what the other person has said and that translates to “of course” in English. You can say “もちろん mochiron” or “もちろんです mochiron desu”. Adding desu after mochiron makes the sentence more polite. You can also reply “もちろん行（い）きます Mochiron ikimasu”, which means “of course I’m going”.
Let’s look at a sample dialogue.
Suzuki : 明日（あした）の会社（かいしゃ）の飲み会（のみかい）、行（い）きますか。
Ashita no kaisha no nomikai, ikimasuka.
(Are you going to tomorrow’s company dinner?)
Tan : ええ、もちろん行（い）きます！楽（たの）しみです。鈴木（すずき）さんは？
Ee, mochiron ikimasu! Tanoshimi desu. Suzuki-san wa?
(Yes, of course I’m going. Looking forward to it. How about you, Suzuki?)
Suzuki: ええ、もちろん。やっとみんなで飲み会ができて、うれしいです。
Ee, mochiron. Yatto minnade nomikai ga dekite, ureshii desu.
(Yes, of course. I’m happy we can finally have a company dinner together).
It is great to be able to gather with colleagues and friends again after so long. Enjoy your session!
