Asking or telling someone to go away in Japanese, or in any language for that matter can be quite challenging to do. This is especially true if you want to do it without sounding too abrupt. Sometimes though, you may find yourself needing some alone time. During these times you’ll want to ask (or tell) anyone who is around you to kindly go away.
Or perhaps, there might be someone who is just outright a nuisance. You’ve reached your limit and now it’s time to tell them firmly to “Go Away.”
Whether you want to focus on a task, some relaxation time, some peace and quiet or if someone has overstayed their welcome… Whatever the reason, there are plenty of reasons as to why you might want to say “go away” to someone.
In Japanese, there are plenty of ways you can say “go away.” Which one you’ll need or want will be dependent on you and your situation.
In this ultimate guide, we will look at the most common ways to say “Go away” in Japanese. We will also cover expressions and phrases with similar nuances. Each entry in this guide is supplemented with detailed explanations and examples for your reference.
Any questions at all, drop a comment and I’ll be right there with you!
With that said, let’s jump into the most direct way to say “go away” in Japanese.
Table of Contents
Go Away in Japanese
- Go Away
あっちへ行け
acchi e ike
When you want to tell someone directly to just “go away” in Japanese, you can use あっちへ行け (acchi e ike). By using this phrase you get straight to the point, there’s no extra fluff or cushioning with this one.
You’ll want to use あっちへ行け (acchi e ike) when you would say things like “buzz off” or any other firm phrase you would yell at someone to go away in English. For instance, as a strong example, let’s imagine you’re in the midst of a heated argument and the other person tells you:
- 君は間違えてると思う。
kimi ha machigaeteru to omou.
I think you’re in the wrong.
To which, (assuming you’re at your limit) you could reply:
- お前なんか嫌いだ。あっちへ行け！
omae nanka kirai da. acchi e ike!
I hate your guts. Go away!
By itself, あっちへ行け (acchi e ike) is a complete sentence, so you could use it as it is. As you can probably tell from the above example, it is also a very strong phrase. Hence, you should only use it when you’re super serious, or if you’re in a bad mood.
All of this makes this phrase a very informal one, one you can imagine would be quite rude to yell.
Understanding the Components
The first part, あっち (acchi) is a way of saying “over there” in Japanese. When you say あっち (acchi) in Japanese, you’re specifically referring to a place that’s away from both you, and the person to whom you’re speaking. This is why when we tell someone to go away, we use あっち (acchi) as we’re not telling them exactly where to go. Just away from you.
へ (e) is a Japanese particle that when used, indicates a direction or destination.
行け (ike) is the imperative form of the word “go” in Japanese. I cover the word “go” in detail in this ultimate guide, which explains how to say “let’s go” in Japanese.
The imperative form is a way to add additional firmness to requests in Japanese. It adds so much firmness, it changes the request into a command.
So, when you use あっちへ行け (acchi e ike) you’re essentially commanding someone to go to a place that’s far away from you.
Get Lost
- Get Lost
消えろ
kiero
Speaking of commanding someone to go away, what better way to do it than to tell them to “get lost” in Japanese. Of course, I don’t mean to tell them to literally get lost and lose their way, which would be 迷子になって (maigo ni natte), in case you did want to know.
But rather, when you’re unable to take any more from someone and you’ve reached your breaking point you might want to tell them to simply “get lost.” At times like that, we can use 消える (kiero).
消える (kiero) is even more direct than the above あっちへ行け (acchi e ike). Instead of telling someone to just “go away,” when you use 消える (kiero) you’re telling them to disappear or vanish.
Like あっちへ行け (acchi e ike), this phrase is also imperative. This means that with 消える (kiero), you’re ordering or commanding the person to disappear or to completely vanish from existence (or your sight).
Let’s take a look at an example. You could tell someone:
- お前の顔もう見たくない。消えろ。
omae no kao mou mitakunai. kiero.
I don’t want to see your face anymore. Get lost.
消える (kiero) is probably the strongest way to tell someone to “go away” in Japanese.
You may have also heard characters in movies or anime shout 消える (kiero). It’s mostly used by antagonists.
Get Out! in Japanese
- Get out!
出ていけ
dete ike
Sometimes you might need to be firm with someone and tell them straight up to get out. To do that, you can tell them 出ていけ (dete ike) which is another aggressive expression in Japanese. This means that 出ていけ (dete ike) is also very direct, to the extent of being a command/order rather than a request to go away.
You might recognise that the いけ (ike) part returns to this expression. It is the same いけ (ike) from あっちへ行け (acchi e ike), above. The いけ (ike) means “go” imperatively. This is the part that changes this expression to come across as a command/order.
The first part of the expression 出て (dete) is te-form of the verb 出る, which means “to exit.” One of the uses of the te-form in Japanese is to express “and” in Japanese. So the meaning of 出ていけ (dete ike) is literally “exit and go!”
Kindly Get Out! in Japanese
If you want to ask someone nicely to get out in Japanese, you can use 出て行って (deteitte). The difference between 出て行って (deteitte) and 出ていけ (dete ike) is that the former ends without the same imperativeness of the latter. This makes it a somewhat nicer way to ask someone to get out. For instance, let’s say your friend is in your room and you want to ask them to get out, you can say:
- 今忙しいから出て行って
ima isogashii kara deteitte
I’m busy right now so leave
出て行って (deteitte) by itself is a complete sentence though, so you’d be fine using it as is.
There are many verb conjugations in Japanese, the te-form and imperative form are two of them.
Don’t Get In My Way
- Don’t get in my way
邪魔しないで
jama shinaide
When someone is being a little bit of a nuisance and is a bother, you may want to tell them 邪魔しないで (jama shinaide), meaning “don’t get in my way” in Japanese.
Although not as strong as 消えろ (kiero), or 出ていけ (deteike) above, you’re still directly telling someone that they are in your way.
For instance, imagine you’re focusing on your work, but you have someone who is (purposely) annoying you. You could say:
- 邪魔しないで。今集中している。
jama shinaide. ima shuuchuu shteiru.
Don’t disturb me (Don’t be a bother). I’m concentrating right now.
If this phrase is a little too strong for you, you could attach a “please” to the end.
For formal situations:
- 邪魔しないでください。
jama shinaide kudasai.
Please don’t be a bother.
For casual situations:
- 邪魔しないでお願い。
jama shinaide onegai.
Please don’t be a bother.
The main difference between the two examples above is that they are both tailored for different situations. When speaking with someone you know, you’ll want to use 邪魔しないでお願い (jama shinaide onegai). For others, you’ll want to use ください (kudasai).
You are a Nuisance/Bother in Japanese
To call someone a nuisance or bother simply follow this sentence structure.
- You are a Nuisance/bother
[Person’s name] は邪魔
[Person’s name] ha jama
It might end up with the other person telling you to 消える (kiero), but who knows, maybe this will come in useful one day.
Leave Me Alone in Japanese
- Leave Me Alone
放っておいて
houttooite
You can use 放っておいて (hotteoite) to say “leave me alone” in Japanese. At times when you really need to have some time to yourself for whatever reason, you can use this phrase. Compared to the entries above, this phrase is less rude.
The first part, 放って (hotte) is the te-form of the verb 放る (houru), which means “to leave alone”. This is followed by おいて which is the te-form of (て)おく a Japanese grammar point which means “to do in advance.”
Combing them makes 放っておいて (houtteoite) which can be a good phrase you can use to ask someone to go away without sounding too rude.
Let’s take a look at an example. Perhaps you’re fed up and just want to tell someone to leave you alone straight up- without it being as heavy as the expressions 消えろ (kiero) or あっちへ行け (acchi he ike) above.
Someone says to you:
- 泣いてしまったの？今は泣いてる場合じゃないよ
naitteshimatta no? ima ha naitteru baai janai yo.
Are you crying? This isn’t the time for that now.
To which you can reply:
- うるさい。放っておいて！
urusai. houtte oite !
I don’t care. Leave me alone!
Colloquially speaking, this phrase often gets spoken very fast, especially when the speaker is angry. When it does, the て (te) and お (o) in 放っておいて it’s sometimes merged together. This makes it 放っといて (hottoite). When spoken like this, the meaning changes to “go away.”
- 放っといて！
hottoite!
Go Away!
Let Me Be Alone in Japanese
- Can you let me be alone?
一人にしてくれる？
hitori ni shtekureru?
When you want to ask someone to go away nicely, (at least more nicely compared to the expressions we’ve looked at so far) you’ll want to use 一人にしてくれる (hitori ni shtekureru). This expression is also my personal favourite, all because of くれる (kureru).
Anytime you use くれる (kureru), you’re turning your sentence into a question that expresses “Can you do this…. for me” with emphasis on the “for me” part.
The first part of this expression is 一人, the kanji for “one” and “person” respectively. This is the part that conveys the “alone” in the full expression, as being alone = one person, you.
Imagine you’ve had a terrible day and you’re friends are trying to cheer you up. You appreciate the thought but you just want to be alone. During these kinds of situations when you’re not intending to be rude with your words, you can say 一人にしてくれる (hitori ni shtekureru). Let’s take a look at an example. A friend is trying to cheer you up:
- 今日のことごめんね。後でカラオケに行かない？それとも何か食べに行く？
kyou no koto gomen ne. atode karaoke ni ikanai? soretomo nanika tabeniiku?
I’m sorry about today. Shall we go to karaoke today? Or would you like to get something to eat?
You see your friend is trying to be supportive, but you want some alone time.
- ごめん、今日は一人にしてくれる？
gomen, hitori ni shi ekureru?
I’m sorry, could you let me be alone for today?
If you were to say the complete expression without くれる (kureru), which you can, by the way, you would be saying “let me be alone” without the emphasis on the “can you” part.
- 一人にして
hitori ni shi+te
Let me be alone
Of course, just like in English, this isn’t as friendly as the full expression: 一人にしてくれる (hitori ni shtekureru).
Please Leave Me Alone
- Please leave me alone
一人にしてください
hitori ni shtekudasai
When you want to ask someone nicely, but formally to “go away” in Japanese, you’ll want to use 一人にしてください (hitori ni shtekudasai). You can use this phrase to tell a person that you want to be alone right now, and that they should leave you be.
Like the above entry, this phrase still has 一人にして (hitori ni shi+te) as the core. ください (kudasai) is a formal way of saying please in Japanese. By itself 一人にして (hitori ni shi+te) means “let me be alone” in Japanese, so by attaching ください (kudasai), we can make 一人にしてください (hitori ni shtekudasai), literally meaning Leave me alone, please.
As this is a formal phrase, you can use it when speaking with people who you don’t know too well, (maybe saying this to your manager wouldn’t be the best idea).
In Japanese, we sometimes use 一人にしてください (hitori ni shtekudasai) to make 一人にしてくれる (hitori ni shtekureru) stronger. Imagine you’ve already asked the person to leave you alone nicely a few times and they’re not listening to you.
You could say 一人にしてください ! (hitori ni shtekudasai!) to emphasise that you’re getting irritated with them. In this case, we can translate 一人にしてください (hitori ni shtekudasai) as “just leave me alone please” or “just go away, please” in Japanese. Imagine if someone asks you time and time again to do something, and it’s starting to frustrate you. they ask you:
- ね、何でしない？もう何回も聞いたけど。
ne, nande shinai? mou nankai mo kiita kedo.
hey, why won’t you do it? I’ve asked you so many times already.
Your reply could be:
- 一人にしてください!
hitori ni shtekudasai!
Just let me be alone, please!
No More/That’s Enough
As this expression has many meanings, this section has three parts.
- No More/That’s Enough/Forget it
もういい
mou ii
もういい Meaning 1 – That’s Enough/I’m done
The meaning of もういい (mou ii) can change depending on the context. Firstly, you can use もういい (mou ii) to say “I’m done,” or “That’s enough” in Japanese. Imagine you go out to play mini-golf with friends. You complete the course twice and your friends are hyped to go again. So, they ask you:
- もう一回する？
mou ikkai suru?
Let’s go again?
You’re tired now and have had enough for one day. So you reply with:
- もういい。
mou ii.
That’s enough/ I’m done
もういい Meaning 2 – Forget it
Secondly, you can use it to say No more/that’s enough, in the context of “go away.” When you say もういい (mou ii) in this context, you’re showing an abandoned attitude towards something.
It’s similar to the English expression “forget it,” or “that’s enough.” Let’s take a look at an example. Suppose you’ve asked your roommate if they could clean the mess they made in the kitchen. A couple of hours later you ask:
- キッチンをきれいにしたの？？
kicchin wo kirei nishi tano?
Have you tidied up the kitchen?
They reply:
- まだ。暇の時する。
mada. hima no toki suru.
Not yet, I’ll do it when I have time.
At this point, you could respond with:
- もういい。
mou ii
Forget it.
もういい Meaning 3 – Okay
Lastly, you can use it to describe a state that reaches a satisfactory or suitable level. For example, say you’re waiting to enter a room to speak with someone, you ask:
- もう入ってもいいですか？
mou haiitemoii desu ka?
Is it okay to come in now?
Their reply could be:
- もういいよ！ 入って !
mou ii yo! haitte!
It’s okay now! Come in!
Depending on the context, the meaning of もういい (mou ii) can change drastically. Just because this expression can be used to mean “forget it” doesn’t mean that it has negative connotations attached to it when used in other contexts.
Stop it! in Japanese
- Stop it
やめて
Yamete
Sometimes when we tell someone “go away” we’re actually asking them to “stop it” rather than to step away physically. When you want to say to someone “stop it” in Japanese you can use やめて (yamete). I’ve composed a full guide on how to say stop it in Japanese here.
Shut Up! in Japanese
- Shut up!
うるさい
urusai
When you say うるさい (urusai) to someone in Japanese, you’re telling them to “shut up.” Although it has many meanings: annoying, noisy, fussy, in Japanese you can use it to tell someone to keep quiet. It’s commonly used in Japanese media for comedic effect, so you might hear movie/anime characters using it.
- 結構お菓子を食べるね！もっと太るよ。
kekkou okashi wo taberu ne! motto futoru yo
You eat quite a lot of sweets. You’ll get even more fat, you know.
The reply:
- うるさい。
urusai.
Shut it.
うるさい (urusai) is a flexible word that’s not just used to tell someone to stop being noisy though. When you use it, you express your irritation towards what’s happening. You can also call someone うるさい (urusai) for instance. When you do this, you’re telling them that they are annoying/loud and that it is irritating you. This is because うるさい (urusai) is actually an adjective.
- あなたはうるさいね
anata ha urusai ne
You’re really loud (annoying)
You can also use うるさい (urusai) to express your irritation towards something that is not a sound, an overly insistent person for example.
Despite being often used to say “shut up” in Japanese, in terms of offensiveness, うるさい (urusai) is on the weaker end. That is because of the Imperative form that exists in Japanese. If you really want to tell someone to be quiet, in the same way as you would shout “SILENCE” in English, refer to the next entry.
Be Quiet!
- Be Quiet!
黙れ
damare
Sometimes you might want to tell someone to “go away” because they are really loud. Or, you could just yell at them to be quiet, which is what 黙れ (damare) is in Japanese. 黙れ is the imperative form of the verb 黙る (damaru) which means “to be silent” in Japanese
. As we’ve discussed, the imperative form in Japanese is used to really put emphasis on a request and pretty much turn it into a command or an order.
With this in mind, 黙れ is a very aggressive expression that you can use when you want to tell someone straight-up: “SILENCE.” A good example of when you might hear this expression being used would be in a movie or anime. Imagine the antagonist is trying to taunt the protagonist:
- お前はまさか、もう限界なのか？
omae ha masaka, mou genkai na no ka?
There’s no way that’s all you can do, is it?
To which, the triggered protagonist would angrily shout:
- 黙れ！
damare!
Silence!
Related: How to say No way in Japanese [Ultimate Guide]
Please Be Quiet in Japanese
- Please Be Quiet!
静かにしてください
shizuka ni shtekudasa - i
When you want to ask someone to be quiet nicely, you’ll want to use 静かにしてください (shizuka ni shtekudasai). 静か (shizuka) the first part of the phrase means “quiet” in Japanese.
The remainder of the phrase にして (ni shi+te) means “to do” and ください (kudasai) is a polite way of saying “please” in Japanese. This means that we can translate the phrase as literally: “Please do it quietly.”
静かにしてください (shizuka ni shtekudasai) is something you might see at libraries in Japan to remind everyone to keep quiet in the facility.
You can use this phrase to kindly ask someone to be quiet though. This is a formal phrase, so you wouldn’t really use it with friends or anyone you’re close with. Instead, you can use:
- 静かにしてくれる?
shizuka ni shtekureru?
Could you be quiet for me?
As you may remember, the addition of くれる (kureru) conveys the meaning of “for me” in Japanese. There’s nothing quite like it in English, but くれる (kureru) has a kinder connotation with it. You can use 静かにしてくれる (shizuka ni shtekureru) only with friends or people you are close with to ask them to kindly be quiet in Japanese.
Don’t Go! in Japanese
- Don’t go!
行かないで
ikanai de
To finish up today’s article I thought it would be a good idea to mention how to say the opposite of “go away,” in case you should need it. To do that you can say 行かないで (ikanaide), an expression to say “don’t go” in Japanese. Perhaps you’ve accidentally told someone to “go away” but actually you’ve changed your mind. Or maybe someone is about to leave, and you wish to express your true feelings that you want them to stay. For all of these situations, you can use 行かないで (ikanaide).
Let’s take a look at an example. Someone special says to you:
- ごめん、今行かないと、また後でね！
gomen, ima ikanaito, mata atodene!
I’m sorry, I have to go now. I’ll catch you later!
You can reply:
- 待って！行かないで！
matte! ikanaide!
Wait! Don’t go!
By itself, 行かないで (ikanaide) is already a complete phrase, so the addition of 待って (matte), a casual way of saying “wait” in Japanese, is optional here.
With that said, that concludes today’s article. I hope you found it useful and enjoyable.
But wait! 行かないで！
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