Depending on who you use it with, ありがとう (arigatou) could be extremely rude!
Tu put it simply: ARIGATO alone is the casual way of saying “thank you”, and is improper to use towards strangers. It would be the same as telling your doctor “thanks my dude!”. It is a big NO NO in Japan.
Here are the 2 ways to say THANK YOU to someone you do not know, or are not close with:
ありがとう ございます
arigatou gozaimasu
➡️ Simply the formal version
ありがとう ございました
arigatou gozaimashita
➡️ The difference with the latter is that it implies the speakers will leave / separate each other from the moment it is being said. It also then conveys the meaning of “good bye” in addition to thank you.
#ありがとう #studyjapanese #日本語 #nihongo
