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I've been trying to figure out what the correct translation is of the phrase "I'm just browsing", in a context such as when one is looking at goods in a store (e.g. if you're walking around the shop and employee asks if you need help).

This should be straightforward, but my dictionary gives many possible translations for "browsing" (e.g. 素見{すけん}、冷{ひ}やかし、閲覧{えつらん}, etc.) and I'm not sure which would be appropriate here. What's the most appropriate translation of this phrase in the given context?

Earthliŋ
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Malper
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    related: http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/5056/how-to-shoo-away-a-sales-clerk – Robin Aug 11 '16 at 14:21
  • For this question, it says [1k views] -- this must be a bug ? or lots of F5 ? ___________ Now it says [2k views] ! ! w w w w w w w – HizHa Aug 12 '16 at 01:36

2 Answers2

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The most common phrase would be:

見てるだけです。(Literally: "I'm just looking.")

I think you could also reply like this:

店員：何かお探しですか？(Are you looking for anything in particular?) 　　
客：いえ、だいじょうぶです。(No, I'm okay.)

Chocolate
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  • Only if you are talking to a brilliant but obnoxious doctor with a cane and a Vicodin addiction. – Kevin Aug 11 '16 at 18:37
  • @Kevin I get the reference, but I'm not sure how it applies. – Ouroborus Aug 11 '16 at 22:05
  • @Ouroborus "いいえ, だいじょうぶです" is "No, I'm okay". He wrote いえ, だいじょうぶです which means "House, I'm okay" – Kevin Aug 11 '16 at 23:29
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    @Kevin As you can see in [this dictionary](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/9811/meaning/m0u/%E3%81%84%E3%81%88/) and [this dictionary](http://www.romajidesu.com/dictionary/meaning-of-%E3%81%84%E3%81%88.html), you can say いえ, いや, as well as いいえ to mean "No". (Here I chose いえ because it sounds a bit softer than いいえ to me) – Chocolate Aug 12 '16 at 00:07
  • people knows the context. They won't determined it as "house". Also, it is spoken word, grammar mistake can be tolerated. And which foreigner can actually distinguish long vowels? I know I can't. – kurakura88 Aug 12 '16 at 01:25
  • Those いえs have different intonation from each other, however いえ for "no" has variations and can overlap the other one. – user4092 Aug 12 '16 at 06:12
  • I would still argue that you should write it correctly, especially on a site where people come to learn Japanese – Kevin Aug 12 '16 at 19:45
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    @Kevin いえ is not incorrect. It's in dictionaries. It's widely used both in fiction and in real life. Japanese learners learn it in [JLPT N3 grammar](http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/skills/vocab/sentences/?vocabid=85682). You wouldn't be able to communicate with Japanese people properly if you interpreted sentences with 「いえ、～～」 as "House, blah blah..." If you're interested to know the difference in usage and nuance between いえ and いいえ, you can post a new question. – Chocolate Aug 13 '16 at 00:34
  • @chocolate My instructors in language school considered it incorrect. Also, the very page you linked to consistently writes いいえ as in : "いいえ、ちょっと見ているだけです。 No, thank you. I'm just looking." – Kevin Aug 13 '16 at 02:41
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    @Kevin But you can see 「いえ、結構です」, which is close in meaning to 「いえ、大丈夫です」, there, right? Are your instructors native speakers of Japanese? 「いえ、大丈夫です」 is a common phrase that we Japanese use in daily life. No native speaker would consider 「いえ、～～」 as incorrect. You can see sentences 「いえ、大丈夫です」 and 「いえ、音がおかしいんです。」 in [this real JLPT N2 exam](http://members.iinet.net.au/~richardlam/JLPT%20Level%201-4%201991-2005%20Exam%20Papers/1992-2.htm). – Chocolate Aug 13 '16 at 03:44
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    @Kevin Just adding another voice to say いえ used like this is perfectly fine, very common and not incorrect... – Robin Aug 13 '16 at 09:34
  • @chocolate yes, all four of my instructors were native Japanese – Kevin Aug 13 '16 at 16:28
  • @Kevin I also took 1 year of Japanese in Kyoto. All of my teachers were natives and they always taught natural and casual expressions such as いえ, omitting the topic particle, or slang like わからん (they even taught Kansai-ben). Some of these casual expressions even show up in the JLPT, so you're required to understand them. – rjh Aug 17 '16 at 14:15
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In this case, I would and have used:

ただ見ているだけです

"Just looking/browsing."

mousouchop
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