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お釣り (おつり) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
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千せん
円えん
札さつ
で
払はら
っ
たら
、
お
釣つ
り
が
五ご
百ひゃく
円えん
だっ
た
。
When I paid with a 1,000-yen bill, the change was 500 yen.
Please check your change.
Usage patterns 〈 人ひと 〉 にお 釣つ りを 渡わた す to hand someone their change
The clerk handed the customer their change.
お 釣つ りを 受う け 取と る to receive one's change
I forgot to take my change at the register.
お 釣つ りが 足た りない the change given is short/insufficient
The change from the register was 100 yen short.
お 釣つ りを 間ま 違ちが える to give the wrong amount of change
The clerk made a mistake and gave too much change.
Expressions お 釣つ りがくる get change back; receive change · be more than enough; have plenty to spare Politeness 釣り is the plain, casual word for 'change'; お釣り adds the polite prefix お- and is the form typically used in shops and polite speech.
お釣り is the everyday, slightly polite word for change given back after a purchase, while 釣り銭 is the more formal or business-register term for the same thing.
Don't confuse with 釣り written and pronounced the same way can also mean 'fishing', a completely unrelated meaning from お釣り's 'change (money)'.
小銭 is a general term for coins or loose change, while おつり specifically means the change handed back after a purchase.
Written forms お 釣つ り
Standard polite form for 'change'; the most common written form.
お 釣つり
Abbreviated kanji spelling, less common but still encountered.
Etymology Polite form of 釣り (つり, 'change'), from the verb 釣る (つる, 'to fish'), metaphorically referring to the 'balance' or 'change' that is 'fished out' from a transaction.
お釣り specifically means the change handed back after a purchase, while 細かいお金 just means coins or small bills in general, not necessarily change from a transaction.