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Most of the time, I use to say "お疲れ様です" while someone else leaving the office.
But many of my colleagues say "お疲れ様でした". Does it have any difference?

Also, I want to know, can we use "お疲れ様です" while working in the office to any
super senior person like CEO of the company and etc..
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2018-07-14T05:28:28.367
60108
2018-07-14T17:33:18.980
30591
question
grammar classical-japanese clause-pattern
Difference お疲れ様です vs お疲れ様でした while leaving from office?
I have heard several levels of formality of this phrase, said to me when I'm
leaving my schools, and said to other people who leave before me, as well:

> お疲れ
>
> お疲れさん
>
> お疲れ様
>
> お疲れ様です
>
> お疲れ様でした

Be careful with the first two forms in the list, as they are more informal,
and should only be used with colleagues you feel close to, or people below you
in the pecking order where you work.

Aside from the levels of politeness, there is little difference between these.
The difference between です form and でした is basically just verb tense
differentiation:

お疲れ様 **です** = thanks for **working** hard (today)  
お疲れ様 **でした** = thanks for all the hard work **you did** (today)

and yes, you can say お疲れ様 to your superiors as they leave for the day.

One difference between the two is that お疲れ様 **でした** is said to people who are
leaving, by people who are still working, and it conveys a slight sense of
envy because the speaker still has work to do.

> *edit: I don't understand the downvotes, if it's my "ing" vs "ed"
> interpretation, is there a better way to parse the difference?
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2018-07-14T11:41:17.370
60113
2018-07-14T12:50:37.390
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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answer
The difference is small, but お疲れさまです is a generic greeting used in business
settings, whereas お疲れさまでした explicitly states someone's work is over for today.
In everyday exchanges, whichever is fine, but お疲れ様です may sound relatively a
little bit more friendly/casual, and お疲れさまでした may sound a little bit more
polite/formal. If you want to clearly express a feeling of appreciation after
someone finished a difficult job (i.e., "thank you, well done"), お疲れ様でした is
always better.

You can usually safely use お疲れ様です to someone who is much higher than you
(although there may be a better phrase, like よろしくお願いします/ありがとうございました if it's a
visit for 視察).
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-14T17:04:59.910
60117
2018-07-14T17:33:18.980
2018-07-14T17:33:18.980
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answer