Japanese Basic Phrases

Basic Japanese

Around 130 million people speak Japanese, the ninth most widely spoken language in the world. Outside Japan itself, there are approximately 5 million people who speak Japanese with some degree of fluency - predominantly descendants of Japanese emigrants in Hawaii, Brazil and other parts of the Americas.

Japanese has 3 alphabets
kanji - Chinese ideograms imported from the sixth century onwards.
hiragana and katakana - both 45 character alphabets. katakana is used mainly for foreign loanwords.

Japanese has an extensive grammatical system to express politeness and formality. There are three main levels of politeness in spoken Japanese:
the plain form (kudaketa)
the simple polite form (teinei)
the advanced polite form (keigo)

Useful Phrases

If you don't want to completely learn to speak Japanese, here are useful Japanese phrases for the business traveller or visitor, including basic Japanese words and phrases for travel, emergencies, sports events, dining out and meeting people.

The Basics

eigo
hai
iie
doko?
ikura?
kippu
(domo) arigato
toire
tabemono
nomimono
o-mizu
sumimasen
gomen nasaiEnglish language

Yes
No
Where?
How much?
Ticket
Thank you (very much)

Toilet

food

drink

water

Excuse me/Sorry

I'm sorry

Meeting People

konnichiwa
sayonara
ja ne
watashi wa ........... desu
anatano namae wa nan desu ka?
yoroshiku onegaishimasu
genki desu ka
genki desu
igirisu jin desu
furansu jin desu
amerika jin desu
eigo wa wakarimasu ka?
shashin o totte ii desu ka?
nihon ga daisuki
aishite-iru
takusan
sukoshi
Hello

Goodbye

Bye

My name is .................

What is your name?

Pleased to meet you

How are you?

Fine

I'm English

I'm French

I'm American

Do you understand English?

Can I take your photograph?

Japan's great!

I love you
Lots
A little

General

sumimasen, chikatetsu wa doko desu ka

eki wa doko desu ka
aiteiru heya wa arimasu ka
kore wa ikura desu ka
nama biiru futatsu kudasai
nama biiru
oishii
eigo no menyu wa arimasu ka
ohkii
chiisai
ne?
Excuse me, where is the

subway/underground?

Where is the train station?

Do you have any vacancies?

How much is this?

Two draught beers, please

draught beer

Delicious

Is there an English menu?

Big

Small

Isn't it?

Taxi Talk

kuukou kudasai
Miyako Hoteru kudasai
ryoshusho kudasai

Take me to the airport please

To the Miyako Hotel, please

Please give me a receipt

Emergencies

Click here for embassies in Japan

keisatsu wo yonde kudasai!
kyuukyuusha wo yonde kudasai!
taishikan ni renraku shitai desu
bengoshi to sodan shitai desuCall the police!
Call an ambulance!
I want to contact the embassy
I want to consult a lawyer

Stadium Stuff

sumimasen, sutajiamu wa doko desu ka
Excuse me, where's the stadium?

iriguchi
deguchi
sakkaa
waarudokappu
go-ru
shu-to
pee-kay (PK)
ko-na-kikku
suro inu
taijou
ganbare, nippon!
shinpan
go-ru ki-paa
bakayaro!
Kekkyoku, Buraian-san,
zenhan to kohan ga arimasu
Entrance

Exit

football/soccer

World Cup

Goal

Shot

Penalty

Corner kick

Throw-in
Sent off
Come on, Japan!
Referee
Goalkeeper

F%ck off! (lit: f%cking idiot!)
At the end of the day, Brian, it's a game of two halves...

Numbers

Read more here about Japanese numbering
 

ichi
1

ni
2

san
3

shi
4

go
5

roku
6

nana
7

hachi
8

kyu
9

ju
10

ni-ju
20

go-ju
50

hyaku
100

ni-hyaku
200

go-hyaku
500

sen
1,000

ni-sen
2,000

go-sen
5,000

ichi-man
10,000

ni-man
20,000

go-man

50,000

Currency

en
Japanese Yen

roku-man ni-sen go-hyaku nana-ju yon en
62,574 yen

Books on Japan