Japanese Basic Phrases
Japanese language basics: see key phrases for meeting people, emergencies, taxi language, greetings and polite usage.
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
