Common Japanese Words
Feb 27
Words are the building blocks of language. In order to have any type of conversation in Japanese, you will need to know a certain amount of Japanese words. The more Japanese words you know, the more you will be able to communicate. However, it’s not just the number of Japanese words that’s important, but also which ones.
When most people think of learning the Japanese language, they think of the years of hard work they will need to put in. The majority of people consider this hard work and the amount of time it will take to reach fluency, and decide it’s impossible. Having studied Japanese and language learning for over 9 years, I have heard quite a few people say they could never do it. However, learning a new language, even one like Japanese, isn’t as difficult and doesn’t take as long as most people think. In fact, with diligent study and the right materials, I believe someone can have a level of fluency within a matter of months.
The Japanese language has hundreds of thousands of words, but it is only a small fraction of those words that makes up the majority of both the spoken and written language. Since the written words and spoken words will be slightly different, and because most of your communication in Japanese will be spoken, the quickest way to gain fluency is to learn the most commonly spoken Japanese words and phrases.
The key is too choose the right materials. I have used literally dozens of Japanese books and most of them have one common problem, they are full of Japanese words and situational phrases that you don’t need to know. Most also focus too much on learning to say things a proper way. This is great for someone who wants to learn proper Japanese, but will slow down someone who wants to gain conversational fluency. Also, don’t be afraid to use use materials such as comic books, tv shows, and movies. The latter two not only allow you to learn commonly used Japanese words, but practice your listening as well.
Below I have created a short list of some of the most common and most helpful Japanese words. These are words that should definitely be in a Japanese learners vocabulary and will especially be helpful for someone planning to visit Japan. Note that this list is by no means comprehensive or complete, but should help you get around when you visit Japan. In addition to the words listed here, I highly recommend that you study as many common Japanese phrases as possible. Learning common Japanese phrases will help you to better communicate and also to put words in context.
You can also find a much larger list containing 1000+ Japanese words in a downloadable pdf format at the below link.
Common Japanese Words
| English | Japanese | Japanese |
| Me, I | watashi | わたし |
| Me, I (for males | boku | ぼく |
| Yes | hai | はい |
| No | iie | いいえ |
| What | nani | なに |
| Name | namae | なまえ |
| Nice to meet you | Hajimemashite | はじめまして |
| want to go to~ | ~ni ikitai | 〜に いきたい |
| want to eat~ | ~wo tabetai | 〜を たべたい |
| want to drink~ | ~wo nomitai | 〜を のみたい |
| water | omizu | おみず |
| can’t eat~ | ~wo taberarenai | 〜を たべられない |
| excuse me/sorry | sumimasen | すみません |
| thank you | arigatou gozaimasu | ありがとうございます |
| want to buy~ | ~wo kaitai | 〜を かいたい |
| want to see~ | ~wo mitai | 〜を みたい |
| sorry | gomen nasai | ごめん なさい |
| good morning | ohayougozaimasu | おはようございます |
| good afternoon | konnichi wa | こんにちは |
| good evening | konnban wa | こんばんは |
| how are you? | ogenki desu ka | おげんき です か |
| I’m fine | genki desu | げんき です |
| taxi | takushii | タクシー |
| hotel | hoteru | ホテル |
| train | densha | でんしゃ |
| station | eki | えき |
| hospital | byouin | びょういん |
| where is~ | ~wa doko | 〜は どこ |
| bathroom | otearai | おてあらい |
| ticket | kippu | きっぷ |
| money | okane | おかね |
| bank | ginkou | ぎんこう |
| police | keisatsu | けいさつ |
| How much? | ikura | いくら |
| plane | hikouki | ひこうき |
| foreigner | gaijin | がいじん |
| Japan | nihon | にほん |
| Japanese | nihonjin |
にほんじん |
| person | hito | ひと |
| hurts | itai | いたい |
25 Other Helpful Japanese Words
| noon | ohiru | おひる |
| morning | asa | あさ |
| evening | yoru | よる |
| meal | gohan | ごはん |
| play | asobu | あそぶ |
| listen | kiku | きく |
| expensive | takai | たかい |
| half | hanbun | はんぶん |
| cheap | yasui | やすい |
| room | heya | へや |
| art museum | bijutsukan | びじゅつかん |
| park | koen | こうえん |
| zoo | doubutsuen | どうぶつえん |
| express train | kaisoku | かいそく |
| subway | chikatetsu | ちかてつ |
| car | kuruma | くるま |
| close | chikai | ちかい |
| far | toi | とおい |
| tasty | oishii | おいしい |
| spacious | hiroi | ひろい |
| narrow | semai | せまい |
| warm | atatakai | あたたかい |
| cold | samui | さむい |
| bright | akarui | あかるい |
| dark | kurai | くらい |
Numbers and Time
| One | ichi | いち |
| Two | ni | に |
| Three | san | さん |
| Four | shi | し |
| Five | go | ご |
| Six | roku | ろく |
| Seven | shichi | しち |
| Eight | hachi | はち |
| Nine | ku | く |
| Ten | juu | じゅう |
| One hundred | hyaku | 百 |
| One thousand | sen | せん |
| Ten thousand | man | まん |
| Time | jikan | じかん |
| ~O’clock | ji | じ |
| Fall | aki | あき |
| Winter | fuyu | ふゆ |
| Spring | haru | はる |
| Summer | natsu | なつ |
| Monday | getsuyoubi | げつようび |
| Tuesday | kayoubi | かようび |
| Wednesday | suiyoubi | すいようび |
| Thursday | mokuyoubi | もくようび |
| Friday | kinyoubi | きんようび |
| Saturday | doyoubi | どようび |
| Sunday | nichiyoubi | にちようび |
| weekend | shuumatsu | しゅうまつ |
| vacation, rest | yasumi | やすみ |
Mjulx,
Thanks for your comment. I am glad this was helpful for you. There are a lot of ways to get to Japan (study, work, travel, etc). If you want it bad enough you will be able to find a way.
i want to speak japanese really bad know any books??
Michael,
Genki is still a pretty good book. Though I generally recommend something a little more interactive. You might check out some of the ads in the side. Also check out http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar
Thank you. This is pretty helpful when finding words in japanese and having the words in Japanese characters is nice too. Arigatou gozaimasu~! -right?-
Douitashimashite! I am glad the site has been useful for you.
Thanks to all the makers of this.It will really help me,cause my family will go to japan to have our vacation.so,thanks
BJ. I am glad that you found it useful. Have a great time in Japan, and please visit again to tell us all about your experience. Maybe you would be interested in writing a guest post about your experiences?
how do you say greetings from
i love this!! can you pleae add some jap. word? arigatou !!
if you want a fun as in interesting way of learning japanese and are an anime/manga fan, i highly reckomend “Kanji De Manga”, yeah it has cartoons to depict what your learning.
personally i like what this site has to offer, it’s like a refresher, would have been the same stuff i looked up before i hit the books. also watching anime in japanese with subtitles is a easy way to pick up on alot of common words/ pronounciation/ customs.
jaane.
please teach me more about Japanesse words arigatou gozaimasu
it will help me a lot..:)
Hi:
This is a great site. I love the word list. For me, a beginner, it will be so very useful. Thank you for having it. What is the difference between Kana and kanji? I am excited to begin to learn words and write the alphabet. Rosemary
Hi Rosemary,
I am very glad you are finding the site helpful. Kana is made up of two “alphabets” hiragana and katakana. These are basically simplified characters used for phonetics. Kanji are the more complex characters that were imported from the Chinese writing system.
arigatou gozaimasu
for the japanese terms you have given here
it helps me a lot because we have the subject
nihongo..
i really appreciate it…
i want to learn japanese so that i could understand everything in the dbz and naruto anime series manga and anime sound better with japanese
this is being a good realisation site for who r going to japan for a while visit. Thanku for making this site
cool ne ^^
i wanna know how to say thanks for the food :]
pls helpp
veryy niice!!
but everyting except for the word stop
what is “speak” in Japanese?
pleaseteach me more how to speak nihongo!!!!! please!!!!!!!
speak can be either “hanasu”- to talk or “shaberu” -to speak.
if you have eaten the food then you can say. “gochisou sama deshita.
i have met japanese gentlemen who used to bow their head, waist down saying something like ass..ho, what does that mean? and what is the response to that?
ahso would be a better way to pronounce the sound
i really love japanese ♥♥♥
INTERESTING! <3
It is a little difficult to know exactly what he may have been trying to say, but if he was a little surprised by something you said it would have been similar to “oh really”.
listen one word in Naruto series Nantevao what that mean..??? please help me with this
@ Michael the American.
You already speak Japanese bad. What you want is to speak it WELL. Protip: Start on your English first
i wnt friend in japanese girl
do you mean Dattebayo? it means “believe it” or more accurately “I heard (from someone/somewhere)”
asa!!
Gail watashi gainji not nihonji but a filipino .
chikai kuruma nihon..
samui here..
konnichiwa
hello i’m ariane mae . i allways wanted to live in japan im 16 in philippines..:) arigato:)
i live in philippines.. but my mind is allways thinking japan! i love japanese drama .. i really admired japanese boys.. hehehe..i really lve japanese..:) pllease teach me more about japanese aRigatou gozaimasu:)))
Ariane, I am glad you like Japan and this site. Please be sure to read all of the posts as they will probably help you.
konnichiwa……its help me a lot in doing my homework….we have a nippongo class and its little bit hard to understant that all….well….domo!
can you help me how to learn Japanese language?
-arigatou guzaimasu
really really love this..
This is a great website!! Finnally something that gives you it straight without going round the block 11/10
konnichiwa…i feel good when i learned japanese words.
im mayumi matsudaira
im very happy to comments this,,,,
Words are the building blocks of language. In order to have any type of conversation in Japanese, you will need to know a certain amount of Japanese words. The more Japanese words you know, the more you will be able to communicate. However, it’s not just the number of Japanese words that’s important, but also which ones.
im mayumi matsudaira
Me, I watashi わたし
Me, I (for males boku ぼく
Yes hai はい
No iie いいえ
What nani なに
Name namae なまえ
Nice to meet you Hajimemashite はじめまして
want to go to~ ~ni ikitai 〜に いきたい
want to eat~ ~wo tabetai 〜を たべたい
want to drink~ ~wo nomitai 〜を のみたい
water omizu おみず
can’t eat~ ~wo taberarenai 〜を たべられない
excuse me/sorry sumimasen すみません
thank you arigatou gozaimasu ありがとうございます
want to buy~ ~wo kaitai 〜を かいたい
want to see~ ~wo mitai 〜を みたい
sorry gomen nasai ごめん なさい
good morning ohayougozaimasu おはようございます
good afternoon konnichi wa こんにちは
good evening konnban wa こんばんは
how are you? ogenki desu ka おげんき です か
I’m fine genki desu げんき です
taxi takushii タクシー
hotel hoteru ホテル
train densha でんしゃ
station eki えき
hospital byouin びょういん
where is~ ~wa doko 〜は どこ
bathroom otearai おてあらい
ticket kippu きっぷ
money okane おかね
All of you non-asian idiots out there shouldn’t be bothering to learn japanese. You all have no bloody right and Asian cultures should keep to themselves.
ohayougozaimasu…..watashi no namae wa Lychin desu…
I love saying this words…hope I can learn more about japanese language and cultutres…
I’m a filipinA but I do love speaking in nihonggo….more power to your site hope I can learn more…arigatou gozaimasu…;D
Can these words help to make sentences.like how are you
ok, im confused.
I thought hyaku meant hurry.
:I
konichiwa ! watashi no namae wa SONG HYE KYO desu
i am ARTIST in korea i have a show and its tittle FULL HOUSE and thats it
DOMOU ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU ( HAJIMASHITE )
Yes! Also be sure to check out these pages for common Japanese phrases.