Top Japanese Words You Must Learn
Japanese language is the ninth most spoken language is the world, with 128 million people speaking it as their first language in only two countries. Globally, Japanese is spoken by 128.3 million speakers.
Japanese diaspora can be found in several countries, if not a Japantown. Brazil has the largest Japanese community, followed by the United States, the Philippines, China, United Kingdom, Peru and Canada will lesser number communities in Europe, South America, Central America, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Pacific Islands, Qatar, Pakistan and Russia.
Basic Japanese Phrases
Hai. Yes.
はい。
Iie. No.
いいえ。
O-negai shimasu. Please.
おねがいします。
Arigatō. Thank you.
ありがとう。
Dōitashimashite. You’re welcome.
どういたしまして。
Sumimasen. Excuse me.
すみません。
Gomennasai. I am sorry.
ごめんなさい。
Ohayō gozaimasu. Good morning.
おはようございます。
Konbanwa. Good evening.
こんばんは。
O-yasumi nasai. Good night.
おやすみなさい。
Japanese Phrases for Meeting and Greeting
Eigo o hanasemasu ka. Do you speak English?
えいごをはなせますか。
Koko ni eigo o hanaseru hito wa imasu ka. Does anyone here speak English?
ここに えいごおはなせるひとはいますか。
Watashi wa nihongo ga sukoshi shika hanasemasen. I only speak a little Japanese.
わたしは にほんごがすこししか はなせません。
O-namae wa nan desu ka. What is your name?
おなまえはなんですか。
Watashi no namae wa Kaori desu. My name is Kaorii.
わたしのなまえは かおりです。
O-genki desu ka. How are you?
おげんきですか。
Genki desu. I’m fine. Thank you.
げんきです。
Oaidekite ureshī desu. I am very glad to meet you.
おあいできて うれしいです。
Wakarimasen. I don’t understand.
わかりません。
Nante iimashita ka. What did you say?
なんていいましたか。
Motto yukkuri hanashite kudasai. Can you speak more slowly?
もっと ゆっくりはなしてください。
Yoku wakarimasu. I understand you perfectly.
よくわかります。
Japanese Dialog
Sumisu-san:
Oha yō gozaimasu. Good morning.
おはようございます。
Eigo o hanasemasu ka. Do you speak English?
えいごをはなせますか。
Ten-in:
Sumimasen. I’m sorry.
すみません。
Eigo wa hanasemasen. I do not speak English.
えいごは はなせません。
Sumisu-san:
Watashi wa nihongo ga sukoshi shika hanasemasen. Unfortunately, I speak only a little Japanese.
わたしは にほんごがすこししかはなせません。
Ten-in:
Dai jōbu desu. That’s all right.
だいじょうぶです。
Wakarimasu. I understand you.
わかります。
Hope you can take advantage of this Japanese language resource as you learn to speak Japanese!
Japanese take pride in their language and culture and are therefore generally monolingual. The Basic Japanese Phrases and the Japanese Phrases for Meeting and Greeting given here help you scale up Japanese Dialog at the end, which shows how these survival phrases are used in conversational Japanese.