Japanese learning blog
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
All articles · Page 131
Gaman Meaning: Putting Up With It, and When Not To
Gaman is often presented abroad as a noble national trait. In daily Japanese it is much more ordinary: holding off dessert, waiting for the toilet, or putting up with a noisy neighbour.
5 min readMendokusai Meaning: What a Pain, and Saying It Politely
Mendokusai is the word for every chore you would rather not do. It is also a word that can quietly damage how colleagues see you if it slips out at the wrong moment.
5 min readAbunai Meaning: Dangerous, Watch Out, and That Was Close
Someone grabs your arm at a crossing and shouts abunai. In that moment the word means watch out, and it is worth knowing before you ever need to hear it.
5 min readYasashii Meaning: Kind or Easy, and How to Tell Them Apart
Yasashii sensei could be a kind teacher or, in writing with the other kanji, an easy one. Learners meet this pair early, and context almost always settles it.
5 min readZannen Meaning: That's a Shame, and Bad News Said Politely
A friend cannot come to your party, and the natural reply is zannen, that's a shame. A company rejects an application, and the letter begins zannen desu ga. The same word covers both.
5 min readHontō ni Meaning: Really, Truly and Is That So?
Hontō ni does two jobs that English splits between really and truly: it turns up the volume on a word, and on its own it checks whether you heard right.
6 min readChigau Meaning: Wrong, Different and a Polite No
When a Japanese speaker answers your question with chigaimasu, they are not calling you wrong. They are saying that is not the one, and that difference matters.
6 min readHazukashii Meaning: Embarrassed, Shy and Ashamed
English needs three words for what hazukashii covers alone, which is why learners either overuse it or never quite trust it.
5 min readSensei Meaning: Who Gets Called Sensei in Japan
In Japan your doctor, your lawyer and your child's piano teacher are all sensei, and none of them would expect you to use their first name.
5 min readSetsunai Meaning: The Bittersweet Ache in Japanese
Setsunai is the tightness in your chest when something is beautiful and sad at once: the last day of summer, an unanswered crush, a song about both.
5 min readTanoshimi Meaning: Looking Forward to It in Japanese
Japanese has no single verb for look forward to. Instead it turns fun into a noun, tanoshimi, and says you are holding it as something to enjoy.
5 min readIppai Meaning: Full, Lots, and a Cup of Something
The same word tells your host you are full, invites a colleague for a drink, and says you are at your absolute limit. It all comes from one image: a cup filled to the brim.
5 min readPractical guides
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