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 140
How to Say Friend in Japanese: Tomodachi, Shinyū and Nakama
Tomodachi works almost everywhere, but a wedding speech needs yūjin, your closest friend is a shinyū, and a team you have been through something with are nakama.
6 min readHow to Say Good Job in Japanese Without Sounding Condescending
Tell your manager yoku dekimashita after their presentation and you have spoken like a teacher marking homework. Praise in Japanese has a direction.
6 min readHow to Say Let's Go in Japanese: Ikō, Ikimashō and Iku Zo
Ikimashō is correct, ikō is friendly, ikō ka is a suggestion and iku zo is a battle cry. They all mean let's go, and they are not interchangeable.
6 min readHow to Say Cool in Japanese: Kakkoii, Suzushii and Reisei
In English one word covers a great jacket, a pleasant breeze and staying calm under pressure. Japanese needs a different word for each, and mixing them up changes the meaning completely.
6 min readHow to Say Wait in Japanese: From Chotto Matte to Shōshō Omachi Kudasai
Chotto matte kudasai is correct Japanese, but say it to a customer on the phone and you have sounded curt. Asking someone to wait is one of the places politeness shows most.
6 min readHow to Say Don't Worry in Japanese: Ki ni Shinaide and More
When a friend apologises, shinpai shinaide sounds slightly off. They are not anxious about the future; they feel bad about the past. Japanese has separate words for those two worries.
6 min readHow to Say I Am Learning Japanese, and Keep the Conversation Going
Say you are learning Japanese and the other person will ask how long, why and whether it is hard. Having those answers ready turns one sentence into a real conversation.
7 min readThe Japanese Masu Form: The Polite Verb Form You Speak In
If you only had one verb form to speak Japanese with strangers, shop staff and colleagues, it would be the masu form, and it would carry you further than you expect.
8 min readSugiru in Japanese: How to Say Too Much, Too Big and Too Late
Too expensive, too spicy, ate too much, worked too late: Japanese handles all of them with one ending, and it is one of the most useful endings a beginner can add.
6 min readYasui, Nikui and Zurai: Easy and Hard to Do in Japanese
Easy to understand, hard to hear, uncomfortable to say: three short endings turn any verb into a judgement, and they are everywhere in reviews, feedback and everyday complaints.
7 min readMae ni, Ato de and Te kara: Before and After in Japanese
Before I eat, after I ate, once I have eaten: Japanese sequences events with three short patterns, and each one locks the verb in front of it into a specific tense.
7 min readToki in Japanese: How to Say When, and the Tense Trap
Nihon ni iku toki and Nihon ni itta toki both translate as when I went to Japan, and they describe two different moments. That difference is the whole secret of toki.
7 min readPractical guides
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