Vocabulary and phrases
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
Vocabulary and phrases · Page 21
Abunai 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 readOshii Meaning: So Close, What a Pity, Too Good to Lose
When the ball hits the post, the quiz answer is one letter off, or the lottery ticket is one number short, Japanese has a single word ready: oshii!
5 min readHidoi Meaning: Awful, Mean and That's Not Fair
Hidoi can describe a terrible storm, a cruel act or a friend who ate the last slice of cake, and the difference is mostly in the tone.
5 min readPractical guides
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