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 23
Oishii and Umai: Saying Delicious in Japanese
Oishii is usually the first adjective learners master, and umai is the one they hear in every ramen shop and wonder whether they are allowed to use.
5 min readJapanese Words With No English Equivalent, and How to Use Them
Most untranslatable Japanese words translate perfectly well in a sentence. What they lack is a single English word, and some of the most famous ones are words Japanese speakers rarely say.
7 min readEnglish Words That Came From Japanese, and What They Mean There
You already know dozens of Japanese words. The catch is that several of them mean something slightly different in Japan, and almost all of them sound different.
6 min readAnime Japanese Words: What They Mean and Which Are Safe to Use
Most anime words are real Japanese. The problem is not the vocabulary but the volume, the tone and who the character is talking to.
6 min readHow Many Japanese Words Do You Need to Speak?
Conversation runs on a much smaller vocabulary than learners assume, which is why adding another thousand words so rarely makes speaking easier.
7 min readShould You Mix English Into Your Japanese?
Reaching for an English word mid-sentence keeps the conversation moving, and done often enough it is also the reason your Japanese stops improving.
7 min readBuilding Japanese Flashcards From Your Own Mistakes
The best vocabulary list you will ever have is the one made of words you needed and could not find.
7 min read100 Most Common Japanese Verbs With Example Sentences
A few dozen verbs carry most of everyday Japanese. Learn them with their group and their particle attached, and you can build sentences instead of collecting words.
18 min read100 Common Japanese Adjectives You Will Actually Use
Adjectives are what turn a bare statement into a real opinion. These are the ones native speakers reach for every day, sorted by topic and paired with their opposites.
15 min readJapanese Counters: Which One for Which Thing
Japanese does not let you say two beer or three paper. A counter has to sit between the number and the thing, and the number often changes shape when it meets one. This is the list of counters you will actually hear, with the readings that trip people up.
13 min readTalking About Money and Prices in Japanese
The hard part of money in Japanese is not the vocabulary, it is the arithmetic. Japanese groups digits in fours instead of threes, so a price you can read on a label still comes out of your mouth wrong. This guide fixes the grouping first, then gives you the whole paying exchange.
13 min readJapanese Vocabulary for the Home and Rooms
A Japanese home is not an English home with Japanese labels. It has rooms that English has no single word for, appliances covered in kanji buttons, and a set of chore verbs that come up every single day.
15 min readPractical guides
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