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 5
Japanese Gardening and Houseplant Vocabulary: Soil, Pots and Care
Japanese gardening vocabulary starts with engei (園芸, gardening), kanyō shokubutsu (観葉植物, houseplants), hachi (鉢, pot), tsuchi (土, soil) and mizuyari (水やり, watering). With a few care words such as hiatari (how much sun a spot gets), uekae (repotting) and kareru (to wither), you can look after plants and ask for advice in any Japanese plant shop.
10 min readJapanese Home Baking Vocabulary: Flour, Oven Words and Recipe Verbs
Japanese home baking is okashi zukuri (お菓子作り, making sweets) or pan zukuri (パン作り, bread making). The words you need first are the flours, hakurikiko and kyōrikiko, the measuring spoons ōsaji and kosaji, the recipe verbs mazeru (mix), awadateru (whisk), koneru (knead) and yaku (bake), and yonetsu, preheating the oven.
9 min readJapanese Model Kit Vocabulary: Plamo Words from Runner to Paint
In Japanese, a plastic model kit is a puramoderu, almost always shortened to puramo (プラモ). The parts come on a rannā (runner, the sprue), you cut them off with nippā (side cutters), clean up the gēto (the leftover nub), and then assemble, paint, add sumiire (panel lining) and finish with a topcoat.
10 min readJapanese Sewing and Knitting Vocabulary: Needles, Yarn and Stitches
The two key verbs are nuu (縫う, to sew) and amu (編む, to knit or crochet). Sewing uses hari (needle), ito (thread), nuno or kiji (fabric) and mishin (sewing machine); knitting uses keito (yarn), bōbari (knitting needles), kagibari (crochet hook), omoteami (knit) and uraami (purl). Tezukuri, handmade, is the word for what you make.
10 min readJapanese Motorcycle Vocabulary: Baiku, Licences, Touring and Fuel
In Japanese, a motorcycle is a baiku (バイク), not a bicycle, which is jitensha. Riders talk about gentsuki (small scooters), licence classes such as futsū nirin and ōgata nirin, tsūringu (touring) to tōge (mountain passes) and michi no eki (roadside stations), and they fill up with regyurā or haioku at a gasorin sutando.
10 min readJapanese Insect Words: Bug Names, Summer Sounds and Phrases
The everyday Japanese word for bug or insect is 虫 (mushi), and it covers far more than insects: spiders, worms and centipedes are all mushi in daily speech. The scientific word is 昆虫 (konchū). Most insect names, such as セミ (semi, cicada) and カブトムシ (kabutomushi, rhinoceros beetle), are native Japanese words, usually written in katakana.
11 min readJapanese Bird Names: Common Birds, Bird Sounds and Phrases
The Japanese word for bird is 鳥 (tori), and the birds you will meet first are スズメ (suzume, sparrow), カラス (karasu, crow) and ハト (hato, pigeon). Some birds carry strong cultural meaning, such as the crane, ツル (tsuru), a symbol of long life, and the bush warbler, ウグイス (uguisu), whose song announces spring.
9 min readJapanese Furniture Words: Room Items, Positions and Moving In
Furniture in Japanese is 家具 (kagu). Most Western-style items use katakana loanwords, such as ベッド (beddo, bed), ソファ (sofa) and テーブル (tēburu, table), while desks, chairs and shelves keep native words: 机 (tsukue), 椅子 (isu) and 本棚 (hondana). Japanese-style rooms add low furniture such as the 座卓 (zataku) and the floor chair 座椅子 (zaisu).
10 min readJapanese School Subjects: Names from Elementary to University
School subjects in Japanese are 科目 (kamoku) or 教科 (kyōka). The core five are 国語 (kokugo, Japanese), 数学 (sūgaku, maths), 英語 (eigo, English), 理科 (rika, science) and 社会 (shakai, social studies). Maths is called 算数 (sansū) in elementary school, and several subjects change names as children move up.
10 min readJapanese Family Members Vocabulary: Haha or Okāsan? Who Says What
Japanese has two words for most family members: a plain one for your own family when you talk to outsiders, such as 母 (haha, my mother), and a polite one for other people's families, such as お母さん (okāsan, your mother). Inside the family, people switch again and call each other okāsan, mama or by name. The word you choose depends on whose family it is and who is listening.
10 min readJapanese Makeup Vocabulary: Products, Verbs and Beauty Talk
Makeup in Japanese is 化粧 (keshō) or, more casually, メイク (meiku). Most product names are katakana loanwords, such as ファンデーション (fandēshon, foundation) and マスカラ (masukara, mascara), but lipstick is the native word 口紅 (kuchibeni). The verbs are the tricky part: you 塗る (nuru) foundation, 引く (hiku) eyeliner and 落とす (otosu) your makeup at night.
9 min readJapanese Baby Talk Words: Wanwan, Nyannyan, Nenne and More
Japanese baby talk, 幼児語 (yōjigo) or 赤ちゃん言葉 (akachan kotoba), is the set of soft, repeated words that parents and toddlers use: ワンワン (wanwan) for a dog, ニャンニャン (nyannyan) for a cat, ねんね (nenne) for sleep and まんま (manma) for food. Most come from animal sounds, doubled syllables or the polite お prefix, as in おてて (otete, hands).
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