Japanese Writing Instructions and Recipes: Steps, Sequencing and Quantities

Three instruction forms and when to use them

Japanese has several ways to tell someone what to do, and the written instruction forms are more limited than the spoken ones. The first is the dictionary form: tamanegi o kiru, cut the onion. This is the impersonal voice of recipe sites, manuals and signs. It reads as a description of what happens rather than a command. The second is the polite masu form: tamanegi o kirimasu. It reads as a friendly narrator walking beside you, and is common in recipes written for beginners and in videos.

The third is the request form, -te kudasai: tamanegi o kitte kudasai. This addresses a person, so it fits notes to a colleague and messages to a friend, where the softer -te ne or -te mite ne, try doing, is also natural. Rarer forms include the -koto ending, sanpun matsu koto, which reads like a rule. The bare imperative, kire, and the -nasai form belong to parents and emergencies, not written instructions.

Sequencing words and connectors

The order of steps is carried by a small set of words placed at the start of a sentence. Mazu, first, opens the process, and hajime ni does the same job. Tsugi ni, next, is the everyday middle step. Sore kara, and then, joins two steps of equal weight. Sono ato, after that, and sono aida ni, meanwhile, help when two things happen in parallel. Saigo ni, finally, closes.

Inside a step, connectors handle dependence. The -te form chains actions in order: kitte, itameru, cut and fry. The -tara form means once something is done: iro ga kawattara, once the colour changes. Made means until: yawarakaku naru made, until soft. Nagara means while: mazenagara, while stirring. These four cover almost every recipe and how-to note. Numbered steps often drop the sequencing words, but mazu and saigo ni still help in prose instructions.

Quantities, temperatures and times

Amounts come before the verb and after the ingredient: shōyu o ōsaji ippai kuwaeru, add one tablespoon of soy sauce. Ōsaji is a tablespoon and kosaji a teaspoon, counted with hai: ippai, nihai, sanbai. Cups are kappu, and Japanese recipes usually mean a 200 ml cup. Weight is guramu, and small quantities are shōshō, a pinch, or tekiryō, as needed. Whole items use ordinary counters: tamago ikko, one egg; ninjin ippon, one carrot; tōfu itchō, one block of tofu.

Heat levels are tsuyobi, chūbi and yowabi: strong, medium and low. Oven temperatures use do: hyaku hachijū do, 180 degrees. Times use fun and byō with the verbs niru, simmer; yaku, bake or grill; and itameru, stir-fry. Approximate times take hodo or kurai after the number, and a range is written with a tilde, san-gofun, three to five minutes. For servings, write the number of people with bun: futari-bun, for two.

An ingredient list, zairyō, is written with the ingredient on the left and the amount on the right, one per line, with the number of servings in the heading. Seasoning that goes in together is often grouped under the letter A with a bracket, and the step then says A o kuwaeru, add A.

A full model recipe: miso soup with tofu and wakame

Here is a complete recipe in the dictionary form used on recipe sites. It has a title, a servings line, an ingredient list and six numbered steps. The amounts are ordinary home proportions; the point is the language.

A how-to note for a colleague

Office instructions follow the same logic with a politer surface. Use the masu form or -te kudasai, and open with one line saying what the note is for. Number the steps, one action each, and put anything that can go wrong in brackets or after a note marker such as chūi, caution. Close with your name and how to contact you if something is unclear. Here is a note for a colleague covering the weekly sales report.

Sentence patterns to reuse

Most steps fit one of these frames. Combine them and you can write instructions for anything from a curry to a coffee machine.

• Mazu, X o Y suru: first, do Y to X
• Tsugi ni, X ni Y o irete Z suru: next, put Y into X and do Z
• X shitara, Y suru: once X has happened, do Y
• X naru made Y suru: do Y until X
• X nagara Y suru: do Y while X
• X o Y hodo Z suru: do Z to X for about Y (time)
• Saigo ni, X shite kansei: finally, do X and it's finished
• X shinai koto / X shinaide kudasai: do not do X
• Fumei na ten ga areba, X made: if unclear, contact X

Cooking and instruction verbs

The verbs below cover the great majority of steps in home recipes and office notes. Learn the dictionary form and the masu form together.

Yaku is broad: it covers grilling fish, baking bread and frying an egg. If the method matters, add the tool: furaipan de yaku, fry in a pan; ōbun de yaku, bake in an oven.

Mistakes that make steps unclear

The first mistake is mixing forms, which readers experience as a change in voice. The second is putting two or three actions in one step joined by long -te chains; readers lose track of which one they are on. The third is leaving out amounts and times, or putting them after the verb the English way: kuwaeru shōyu ōsaji ippai is not Japanese word order. The amount goes before the verb.

The fourth is using the bare imperative or -nasai in a note to a colleague, which reads as scolding. The fifth is forgetting the reader's knowledge: a friend who has never cooked Japanese food needs dashi explained, and a colleague new to the team needs to know where the shared folder is. Finally, check the counters: ōsaji ippai, not ōsaji ichi-ko, and ninjin ippon, not ninjin ikko.