Basic Japanese Words
These are the words that carry the most weight early on. One of them, sumimasen, covers three separate English apologies, and one of them is best avoided entirely.
The first ten
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はい hai
hi
-
yes
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いいえ iie
EE-eh
-
no
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お願いします onegaishimasu
oh-neh-guy-shee-MAHS
-
please
-
ありがとう arigatō
ah-ree-GAH-toh
-
thank you
Add ございます for politeness
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すみません sumimasen
soo-mee-mah-SEN
-
excuse me, sorry, thank you
All three. See the note below
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たぶん tabun
TAH-boon
-
maybe
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いい ii
ee
-
good
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悪い わるい warui
wah-ROO-ee
-
bad
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とても totemo
TOH-teh-moh
-
very
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少し すこし sukoshi
soo-KOH-shee
-
a little
People
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私 わたし watashi
wah-TAH-shee
-
I
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あなた anata
ah-NAH-tah
-
you
Avoid it. Use the person's name instead
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彼 かれ kare
KAH-reh
-
he
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彼女 かのじょ kanojo
kah-NOH-joh
-
she
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私たち わたしたち watashitachi
wah-tah-shee-TAH-chee
-
we
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友達 ともだち tomodachi
toh-moh-DAH-chee
-
friend
Small words that hold a sentence together
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と to
toh
-
and
Joins nouns, not sentences
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でも demo
DEH-moh
-
but
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も mo
moh
-
also
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ここ koko
KOH-koh
-
here
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そこ soko
SOH-koh
-
there
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今 いま ima
EE-mah
-
now
Everyday things
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水 みず mizu
MEE-zoo
-
water
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食べ物 たべもの tabemono
tah-beh-MOH-noh
-
food
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家 いえ ie
EE-eh
-
house
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大きい おおきい ōkii
OH-kee
-
big
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小さい ちいさい chiisai
chee-SIGH
-
small
Sumimasen, and why not to say you
Sumimasen does three jobs. It is excuse me when getting someone's attention or squeezing past. It is sorry for a small mistake. And it is thank you when someone has gone to trouble for you, which is the use English speakers find strangest: it carries a sense of sorry you went to that effort.
Anata is in every textbook and almost never in real speech. Japanese uses the person's name plus さん instead: 田中さんは学生ですか, is Tanaka a student, said directly to Tanaka.
Using anata to someone you have just met sounds blunt, and to a superior it sounds rude. When you do not know the name, restructure the sentence so you do not need the word at all.
Japanese drops pronouns constantly. 学生です on its own means I am a student, and context supplies the rest.
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