Vocabulary

 

Now that you've got the Japanese alphabets down, let's learn some vocabulary words and simple phrases. I will list the Kanji, Hiragana, Romaji (the word sounded out using English letters),

and the English meaning for each word or phrase. Most words have Kanji for them but I will only include the Kanji if the word is regularly written that way.

Keep in mind that the Japanese language has different levels of politeness that change based on who you are talking to. I will refer to these as "ultra-formal", "formal" (or "polite form"), "normal" (or "plain form"), "informal", and "rude" (we won't be covering too much of the rude form, however).

漢字 - Kanji	ひらがな - Hiragana	Romaji (English Letters)	English Meaning
私	わたし	watashi	I (formal for males, normal for females)
僕	ぼく	boku	I (normal for males)
彼	かれ	kare	he
彼女	かのじょ	kanojo	she
あなた	あなた	anata	you (singular/normal)
これ	これ	kore	this (the object itself)
ここ	ここ	koko	here
この	この	kono	this (ex. this pen)
それ	それ	sore	that (the object itself)
そこ	そこ	soko	there
その	その	sono	that (ex. that pen)
人	ひと	hito	person
犬	いぬ	inu	dog
猫	ねこ	neko	cat
家	いえ	ie	house
ありがとう	ありがとう	arigatou	Thank you. (normal)
ありがとう ございます	ありがとう ございます	arigatou gozaimasu	Thank you. (formal)
どういたしまして	どういたしまして	douitashimashite	You're welcome. (normal)
おはよう	おはよう	ohayou (sounds like "Ohio")	Good morning. (informal)
おはようございます	おはようございます	ohayou gozaimasu	Good morning. (normal and formal)
こんにちは	こんにちは	konnichiwa	Hello. (normal)
こんばんは	こんばんは	konbanwa	Good evening. (normal)
さよなら	さよなら	sayonara	Goodbye. (normal)