USEFUL JAPANESE WORDS AND PHRASES |
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Pronunciation of vowels in Japanese is similar to Italian or Spanish. All vowels and consonants are pronounced. Vowel sounds are as follows:
- a = short "o" as in pop, copy, stop, top
- e = short "e" as in step, bed, tread, wed
- i = long "ee" as in keep, meet, fleet
- o = long "o" as in store, more, core
- u = "oo" as in blue, true, sue, glue
English | Japanese | Yes | Hai | No* | Ie | Good Morning | Ohayo gozaimasu
| Good Afternoon | Konnichi wa | Good Evening | Konban wa | Goodbye | Sayonara | Thank you | Arigato gozaimasu | Please | Onegai shimasu | Where is the bus station? | Basu no eki wa doko desu ka? | Where is the train station? | Densha no eki wa doko desu ka? | Where is the bathroom (toilet)? |
Toire wa doko desu ka? | Nice to meet you. | Hajimemashite | I don't understand. | Wakarimasen | I don't speak Japanese. | Watashi wa nihongo o hanashimasen | My name is ______.
| Watashi no namae wa _____ desu. |
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*"No" is considered a very harsh response to the Japanese; avoid it whenever
you can. To get around saying "no," Japanese use negative forms of verbs or say "chigaimasu," which literally translates as "different." When in doubt, just shake your head as you would in North America to indicate "no." Counting in Japanese English | Japanese | English | Japanese | one | 
ichi
| six | 
roku
| two | 
ni
| seven | 
nana (shichi)
| three | 
san
| eight | 
hachi
| four | 
shi
| nine | 
ku
| five | 
go
| ten | 
ju
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