BASIC JAPANESE LANGUAGE GREETINGS

Ohayou Gozaimasu おはよう ございます Good Morning

Can be used up to about 10 a.m.

Konnichiwa こんにちは Hello / Good afternoon

Use this expression after 10 a.m. and during the afternoon.

Sayounara さようなら Goodbye

This expression is used mainly among close friends or colleagues, or by older people to their juniors. It’s never used
between members of the family.

Good night おやすみなさい Oyasuminasai

This is an appropriate expression to use when saying goodbye late at night, either in person or on the phone.

Dewa, mata (ja, mata) では、また （じゃ、また） See you next time.
This is often used by close friends or colleagues when parting. It can also be used to say goodbye on the phone.

Itterasshai いってらっしゃい Goodbye

This is used to say goodbye to someone who is going away and coming to the same place. For instance, a mother
will say to her children as she sends them off to school.

Ittekimasu いってきます Goodbye

This is what the person going out says to whoever is staying at home. It can also be used when leaving your place
of work on a short business trip.

Tadaima ただいま I’m back

This is what a member of a family calls out to the rest of the family as soon as getting back home from school,
work, shopping etc. As often happens in Japanese, the verb is left out becauuce the meaning is obvious: "I've come
home right now".

Okaerinasai おかえりなさい Welcome home

This is the standard way of replying to ”ただいま tadaima”

Omedetou Gozaimasu おめでとうございます Congratulations

For congratulating someone.

Doumo Arigatou Gozaimasu どうもありがとうございます

Thank you very much
This is a very polite way of thanking someone. It can be shortened and made more casual by saying " ありがおつ
ございます" or ”ありがとう”. An even more casual casual way of saying thank you, particularly among friends, is
to say simply ”どうも”.

Dou itashimashite どういたしまして You're welcome / Don’t mention it

This is a polite way of replying to someone who has either thanked you or apologized for something. A less formal
reply is simply: "いいえ)

Sumimasen すみません Excuse me / I'm sorry

This expression is used to get someone's attention, to apologize for a minor mistakes, or to express appreciation
for receiving someone's kindness. The less formal reply is いいえ (iie)

Onegaishimasu おねがいします Please. / Could you do me a favor?

This expression is used when you ask for something ti be served or done for you.

(o) ki wo tsukete （お）きを つけて Take care

This is a friendly way of telling someone to take care (not to catch colds, have an accident etc..).

Odaijini おだいじに Take care

When somebody already has a cold or has some other monor illnesses, this expression is used.

Itadakimasu いただきます Thank you (for the meal)

Use this whenever about to start a meal. If you are a guest, it should be addressed directly to your host as a way
of thanks. Even in a group where everyone has paid for his own meal, most people will say "いただきます" before
starting to eat. It's also a polite way of thanking someone for the small gifts.

Gochi sousama deshita ごちそうさまでした Thank you / It was delicious.

This is the way to thank your host for a meal after eating. If someone insists on paying for your drinks, you should
say ”ごちそうさまでした” as you leave. You can also use it to thank the waiter.

Ogenkide おげんきで Look after yourself

This a friendly way of saying goodbye to someone you don't see very often or who's going away on a trip. It can
also be used at the end of a letter to sign off.

Ganbatte kudasai がばってください Goodluck; keep up the good work.

This expression is used by older people to encourage their junior colleague in their efforts.

Shitsureishimasu しつれいします Excuse me

This is an extremely useful expression that can be used in a wide variety of situations -- when entering a room,
when leaving or when asking someone to leave aside. So in Japanese, this one expression can be used to replace a
variety of phrases such as "May I come in", "May I come through?" In the past tense, しつれいしました, is a
straightforward apology.

Osakini shitsureishimasu おさきに しつれいします I'll go ahead

This is used when leaving group of people before everybody else.

Ogenki desuka? おげんきですか How are you?

This is not like the greeting in English "How are you?", but rather is used only among people who haven't met for a
long time.

Daijoubu desu だいじょうぶです It's OK / It's alright

Use this when mentioning condition of one's work, health etc.

Osewani narimashita おせわに なりました Thank you for your kindness

This expression is used when a great favor has been granted to you.

Gomennasai ごめんなさい I'm so sorry

This expression is used in apologizing if you have done something wrong to someone else.

Moushi wake arimasen もうし わけ ありません I'm very sorry

Used to apologize as well

Doumo sumimasen どうも すみません I'm very sorry

Used to apologize as well

Omatase shimashita おまたせしました Thank you for waiting

This expression is used when you kept someone waiting for you, such as you are late on set time etc.
Irasshaimase いらっしゃいませ Welcome!
This is used by shop clerks or shop assistants in welcoming customers.

Gomen kudasai ごめん ください Is somebody there?

Used to call attention of someone who's inside the house.

CLASSROOM EXPRESSIONS

1. Hajimemashou はじめましょう Let's begin

2. Kiite kudasai
3. Kurikaeshite kudasai
4. Itte kudasai
5. Mou ichido onegaishimasu
6. Yukkuri itte kudasai
7. Issho ni douzo
8. Hakuban wo mitekudasai はくばんを みてください
9. Kaite kudasai
10. Oboete kudasai おぼえてください
11. Yonde Kudasai
12. Kotaete kudasai こたえてください
13. Wakarimashitaka わかりましたか
Hai, wakarimashita はい、わかりました
Iie, wakarimasen
14. Hon wo akete kudasai
15. Hon wo tojite kudasai
16. A san ni kiite kudasai
17. Renshuu shite kudasai
18. Chotto matte kudasai
19. Yasumimashou
20. Kore de owarimasu
21. Ii desu
22. Chigaimasu
23. Shitsumon ga arimasu
きいてください Please listen
くりかえしてください Please repeat (after me)
いってくさだい Please say
もう いちど おねがいします Once more please
ゆっくり いってください Please say it slowly
いっしょに どうぞ All together
Please look at the whiteboard
かいてください Write it down please
Please memorize it
よんでください Please read it
Please answer me
Do you understand?
Yes, I understand
いいえ、わかりません No, I don't understand
ほんを あけてください Open your books please
ほんを とじてきださい Close your books please
A さんに きいてください Please ask Mr. A
れんしゅうしてください Please practice
ちょっと まって ください Just a moment please
やすみましょう Close your books please
これで おわります Let's stop here
いいです That's fine / that's good
ちがいます That's incorrect
しつもんが あります I have a question
 Japanese For Beginner 1
初級日本語

SELF-INTRODUCTION

This is a simple pattern of self-introduction. You may add other information which you consider relevant as we go
to the deeper topics.

Greetings: Ohayou gozaimasu or Konnichiwa Good morning or good afternoon

(Aisatsu) Hajimemashite Nice to meet you

BOW

Name: Watashi wa (NAME) desu. I am (NAME).

(Namae) Or

Watashi wa (NAME) to moushimasu I am (NAME) – more polite

Or

Watashi no namae wa (NAME) desu. My name is (NAME).

Address: (ADDRESS) kara kimashita. I came from (ADDRESS)

(Jusho) Or

(ADDRESS) ni sunde imasu. I live in (ADDRESS)

Age: (AGE) sai desu. I’m (AGE) years old.

(Toshi)

Civil Status: Dokushin desu. I’m single.

Or

Kekkon shite imasu I’m married

Skill: Senmon wa (SKILL) desu. My specialty is (SKILL).

End Greeting: Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu I’m pleased to meet you.

BOW
 GREETINGS PRACTICE / EXERCISE BEFORE THE CLASS

The greetings and expressions listed below are conducted before and after the class.

Before class (every morning only):

Teacher : Jugyou wo hajimemasu We will start the class.

じゅぎょうを はじめます

Leader: Kiritsu Rise!

きりつ

*** Students will stand up all together.

Leader: Rei! Bow

れい

*** The students will then greet to the teacher with bowing

Students: Ohayou gozaimasu Good morning

おはおう ございます

*** As the leader for the day says the greetings, the students will follow afterwards.

Leader: おはおう ございます Good morning

Ohayou gozaimasu

Konnichiwa Good afternoon

こんにちは

Konbanwa Good evening

こんばんは

Onegaishimasu Please
おねがいします

Arigatou gozaimasu Thank you very much

ありがとう ございます
 Arigatou gozaimashita Thank you very much (past tense)
ありがとう ございまし
た
Douitashimashite You're welcome
どういたしまして

Wakarimasuka? Do you understand?

わかりますか

Hai, wakarimasu Yes, I understand

はい、わかります

Iie, wakarimasen No, I don't understand

いいえ、わかりません

Sumimasen Excuse me / I'm sorry

しつれいします

Shitsurei shimashita Excuse me (when going out the room)

しつれいしました

Teacher: Chakuseki

Students: Arigatou gozaimasu Thank you very much

ありがとう ございます

Introduction to Japanese Writing and Reading System

Chart 1 Chart 2 Chart 3
あいうえ
お aiueo かきくが ぎ ぐき き き
ゃ ゅ ょ
けこ ga gi gu
kya kyu kyo

ka ki ku ke ko さしす ざ
za
じ ず
ji zu しゃ しゅ しょ
せそ sha shu sho
だ ぢ づ
sa shi su se so たちつ da di du ちゃ ちゅ ちょ
cha chu cho
てと
ta chi tcu te to な に ぬ ば び ぶにゃ にゅ にょ
nya nyu nyo
ねの ba bi bu

na ni nu ne no は ひ ふ ぱ ぴ ぷひゃ
hya
ひゅ ひょ
hyu hyo
へほ pa pi pu
みゃ みゅ みょ
ha hi fu he ho まみむ mya mya myo
めも りゃ りゅ りょ
ma mi mu me mo
rya ryu ryo

や ゆ よ ya yu yo

らりるれろ ぎゃ ぎゅ ぎょ
ra ri ru re ro gya gyu gyo

わ を じゃ じゅ じょ
ja ju jo
wa wo

ん びゃ びゅ びょ
n bya byu byo

ぴゃ ぴゅ ぴょ
pya pyu pyo
 LIST OF ALL KATAKANA

Chart 1 Chart 2 Chart 3

アイウエ
オ aiueo カキクガ ギ グ キ キ
ャ ュ キョ
ケコ ga gi gu
kya kyu kyo

サシス ザ ジ ズ
ka ki ku ke ko
za ji zu シャ シュ ショ
セソ sha shu sho
ダ ヂ ヅ
sa shi su se so タチツ da di du チャ チュ チョ
cha chu cho
テト
ta chi tcu te to ナ ニ ヌ バ ビ ブニャ ニュ ニョ
nya nyu nyo
ネノ ba bi bu

ハヒフ ヒャ ヒュ ヒョ
na ni nu ne no パ ピ プ hya hyu hyo
ヘホ pa pi pu
ミャ ミュ ミョ
ha hi fu he ho マミム mya mya myo
メモ リャ リュ リョ
ma mi mu me mo
rya ryu ryo

ヤ ユ ヨ ya yu yo

ギャ ギュ ギョ
ラリルレロ gya gyu gyo
ra ri ru re ro

ワ ヲ ジャ ジュ ジョ
ja ju jo

ビャ ビュ ビョ
bya byu byo

ピ ャ
ア ピュ ピョ
pya pyu pyo
 wa wo

ン
n

JAPANESE READING AND WRITING SYSTEM

There are 4 different letters or characters in Japanese: KANJI, HIRAGANA, KATAKANA and ROMAJI.

KANJI
Kanji (Chinese characters) are letters introduce from China which is used for writing nouns and stem of a verb and
adjectives. It expresses not only sound but also meaning through pictures.

HIRAGANA
Hiragana are Japanese characters which created from curve of Kanji and modify the reading of particular Kanji.
Hiragana is a soft letter made of lines.

KATAKANA
Katakana are other Japanese letters created by extracting a part of a Kanji character which is used for foreign
languages or words like name of persons, cities, and countries to become Japanized. It is also used for telegraph
text. Katakana is a hard letter made of straight lines.

ROMAJI
Romaji (Roman charaters) have recently been used for name of stations and on advertising words. It is intended
for foreign visitors of Japan. It is rarely used in regular sentence of Japanese except as symbol or marks.

Each Kanji has a meaning but Hiragana and Katakana are phonetic symbols and they themselves have no meaning.
They are only symbol of sounds.

木 き ki tree 火 ひ hi fire

Hiragana and Katakana were made up from certain Kanji in order to represent Japanese syllabary. Hiragana and
Katakana were formed by simplifying the whole shape of certain Kanji and Katakana were formed from a single
part of Kanji.

Here is an example with combined letters of Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana and Romaji.

Example: I listen to Japanese CD at Training Center.

Watashi wa Kenshu Senta de Nihongo no CD o kikimasu. わた
し は 研修センター で 日本語の CD を 聞きます。
 Japanese for Beginner 1
初級日本語１

RULES IN WRITING HIRAGANA

1. Long Vowels

A long vowel is pronounced twice as long as the ordinary vowels あ、い、う、え、お. If you count the
length of the vowel あ as one, the length of the long vowel ああ is counted as 2 syllabes.
A vowel whether long or not can change the meaning of a word.

Example:
obasan おばさん aunt : obasan おばあさん grandmother ojisan おじさん uncle : ojisan おじい
さん grandfather
yuki ゆき snow : yuki ゆうき courage e え picture , painting : e ええ yes toru
とる take : toru とおる pass
koko ここ here : koko こうこう high school heya へや room : heiya へいや open
field

2. Double Consonants

Certain consonant are doubled when preceded by small っ (tsu) and form as one syllable.

Example:
buka ぶか subordinate : bukka ぶっか commodity
price kasai かさい fire : kassai かっさい applause oto
 おと sound : otto おっと one’s husband
ichi いち one : icchi いっち accordance

zasshi ざっし magazine kekkon けっこん

marriage
kitte きって stamp

3. Pronunciation of ん

ん never appears at the beginning of a word. It pronounced differently depending on the sound that
comes after it.

a. It is pronounced “n” before the sounds of T, D, R, N.

Example:
hantai はんたい opposite undo
うんどう sports / exercise
minna みんな exercise

b. It is pronounced “m” before the sounds of B,P, M. Example:

shimbun し ん ぶ ん magazine
empitsu え ん ぴ つ pencil
ummei うんめい destiny

c. It is pronounced “ng” before the sounds of K, G. Example:

dengki でんき electricity / light kenggaku
けんがく visit / observing

gingko ぎんこう bank

4. Combined Letters – consonant い-Sound + small や、ゆ、よ

Consonant い-sound like き、ぎ、し、じ、ち、ぢ、ひ、び、ぴ、み or り can combined with small

や、ゆ、よ.
This two combined letters become one syllable.

Example:
 hiyaku ひやく jump : hyaku ひゃく hundred jiyu じゆう freedom : ju じゅう
ten biyoin びよういん parlor : byoin びょういん hospital ocha おちゃ tea gyunyu
ぎゅうにゅう cow’s milk bucho ぶちょう Department Head ryoko りょこう travel

5. じ (ji) , ぢ(di) , ず(zu) , づ (du)

The difference between じ and ぢ、す and づ is not a matter of pronunciation but the usage. じ and ず
are commonly used.

Example:

kaji かじ fire
suzushi すずしい cool tsuduku つづく to
continue

6. The following particles in a sentence are read in special way.

は(ha) is pronounced as WA, when used as a particle. へ

(he) is pronounced as E, when used as a particle. を
(wo) is pronounced as O, when used as a particle.

Example: わたし は がくせい です。 I am a

student.
Watashi wa gakusei desu.

そう では ありません。 It is not so.

So dewa arimasen

にほん へ いきます。 I will go to Japan.

Nihon e ikimasu.

てがみ を かきます。 I will write a letter.

Tegami o kakimasu.
 Japanese for Beginner 1
初級日本語１

RULES IN WRITING KATAKANA

1. Words having a CVCV pattern. (CVCV – Consonant Vowel Consonant Vowel)

mania マニア camera

カメラ coin コイン

2. Words containing 2 or more consonant sounds in successions (-cc) are pronounced after each consonant
sound.

a. “t” and “d” are followed by “o”

hint ヒント hinto
emerald エメラルド emerarudo
** except for “salad” which becomes サラダ sarada

b. “c, b, f, g, k, l, m, n, p, and s” are followed by “u”. mask マスク masuku post

ポスト posuto
milk ミルク miruku
 c. “final –te” and “final –de” are handled in the same way as “-t” and “-d”, becoming “to” and “do”

note ノート no-to

shade シェード she-do

d. When the original word ends in “c, b, f, k, l, m, p or s” followed by silent “e”, the consonant
sound is followed by “u” in Japanese.

simple シンプル shinpuru

knife ナイフ naifu
single シンゲル shingeru
game ゲーム ge-mu

** However, “-ge” becomes “ji” ジ.

orange オレンジ orenji
page ページ pe-ji

3. All long vowels are indicated by using dash (-) in writing horizontally. This dash indicates that the
preceding vowel is given a duration of 2 moras. When writing vertically, they are indicated with a vertical
line ｜.
seesaw シーソー shi-so- queen クイーン kui-
n
elevator エレベーター erebe-ta-

a. “-ar, -er, -ir, -ur, -or”

car カー ka-
curtain カーテン ka-ten
lover ラバー raba- form フォーム fo-mu girl ガール
ga-ru
record レコード reko-do report レポート repo-to

b. Final ‘-or” is expressed with a long –a- sound, not a long –o- sound. sailor
セーラ se-ra doctor ドクター dokuta-
error エラー era-

c. “-ee-, -ea-, -ai-, -oa-, -ou-, -au-, -oo-

speed スピード supi-do

seal シール shi-ru

coat コート ko-to

 sauce ソース so-su

cheese チーズ chi-zu

chain チェーン che-n

group グループ guru-pu

room ルーム ru-mu

beer ビール bi-ru

coffee コーヒー ko-hi

d. “-all, -al, -ol”

call コール ko-ru

old オールド o-rudo

balk ボーク bo-ku

ball ボール bo-ru

In vertical, it is written as:

record レ supermarket ス
コ ｜
｜ パ
ド ｜

4. The same procedure with that of Hiragana, double consonant is indicated by small ッ (tsu). Small ッ (tsu)
is used by the consonant if it is pronounced as the emphasis in a word.
bed ベッド beddo
knock ノック nokku
switch スイッチ suicchi
ship シップ shippu
magic マジック majikku
drop ドロップ doroppu
pilot パイロット pairotto
smog スモッグ sumoggu

a. Words which are spelled with 2 vowels in a row but are rendered in Japanese with a double
consonant sound rather than with a lengthened vowel sound.

“-oo-, -ea-, -ou-, -ui-“

book ブック bukku

 circuit サーキット sa-kitto
head ヘッド heddo
touch タッチ tacchi

5. If the name or word starts at letter “c”, it is pronounced as キャ (kya).

Canon キャノン kyanon
Cameron キャメロン kyameron

6. Some new method (additional syllables for Katakana characters)

Because of the increasing numbers of foreign words (like English words), new method has been adopted
in order to make the sound as close as possible to the original sound of foreign words such as [fi], [ti],
[we] etc.

Philippine フ ィ リ ピ ン party
パーテイー weight ウェイト

** Additional syllables for foreign words

FA ファ TI テイ WI ウイ
FI フィ TU トウ WE ウエ
FE フェ WO ウオ
FO フォ DI デイ
DU トウ KWA クア
VA ヴァ GWA グア
VI ヴィ SHE シェ KWO クオ
VU ヴ JE ジェ
VE ヴェ DYU デユ CHE チェ
VO ヴォ YE イエ