Let's say you plan to travel to Japan, but you don't know much about Japanese? You may be fluent in English, but that won't help much. You definitely need to know some Japanese words, for that we made this basic guide to help you increase your vocabulary and try to survive in Japan. Let's break this guide down into categories.
Índice de Conteúdo
Orders and Questions
When you are in Japan, you will have to ask a lot of questions, where is that? What does that mean? Someone speaks Portuguese? The words in the table below can help you understand and know how to ask these questions.
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Japanese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Tips |
| ですか | desuka | Or just か - ka | Used to ask questions |
| どこ | doko | Where | place/thing + doko + desuka = (thing) where is it? |
| なに | nani | What? | |
| どう して | doushite | Because? | |
| どう した | doushita | What happened? | |
| いつ | itsu | When | |
| 時間 | jikan | time | |
| 質問 | shitsummon | question | |
| だれ | dare | who | dare + desuka = Who is it? (he/you) |
| ここ | koko | Here | |
| いくら | ikura | how much (price) | ikura + desuka = How much does it cost? |
What can I ask? Well for that we need to know the name of some places that tourists usually look for.
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Japanese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Another |
| トイレ | toire | Bathroom | toire doko desuka? = Where is the bathroom? |
| 手洗い | loom | Shower | |
| 服 | fuku | Locker room | |
| ホテル | hotel | Hotel | |
| 空港 | kuukou | Aeroporto | |
| 駅 | eki | Season | |
| 大学 | daigaku | School / College | daigaku wa koko desuka? = This is the university? |
| 本屋 | honya | Bookstore | |
| 家 | ie / uchi | Home / My Home | |
| タクシー | takushi | Taxi | |
| レストラン | resutoran | Restaurant | |
| コンビニ | konbini | Convenience stores | |
| スーパー | suupaa | Supermarket | |
| 公園 | kouen | Park | |
| 警察 | keisatsu | Police | |
| 温泉 | hot spring | Hot Springs |
Sometimes you may experience difficulties or need help, here are some emergency words.
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Japanese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Tips |
| 助けて | tasukete | help-me | HELP! Help! |
| わかりません | wakarimasen | I don't know | Formal = nihongo (wo) wakarimasen = I don't know Japanese |
| わからない | wakaranai | I don't know | Informal = Wakaranai + eigo + onegai = I don't understand, English please |
| やめて! | yamete! | Stop this! | What if a pervert shows up... |
| だめ | Give me | Can not | Do not do it! |
| 危ない | abunai | Dangerous | If you hear this, look around you |
| 危険 | danger | danger, danger | A more extravagant Abunai |
| ください | kudasai | Please | Tasukete + kudasai = Please help me! |
| おねがい | onegai | Please | Please is used after verbs -te and onegai is used for orders |
| ありがとうございます | arigatougozaimasu | Thank you very much | Gozaimasu makes the word more formal and polite |
| すみません | sumimasen | Sorry | When you bump into someone on the street |
| ごめんなさい | gomennasai | Sorry | When tripping and pissing someone off (like a yakuza lol) |
Words Related to food
Everyone loves food, no one can live without it! So now let's talk a little about food!
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Japanese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Tips |
| おなかすいた | onaka suita | I'm hungry | casual manner: はらへった(Hetta hara) |
| 食べます | tabemasu | Eat | tabemasen or tabenai = not to eat |
| 飲みます | nomimasu | Drink | nomimasen = Do not drink |
| 水 | mizu | Water | |
| 飲み物 | name | Drink | |
| 食べ物 | Food | food | |
| 美味しい | oishii | Tasty | delicious, very good |
| 不味い | mazui | Bad | it's not nice |
| いただきます | itadakimasu | Thanks for the food | used before meals, see more. |
| ごちそうさまでした | Gochisousama + deshita | Thanks for the food | used after meals |
Words You Should Know
The most basic Japanese words like greetings, good morning, thank you, etc.
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Japanese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Tips |
| おはようございます | ohayou(gozaimasu) | Good Morning | just talking ohayou is informal |
| こんにちは | konnichiwa | Good afternoon / Hi | |
| こんばんは | konbanwa | Goodnight | when meeting |
| お休み | oyasumi | Goodnight | when sleeping |
| ではまた | dewamata | See you later | |
| また明日 | kill ashita | See you tomorrow | |
| さようなら | Goodbye | Goodbye | goodbye is different from bye |
| じゃね | jyane | Goodbye | some speak bai bai (very informal) |
| あなた | anata | You | |
| 私 | watashi | I | Other ways of speaking I. |
| 彼 | kare | He | can mean boyfriend |
| 彼女 | kanojo | Ela | it can mean girlfriend |
| たち | tachi | Plural | Leave pronouns in the plural 私たち watashitachi = We |
There are some interesting rules about pronouns or sentence formation that we won't get into.
The article is still halfway through, but we recommend also reading:
What can help me now?
This is just the tip of the iceberg, you need to learn many things like numbers, verbs, adjectives, foods, etc. That's why we'll leave below a list of articles with vocabularies for you to learn and survive in Japan.
Don't forget to browse our 日本語 category on the site to find articles on the Japanese language and get ready for your big trip.
