Basic Phrases & Numbers
(Hello!) and welcome to lesson three: Basic Phrases & Numbers. Now that you’ve got some basic knowledge of pronunciation and grammar, a few basic phrases and numbers can help to create some basic conversation. This lesson concentrates on basic phrases, “Meeting and Greeting” phrases, and ways of talking about yourself. This lesson also teaches you how to count from one to ten in Japanese.
Basic Phrases
- Yes - hai*
- No - īe
- Thank you - arigatō (gozaimasu**)
- Please (asking) - kudasai
- Please (offering) - dōzo
- Sorry - gomen nasai
*Above “hai” is translated to being “yes”, however “hai” can also mean a few other things and can be hard for foreigners to use correctly. It is commonly used to show agreement towards something or in conversation, to say that you’re paying attention.
**Adding “gozaimasu” (pronounced “gozaimas”) adds politeness, like saying “Thank you very much” rather than just “Thank you”
“Meeting and Greeting” Phrases
- Hello - konnichiwa
- Good morning - ohayō (gozaimasu)
- Good day - konnichiwa
- Good afternoon - konnichiwa
- Good evening - konbanwa
- How do you do? - hajimemashite*
- Please treat me kindly - yoroshiku onegai shimasu**
- How are you? - o-genki desu ka
*”hajimemashite” is used when meeting someone for the first time in Japan, and is replaced with one of the other greetings when meeting or greeting someone again, particuarly “yoroshiku onegai shimasu”. This phrase isn’t really used to ask how somebody is, “o-genki desu ka” is used for this.
**”yoroshiku onegai shimasu” is used commonly in Japan when meeting or greeting someone. Above I have translated it to be “Please treat me kindly”, however it can actually be used to mean many other things. The expression itself is quite hard to translate into English, but when greeting someone it would translate to “Please treat me kindly”, this is like saying “Nice to meet you” in English. This phrase is defiantly worth learning.
Introductions
- My name is [yourname] - watashi no namae wa [yourname] desu*
- What’s your name? - o-namae wa nan desu ka
*This would be the full (and politest) way of saying your name. It’s very common (and easier) to just say “[yourname] desu”, which would translate as “I’m [yourname]“.
Farewells
- Goodbye - sayōnara
- See you later - matane
- Bye - ja, mata
- Bye-bye - bai bai
- Good night - oyasumi nasai
Numbers
- ichi
- ni
- san
- shi/yon*
- go
- roku
- shichi/nana*
- hachi
- ku/kyū
- jū
*Some numbers have two words for the same number, both words are used by personal choice, however some other words that involve these numbers only use one of the words.