vowels
a (ah) sounds like the a in ball
e (eh) sounds like the e in met
u (oo) sounds like the double o sound in boot
i (ee) sounds like the double e in beet
o (oh) sounds like the o in nose
When u occurs at the end of a word it is sometimes said very softly. The word "desu" is pronounced more like "des" rather than "desu." There are other 'whispered' vowels in Japanese as well, like when i or u appears between or after the consonats sounds ts, sh, ch, t, s, k, h, or p.
consonants
The b and v sounds are light, and sound the same (there is no separate sound). The same is true for l and r sounds. In the Japanese language, the two sounds are the same.
1= ichi
2= ni
3= san
4= shi/yon
5= go
6= roku
7= shichi/nana
8= haci
9= ku/kyuu
10= juu
11= juuichi (10 + 1=11)
12= juuni
13= juusan
14= juuyon
15= juugo
16= juuroku
17= juushichi/ juunana
18= juuhachi
19= juu ku/ juukyuu
20= nijuu (2 x 10= 20)
21= nijuuichi (2 x 10 + 1=21)
30= sanjuu
40= yonjuu
50= gojuu
60= rokujuu
70= nanajuu
80= hachijuu
90= kyuujuu
100= hyaku 200= nihyaku (2 x 100)
1,000= sen
10,000= man
Use these words to talk about how much of something there is, like "too no ringo" would mean you are talking about 10 apples.
hitotsu= 1
futatsu= 2
mittsu= 3
yottsu= 4
itsutsu= 5
muttsu= 6
nanatsu= 7
yattsu= 8
kokonotsu= 9
too= 10
-chan= used after a child or girl's name, familiar
-kun= used after a boy's name
-san= used after the name of a person who you would address as Mr., Ms., or Mrs. (i.e. Mr.Shinjo= Shinjo-san)
-sensei= used after a teacher's or doctor's name. You can also address a teacher or doctor as "sensei."
-sama= used after someone's name who is highly respected or honored. Also used when addressing a customer to be polite.
nihon= Japan
beisuboru= baseball
kore= this
sore= that
are= that over there
nan/nani?= what?
itai= ouch/ow!
atsui= hot (temperature)
atakai= warm (temperature)
suzushii= cool (temperature)
samui= cold (temperature)
sugoi= awesome
kakkoi= cool
kawaii= cute
watashi= I
watashi no= my
anata= you
anata no= your
gakusei= student
dokysuei= classmate
otona= adult
kaishain= office worker (kaisha= office)
shacho= company's president
tomodachi= friend
kazoku= family (your own family)
denwabango= phone number (bango= number)
itoko= cousin
manga= cartoon/comic
otaku= very obsessed fan
good morning= ohayo (gozaimasu)*
hello= konnichiwa [used before dark]
good evening= konbanwa
good night= oyasumi(nasai)*
good-bye= sayonara
good-bye/ see you= Dewa mata (jaa mata, jaa ne)
how are you?= ogenki desuka? (ogenki?)
I'm fine= Genki desu
I'm so-so= Maa maa desu
I am __ = watashi wa __ desu
My name is __= watashi no namae __ desu**
It's nice to meet you= yoroshiku
So long, I'm going= itte kimasu
I'm home= tadaima
Welcome home= okaerinasai (okaeri)
What time is it?= nanji desuka?
It's 3 o'clock= Sanji desu
How old are you?= Anata wa nan sai desuka?
I am 14 (years old)= Watashi wa juuyon sai desu
I'm sorry= gomen nasai
Thank you= arigato
Thank you very much= domo arigato (gozaimasu)*
daisuki= what you say when you like something or someone a lot!
*polite form
** last name is said before the first name (i.e. Shinjo, Tsuyoshi)