Ready to understand about half of all Japanese words?
Yes, you read that right. With only about 100 words under your belt, you can understand about 50% of all Japanese you hear or read — if you choose the right words!
- これ / この (Kore / Kono) – “This” or “This _ (thing/person)”
- それ / その (Sore / Sono) – “That / It” or “That _ (thing/person)”
- あれ / あの (Are / Ano) – “That over there” or “That _ (thing/person) over there”
- 私 / 僕 (Watashi / Boku) – “I” (私 is gender neutral, while 僕 is masculine.)
- 彼 (Kare) – “He”
- 彼女 (Kanojo) – “She”
- 私たち (Watashitachi) – “We”
- 彼ら (Karera) – “They”
- 年 (Toshi or Nen) – “Year”
- 月 (Getsu or Tsuki) – “Month” and “Moon”
- 日 (Nichi or Hi) – “Day” and “Sun”
- 週 (Shuu) – “Week”
- 今日 (Kyou) – “Today”
- 明日 (Ashita) – “Tomorrow”
- 昨日 (Kinou) – “Yesterday”
- 時間 (Jikan) – “Time” (As in, a time frame.)
- 分 (Fun or Bun) – “Minute”
- 時 (Ji or Toki) – “Hour” or “Time”
- こと (Koto) – “About (this thing)”
- 日本 (Nihon) – “Japan”
- ため (Tame) – “For” or “In regards to”
- 人 (Hito or Nin) – “Person”
- 物 (Mono) – “Thing”
- 国 (Kuni or Koku) – “Country”
- 大学 (Daigaku) – “College”
- 今 (Ima) – “Now”
- 前 (Mae) – “Before”
- 後 (Ato) – “After”
- 駅 (Eki) – “(Train) Station”
- 線 (Sen) – “Line”
- 電車 (Densha) – “Train”
- 車 (Kuruma) – “Car”
- 部屋 (Heya) – “Room”
- 名前 (Namae) – “Name”
- 所 / 場所 (Tokoro / Basho) – “Place”
- 地下鉄 (Chikatetsu) – “Subway”
- 中 (Naka or Chuu) – “Middle,” “Inside,” or “During”
- 外 (Soto or Gai) – “Outside”
- 学校 (Gakkou) – “School”
- 語 (Go) – “Language” (Combine it with other words like: 言語 (gengo, “language”), 単語 (tango, “words”), 日本語 (Nihongo, “Japanese”), 英語 (Eigo, “English”), スペイン語 (Supeingo, “Spanish”).)
- 水 (Mizu) – “Water”
- 映画 (Eiga) – “Movie”
- テレビ (Terebi) – “TV”
- 家族 (Kazoku) – “Family”
- 町 (Machi) – “Town”
- 他の (Hoka no) – “Other”
- 出身 (Shusshin) – “Hometown”
- トイレ / お手洗い (Toire / Otearai) – “Bathroom”
- 家 (Uchi or Ie) – “Home” or “House”
- 店 (Mise or Ya) – “Shop”
- する (Suru) – “To do”
- です (Desu) – “To be” or “it is”
- なる (Naru) – “To become”
- ある (Aru) – “There is” for inanimate objects and plants.
- いる (Iru) – “There is” for living things, like humans and animals.
- 言う (Iu) – “To say”
- 行く (Iku) – “To go”
- 出来る (Dekiru) – “To be able to do” or “can do”
- 見る (Miru) – “To see”
- 送る (Okuru) – “To send”
- 持つ (Motsu) – “To have” or “to hold”
- 待つ (Matsu) – “To wait”
- 会う (Au) – “To meet”
- 呼ぶ (Yobu) – “To call”
- 置く (Oku) – “To put”
- 受ける (Ukeru) – “To receive”
- 作る (Tsukuru) – “To make”
- 着く (Tsuku) – “To arrive”
- 使う (Tsukau) – “To use”
- 学ぶ (Manabu) – “To learn”
- 食べる (Taberu) – “To eat”
- 飲む (Nomu) – “To drink”
- 帰る (Kaeru) – “To return home”
- 多い (Ooi) – “Many”
- たくさん (Takusan) – “Lots of”
- 少し (Sukoshi) – “Few”
- 遠い (Tooi) – “Far”
- 近い (Chikai) – “Near”
- 小さい (Chiisai) – “Small”
- 大きい (Ookii) – “Big”
- 良い (Yoi) – “Good”
- 悪い (Warui) – “Bad”
- きれいな (Kirei na) – “Clean” and “Pretty”
- 醜い (Minikui) – “Ugly”
- 難しい (Muzukashii) – “Difficult”
- 簡単な (Kantan na) – “Easy”
- うまい (Umai) – “Nice”
- 美味しい (Oishii) – “Delicious”
- まずい (Mazui) – “Disgusting”
- 大丈夫 (Daijoubu) – “All right”
- すごい (Sugoi) – “Amazing”
- 楽しい (Tanoshii) – “Enjoyable” or “Pleasant”
- とても (Totemo) – “Very”
- しかし (Shikashi) – “However”
- また (Mata) – “Also”
- その後 (Sono ato) – “After that”
- その時 (Sono toki) – “At that time”
- 場合は (Baai wa) – “If you” or “If this happens”
- 例えば (Tatoeba) – “For example”
- それから (Sorekara) – “Then”
- だから (Dakara) – “So”