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New Year Vocabulary 元日

New Year’s Day 元日 is the most special day in the Japanese calendar. During the first seven days, every Japanese home is decorated with special ornaments called 門松 [かどまつ] made of pine, bamboo, and sometimes ume tree representing longevity, prosperity and steadfastness, respectively.

Japanese people drink a spiced sake called 屠蘇 [とそ] and eats a soup called 雑煮 [ぞい] containing mochi rice cakes.

During the beginning of the year there is also a tradition to do the first shrine (or temple) visit of the year 初詣で where wishes for a long life and for happiness are made. During this celebration, the temples are really crowded. Big ones like Meiji-jingu 明治神宮 or Narita-san temple have millions of visitors over three days.

元日「がんじつ」 ganjitsu: New Year’s Day

正月「しょうがつ」 shougatsu: New Year (esp. first three days) the first month of the year, January

三が日「さんがにち」 sanganichi: first three days of the New Year (January 1st to 3rd)

年賀「ねんが」 nenga: New Year’s greetings/ New Year’s card

前年「ぜんねん」 zennen: the preceding year/ the previous year/ last year

年内「ねんない」 nennai: by the end of the year

平年「へいねん」 heinen: non-leap year/ normal year (esp. as pertains to weather patterns, vegetative growth, harvest yields, etc.

年明け「としあけ」 toshiake: beginning of the year/ early in the New Year

年始「ねんし」 nenshi: New Year’s call/ beginning of the year/ New Year’s greetings

年賀状「ねんがじょう」 nengajou: New Year’s card

越年「えつねん」 etsunen: seeing the old year out/ greeting the New Year/ passing the winter/ hibernation

若松「わかまつ」 wakamatsu: young pine, New Year’s symbolic pine decoration

門松「かどまつ」 kadomatsu: New Year’s pine decoration

歳暮「せいぼ」 seibo: year-end gift

お年玉「おとしだま」 otoshidama: New Year’s gift (usu. money given to a child by relatives and visitors)

忘年会「ぼうねんかい」 bounenkai: year-end party

歳末「さいまつ」 saimatsu: year end

年明ける「としあける」 toshiakeru: the New Year dawns

年の暮れ「としのくれ」toshinokure: year end

年越し「としこし」 toshikoshi: New Year’s Eve/ end of the year

当たり年「あたりどし」 ataridoshi: good or lucky year

賀正「がしょう」 gashou: A Happy New Year! written on New Year’s cards, etc

初詣「はつもうで」 hatsumoude: first shrine visit of New Year

除夜「じょや」 joya: New Year’s Eve

謹賀新年「きんがしんねん」 kingashinnen: Happy New Year!

お節料理「おせちりょうり」 osechiryouri: food served during the New Year’s Holidays

大晦日「おおみそか」 Oomisoka: New Year’s Eve

除夜の鐘「じょやのかね」joyanokane: temple bell rung 108 times on New Year’s Eve

仕事始め「しごとはじめ」 shigotohajime: resuming work after the New Year’s vacation, first time that one works in the year

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ysmbaram · 1 year

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~300 Basic words

funwithlanguages made a post about how you can write a lot with around just 300 words , there doesn’t seem to be a Japanese version, so I thought I’d have a go at translating it. This list has some things that just aren’t used in Japanese or that commonly used words don’t exist for (the, a etc). Be careful as I’ve kept the original list in tact, which means some things listed in the adjectives section (’enough’ and ‘too’, for example) are verbs and some verbs (’like’ ‘want’) are adjectives in Japanese, also terms about work, family and counting etc need special attention in Japanese as they are very different from English. No, I will not transliterate this into romaji, please don’t ask me to. You can learn kana in a weekend, far faster than memorising this word list. If you can’t read this list, go and learn kana then come back to it when you can. Romaji damages your learning and accent development. If there’s a mistake, please let me know, thanks! First Verbs

be 居る　いる

there is　ある

have　持つ　もつ

do　する

go　行く　いく

want　欲しいほしい (this is an adjective in Japanese)

can できる

need いる

think　思う　おもう

know　知る　しる

say　言う　いう

like　好き　すき　(this is an adjective in Japanese)

speak 話す　はなす

learn　習う　ならう

understand　分かる　わかる

Conjunctions These are really hard to translate!

that (as in “I think that…” or “the woman that…”) expressed using 〜と思います　とおもいます　or maybe the passive tense ‘(The books that are written in English are over there.’ etc.)

and　と

or　か

but　でも・けど

because　から

though　でも

so (meaning “therefore”; e.g. “I wanted it, so I bought it”) から

if　なら

Prepositions

of の

to　に

from　から

in　なか

at (a place)　で

at (a time)　に

with　と

about　くらい

like (meaning “similar to”)　みたい

for (warning, this one has several meanings that you need to take care of)　ため (for the purpose of~) ・につき (for/ per e.g. ~yen for one hour)・particles の, に and で　are commonly used to cover many other uses of for, but need to be checked on a case by cases basis.

before (also as a conjunction)　〜の前に　〜のまえに

after (also as a conjunction)　〜の後で　〜のあとで

during 中　ちゅう

Question Words

who 誰　だれ

what　何　なに

where　どこ

when　いつ

why　なぜ

how　どう

how much　いくら・いくつ

which　どちら

Adverbs

a lot　多い　おおい

a little　少しい　すこしい

well　上手　じょうず

badly　下手　へた

only　だけ

also　又　また

very　とても

too (as in “too tall”)　過ぎる　すぎる

too much　過ぎる　すぎる

so (as in “so tall”)　そんなに

so much　そんなに

more (know how to say “more … than …”) Grammatical comparative construction　AのほうがBより is used when A is the thing that is more

less (know how to say “less … than …”) Grammatical comparative construction　AのほうがBより is used when B is the thing that is less

as … as … (e.g. “as tall as”) You can use 〜のような grammar to express this, ほど can also be used

most　最も　もっとも

least　最低さいてい

better　Grammatical comparative construction　AのほうがBより is used

best　一番いい　いちばんいい

worse　Grammatical comparative construction　AのほうがBより is used

worst　一番最悪　いちばんさいあく

now　今　いま

then　その時　そのとき

here　ここ

there　あそこ

maybe　多分　たぶん

always　いつも

usually　大抵　たいてい

often　よく

sometimes　時々　ときどき

never　全然　ぜんぜん

today　今日　きょう

yesterday　昨日　きのう

tomorrow　明日　あした

soon　もう直ぐ　もうすぐ

almost　ほとんど

already　もう

still　まだ

even　それでも (even if)

enough　足りる　たりる

Adjectives

the, a (technically articles) this doesn’t exist in Japanese

this　この

that　あの

good　良い　よい

bad　悪い　わるい

all　全部　ぜんぶ

some　幾つか　いくつか

no　何にも　なんにも　(as in 何にもないです　‘There are none there’)

any　何でも　なんでも　(as in なんでも良いです　‘any one is ok’)

many　たくさん

few　少ない　すくない

most 　一番〜　いちばん〜

other　別　べつ

same　同じ　おなじ

different　違う　ちがう

enough　足りる　たりる

one　一つ　ひとつ・一　いち

two　二つ　ふたつ・二　に (counting in Japanese is very complex, you need to research this issue if you are a beginner)

a few 少し　すこし

first　一番　いちばん

next　次　つぎ

last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday”)　先　せん

last (meaning “final”)　最後の　さいごの

easy　簡単　かんたん

hard　難しい　むずかしい

early　早い　はやい

late　遅い　おそい

important　大事　だいじ

interesting　面白い　おもしろい

fun　楽しい　たのしい

boring　たくつ

beautiful　美しい　うつくしい

big　大きい　おおきい

small　小さい　ちいさい

happy　嬉しい　うれしい

sad　悲しい　かなしい

busy　忙しい　いそがしい

excited　ワクワクする　

tired　疲れる　つかれ　

ready　準備　じゅんび

favorite　大好き　だいすき

new　新しい　あたらしい

right (meaning “correct”)　正しい　ただしい

wrong　間違える　まちがえる

true　真の〜　しんの〜

Pronouns

Know them in the subject (“I”), direct object (“me”), indirect object (“to me”), and possessive (“my”) forms.

I　私　わたし

you　あなた

she　彼女　かのじょ

he　彼　かれ

it　typically それ is used, which means ‘that’, this is hard to translate

we　私達　わたしたち

you (plural)　あなたたち

they　彼らかれら

Nouns

If your language has grammatical gender, then learn each noun as “the [noun]” with “the” in the correct gender. (e.g. in Spanish, instead of learning language = “idioma”, learn language = “el idioma”.) This will help you remember the gender.

everything　全て　すべて

something　何か　なにか

nothing　何にも　なにも

everyone 　みんな

someone　誰か　だれか

no one　誰も　だれも

(name of the language you’re studying)　日本語　にほんご

English　英語　えいご

thing　物　もの

person　人　ひと

place　所　ところ

time (as in “a long time”)　時間　じかん

time (as in “I did it 3 times”)　回　かい

friend　友達　ともだち

woman　女の人　おんなのひと

man　男の人　おとこのひと

money　お金　おかね

country　日本　にほん

(name of your home country)　イギリス

city　市　し

language　言葉　ことば

word　単語　たんご

food 食べ物　たべもの

house　家　いえ

store　店　みせ

office　事務所　じむしょ

company　会社　かいしゃ

manager　主事　しゅじ(this is very sensitive to hierarchical language changes this is a complex issue in Japanese)

coworker 同僚　どうりょう

job　仕事　しごと

work (as in “I have a lot of work to do”)　仕事　しごと

problem　問題　もんだい

question　質問　しつもん

idea　考え　かんがえ

life　人生　じんせい

world　世界　せかい

day　日　ひ

year　年　ねん

week　週　しゅう

month　月　つき

hour　時じ

mother, father, parent　母　はは　(my mum) お母さん　おかあさん　(your mother)・　父　ちち　(my dad) お父さん　おとうさん　(your father)・　両親　りょうしん (parents) (this is very sensitive to hierarchical language changes this is a complex issue in Japanese)

daughter, son, child　娘　むすめ (my daughter)・息子　むすこ (my son) ・子供　こども　(this is very sensitive to hierarchical language changes this is a complex issue in Japanese)

wife, husband 妻　つま　(my wife) 奥さん　おくさん (your wife)・夫　おっと　(my husband) ご主人　ごしゅじん (your husband) (this is very sensitive to hierarchical language changes this is a complex issue in Japanese)

girlfriend, boyfriend 彼女　かのじょ・彼氏　かれし

More Verbs

work (as in a person working) 働く　はたらく

work (meaning “to function”, e.g. “the TV works”) 動く　うごく

see　見る　みる

use　使う　つかう

should　べき

believe　信じる　しんじる

practice　練習する　れんしゅうする

seem　みたい

come　来る　くる

leave　出る　でる

return　帰る　かえる

give　上げる　あげる

take　取る　とる

bring　持って来る　もってくる

look for　探す　さがす

find　見つける　みつける

get (meaning “obtain”)　もらう

receive　もらう・くれる

buy　買う　かう

try　〜てみる (this is a grammatical construction)

start 始める　はじめる

stop (doing something)　止めるやめる

finish　終わる　おわる

continue　続く　つづく

wake up　起きる　おきる

get up　起きる　おきる

eat　食べる　たべる

eat breakfast (in several languages, this is a verb)　朝ごはんを食べる　あさごはんをたべる

eat lunch　昼ごはんを食べる　ひるごはんをたべる

eat dinner　晩御飯を食べる　ばんごはんをたべる

happen　起こる　おこる

feel　感じる　かんじる

create (aka “make”)　作る　つくる

cause (aka “make”)　indicated using the passive, causative or causative-passive tenses

meet (meeting someone for the first time)　会う　あう

meet (meaning “to bump into”)　打つかるぶつかる

meet (an arranged meeting)　会う　あう

ask (a question)　聞く　きく

ask for (aka “request”)　頼む　たのむ

wonder expressed using だろう or かな at the end of sentences

reply　返事する　へんじする

mean　意味　いみ (noun)

read　読む　よむ

write　書く　かく

listen　聞く　きく

hear　聞く　きく

remember　覚える　おぼえる

forget　忘れる　わすれる

choose　選ぶ　えらぶ

decide　決める　きめる

be born　生まれる　うまれる

die　死ぬ　しぬ

kill　殺す　ころす

live　生きる　いきる (to live/exist)・住む　すむ(to live/reside in a place)

stay　泊まる　とまる

change　変わる　かわる

help　助ける　たすける

send　送る　おくる

study　勉強する　べんきょうする

improve 磨く　みがく

hope　希望する　きぼうする

care　世話する　せわする (take care of)

Phrases

hello　こんにちは

goodbye　じゃあまたね・さよなら

thank you　ありがとう

you’re welcome　どういたしまして

excuse me (to get someone’s attention)　すみません

sorry　ごめんなさい

it’s fine (response to an apology)　とんでもないです

please　おねがいします・ください

yes　はい

no　いいえ

okay　大丈夫です

My name is　私の名前は〜です。　わたしのなまえは〜です。

What’s your name?　お名前は？　おなまえは？

Nice to meet you.　初めまして　はじめまして (said before anything else in an introduction)

How are you? お元気ですか？　おげんきですか？

I’m doing well, how about you?　私は元気です、あなたは？　わたしはげんきです、あなたは？

Sorry? / What? (if you didn’t hear something)　すみません？(use a rising intonation to indicate this is a question)

How do you say ______?　〜は日本語で何と言いますか？　〜はにほんごでなんといいますか？

What does ______ mean?　〜はどういう意味ですか？　〜はどういういみですか？

I don’t understand.　分かりません　わかりません

Could you repeat that?　もう一度お願いします　もういちどおねがいします

Could you speak more slowly, please? もっとゆっくり話して下さいもっとゆっくりはなしてください

Well (as in “well, I think…”)　まあ

Really?　本当に？　ほんとうに？

I guess that　〜かもしれない。

It’s hot. (talking about the weather)　暑いですね！　あついですね！　

It’s cold. (talking about the weather)　寒いですね！　さむいですね！

—

Now that you’ve learned the 300 basic words, how do you learn more? I suggest practicing writing.

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