JAPANESE PHRASES

ANDREW EUGENE

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JAPANESE PHRASES ANDREW EUGENE

ABOUT
Japan is well known for its extraordinary humble greetings and respect. Many of these greetings (and farewellscan be ordered according to the politeness level they resemble. This depends on social status and age. Bowing is a traditional custom in Japan, which can be separated according to the inclination implying the level of respect. A slight bow usually contains 15, while a salute contains 30 and a respectful bow consists of a 45 inclination.

Japanese Girl Bowing

PRONUNCIATION
Japanese is not like Chinese or Korean. Though it is quite easy to pronounce. But it consists of some consonants missing in English. When it comes to pronunciation all the syllables are pronounced at equal length except for long vowels which take the length of two syllables. Vowels slide in words like kya(), kyu(), kyo(). etc but treated as one syllable. (examples in this text are close to the real utterances, use native speakers' advices)

VOWELS
Japanese Language consists of only five basic vowels. But the difference between short and long vowels must be identified clearly. Below are romanized [Japanese letter hiragana katakana] in order.
Short Vowels:

a - sounds like a in "bark" i - sounds like ee in "been" u - sounds like oo in "room" e - sounds like ay in "bay" o - sounds like o in "boat"

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JAPANESE PHRASES ANDREW EUGENE

Long Vowels:

- sounds like a in "garden" ii - sounds like ee in "green" u - sounds like oo in "boot" (longer oo utterance) e- sounds like ay in "may" o- sounds like o in "joke"

R = Rmanji*

P = Pronunciation Pronunciation Chart P R P ee u oo kee ku koo shee su** soo chee tsu tsoo nee nu noo hee hu hoo mee mu moo yu yoo ree ru roo

R* a ka sa ta na ha ma ya ra wa ga za da ba pa kya sha cha nya hya mya rya gya ja bya pya

P aah kah sah tah nah hah mah yah rah wah gah zah dah bah pah kyah shah chah nyah hyah myah ryah gyah jah byah pyah

R i k si/shi chi ni hi mi ri

R e ke se te ne he me re

P ay kay say tay nay hay may ray

gi ji di bi pi

gee jee dee bee pee

gu zu dsu bu pu kyu shu chu nyu hyu myu ryu gyu ju byu pyu

goo zoo dsoo boo poo kyoo shoo choo nyoo hyoo myoo ryoo gyuh joo byoo pyoo

ge ze de be pe

gay zay day bay pay

R o ko so to no ho mo yo ro wo n go zo do bo po kyo sho cho nyo hyo myo ryo gyo jo byo pyo

P oh koh soh toh noh hoh moh yoh roh w n*** goh zoh doh boh poh kyoh shoh choh nyoh hyoh myoh ryoh gyoh joh byoh pyoh

Blank cells do not represent missing pronunciation. There are no letters in Japanese sounds representing them.

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JAPANESE PHRASES ANDREW EUGENE

* (romanized Japanese) ** (weak at end of sentences) *** (tongue touches your upper palate)

PHRASES
Japanese phrases must be handled in in the right way at the right situation. Phrases vary according to the politeness they resemble. For example: dmo means thank you but it is too casual to use with a respected person. Instead Japanese use dmo arigatho to be more polite. These phrases are used daily between Japanese. Within brackets you can find their forms and where to use. Bracket-less words can be used in any situation and those words contain no politer forms. Rmaji Arigat Dmo Dmo Arigat Dmo Arigat Gozaimasu Dmo Arigat Gozaimashita D itashimashita Saynara Oyasuminasai Konbanwa Tadaima Japanese Shitsureishimasu Odaizini Hajimemashite Konnichiwa Okaerinasai Ohay gozaimasu. . Ohay Sumimasen Gomennsai Misete kudasai Ohairi kudasai Konbanwa English Thank you (casual, polite) Thank you (casual) Thank you (casual, politer) Thank you (very polite) Thank you (very polite, past tense) You're Welcome Good bye Good night Good evening I'm home (when you return home) Excuse Take care Nice to meet you ( in the first meeting) Hello, Welcome Welcome back (when someone returns back home) Good morning (until 10 am) Good morning (casual) I am sorry, Excuse I am sorry (severe mistake, irreplaceable) Please show Please come-in Good evening

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JAPANESE PHRASES ANDREW EUGENE

Dzo yoroshiku Ee Hai Dore Doko Dshite Itsu Irasshaimase Tasukete Nani Ima Nannichi Nanybi Raishuu Raigetsu Nannen Nannin Moshimoshi Konnichiwa Ohairi kudasai Onegaishimasu Omachi kudasai M kekko desu

Please favour me (in a meeting) Yes (agreement) Yes (acknowledgement) Which one? Where? Why?, How? When? Welcome, Come in Please help! What? Now Which day? (of the month) Which day? (of the week) Next week Next month Which year? How many people? Hello, I say Hello, Good day Please sit down Please do Please wait No thank you

You may find in the beginning of some phrases which is used for more politeness.

Japanese Phrases by Andrew Eugene is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at http://www.scribd.com/AndrewEugene.