Japanese Vocabulary and Grammar

Vocabulary

• フィルム (firumu): Means film
• スイッチ (suitchi): Means switch
• ビル (biru): Means buildings
• スパイス (supaisu): Means spice
• コロナロ (koronaro): Means corona
• ディズニ□ラ (dizuni□ra): Means disneyland
• ンド (ndo): means land
• ホテル (hoteru): Means hotel
• ホンコン (honkon): Means Hongkong
• シンガポ (shingapo): Means Singapore
• ル (ru): Is a Japanese character

Grammar

• うちにかえる (uchi ni kaeru): To return home
• おきる (okiru): To wake up
• ばんごはんをたべる (ban gohan wo taberu): To eat dinner
• あさごはんをたべる (asa gohan wo taberu): To eat breakfast
• しゅくだいをする (shukudai wo suru): To do homework
• べんきょうする (benkyou suru): To study
• ねる (neru): To sleep
• あそびます (asobimasu): To enjoy oneself, play
• およぎます (oyogimasu): To swim
• むかえます (mukaemasu): To go to meet, welcome
• つかれます (tsukaremasu): To get tired
• けっこんします (kekkon shimasu): To marry or get married
• かいものします (kaimono shimasu): To do shopping
• しょくじします (shokuji shimasu): To have a meal, dine
• さんぽします (sanpo shimasu): To take a walk in a park
• たいへん[な] (taihen[na]): Hard, tough, severe, awful
• ほしい (hoshii): To want something
• ひろい (hiroi): Wide, spacious
• せまい (semai): Narrow, small (room, etc.)
• プール (puru): A swimming pool
• かわ (kawa): A river
• びじゅつ (bijutsu): Fine arts
• つり (tsuri): Fishing
• スキー (suki): Skiing
• しゅうまつ (shuumatsu): The weekend
• [お]しょうがつ ([o]shougatsu): New Year's Day
• ~ごろ (~goro): About ~ (time)
• なにか (nanika): Something
• どこか (dokoka): Somewhere, some place

Translation Notes

• ラシア (rashia): Means Russia
• モスケ (mosuke): Means Mosque
• チェス (chesu): Means Chess
• プロジェクト (purojekuto): Means Project
• カリフォルニア (kariforunia): Means California
• ハロウィーン (harouiin): Means Halloween
• フライドポテト (furaido poteto): Means Fried Potato

Kanji Numbers

• 百 (hyaku): 100
• 千 (sen): 1,000
• 万 (ichi-man): 10,000

Yen

• 円: Symbol for Yen
• ¥: Another symbol for Yen

Directions

• 上 (ue): Top/Above
• 下 (shita): Below/Down
• 左 (hidari): Left
• 右 (migi): Right

Noun Grammar

• The sentence pattern "N (noun)がほしいです" expresses desiring to possess or have an object
• This pattern can also ask what the listener wants
• "が" marks the object with the particle
  • わたしはともだちがほしいです (Watashi wa tomodachi ga hoshii desu): I want a friend
  • いまなにがいちばんほしいですか (Ima nani ga ichiban hoshii desu ka): What do you want most now?

Verb Grammar

• Adding "ます" to a verb is called the ます-form
  • In the word "かいます",　"かい" is the ます-form
• "Vます form たいです" expresses a desire to do something asking what a listener wants to do
  • が can replace the particle を.
    • The other particles can not be replaced.
  • Vます-form たい inflects as an ㄟˋ-adjective
  • わたしはおきなわ いきたいです (Watashi wa okinawa ikitai desu): Is I want to go to Okinawa
  • わたしはてんぷらをたべたいです (Watashi wa tenpura wo tabetai desu): I want to eat tempura

Place and Action Grammar

• The purposes of the actions いきます(ikimasu), きます (kimasu), and かえります (kaerimasu) are marked by に.
• "N (place) に {Vます-form} に 行きます/来ます/帰ります": Indicates intention to go, come, or return for a specific purpose
  • 神戸へ インド料理を食べに行きます(Koube e indo ryouri o tabe ni ikimasu): I'm going to Kobe to have some Indian food.
• If the verb is "N します(shimasu)" it's used in the form
  • Nにいきます / きます /　かえります
• "Nをします (o shimasu)" is used in the form
  • Nにいきます / きます / かえります
  • 神戸へ買い物に行きます (Koube e kaimono ni ikima): I'm going shopping in Kobe.
  • 日本へ美術の勉強に来ました (Nihon e bijutsu no benkyou ni kimashita): I came to Japan to study art.

General Notes

• どこか (dokoka) means 'anywhere' or 'somewhere'.
• なにか (nanika) means 'anything' or 'something'.
• The particle へ comes after どこか (dokoka)
• The particle をafter なにか (nanika)
• Either of these can be omitted.
• は can be added to a word expressing time to make it the topic of a sentence.
  • 冬休みはどこか[へ] 行きましたか (Fuyu yasumi wa dokoka [e] ikimashita ka): Did you go anywhere for your winter holiday?
  • ええ。北海道へ スキーに行きました (Ee. Hokkaidou e suki ni ikimashita): Yes, I went skiing in Hokkaido.
  • のどがかわきましたから、何か[を]飲みたいです (Nodo ga kawakimashita kara, nanika [o] nomitai desu): I'm thirsty; I'd like something to drink.

Student Conversation Example

• Teacher: A さんはなんじにおきる (A san wa nanji ni okiru): Teacher: A, what time do you wake up?
• Student A: ごぜん 6じにごろ おきる (Gozen 6 ji ni goro okiru): Student A: I wake up around 6 AM
• Teacher: へえそうなんだ.B さん はなんじにおきる (Hee sou nanda. B san wa nanji ni okiru): Teacher: Oh, I see. B, what time do you wake up?
• Student B: ごぜん 6じはんごろに おきる (Gozen 6 ji han goro ni okiru): Student B: I wake up around 6:30 AM
• Teacher: わたしも、おなじ. C さん はなんじにおきる (Watashi mo, onaji. C san wa nanji ni okiru): Teacher: Me too, same here. Student C, what time do you wake up?
• Student C: ごぜん 6じ じゅうふんごろ に おきる (Gozen 6 ji jippun goro ni okiru): I wake up around 6:10 AM
• Teacher: へえそうなんだ (Hee sou nanda): Oh, I see.

Household Chores (Japanese High School Girls Ranking)

• Top 1: Cook (112 students)
• Top 2: Don't do household chores (109 students)
• Top 3: Do the laundry (99 students)
• Top 4: Clean the toilet/bathroom (80 students)
• Top 5: Shopping - going to grocery (63 students)
• Top 6: Fetch younger brother or sister (15 students)

Outside-School Lessons (Japanese High School Girls Ranking)

• Top 1: Piano (377 students)
• Top 2: Swimming (309 students)
• Top 3: Calligraphy (260 students)
• Top 4: Ballet (177 students)
• Top 5: Nothing (154 students)
• Top 6: Kumon (tutorial classes) (138 students)
• Top 7: Abacus (115 students)
• Top 8: Martial Arts (112 students)
• Top 9: Ikebana - Flower arrangement