The other day I went over many ways to say thank you, so it only makes sense to cover please as well. Today’s lesson is going into depth on how to say please in Japanese. If you’re planning on visiting Japan this year, or next, then this should in the top ten words you MUST know! You’d be surprised how much you can accomplish by using body language (pointing, gestures, etc.) along with please and thank you in Japanese. Let’s see the many different ways to say it, and the situations that are appropriate for each one. 1. 下さい (kudasai) The first way to say please in Japanese that I…

I’ve heard it said many times before, but it’s worth repeating here: the two most important words in any language are please and thank you. That’s why today’s lesson is all about how to say thank you in Japanese. It will probably come as no surprise that there are many ways to say this useful phrase. The differences are based on things such as the formality level of the situation, or just the area of Japan that a person is from. Check out this list and learn the many different expressions so that you always know the right way to express you gratitude in Japanese! 1. The Common Way To…

When the day’s winding down and you’re ready to catch some winks, you typically say good night to your friends or family before brushing your teeth and then going to bed. So today’s lessons will teach you how to say good night in Japanese. It’s a common phrase with both a polite form and a casual way to say it, but above all keep in mind that it’s not something you typically say to people who are above you in social standing, such as your boss for example. The Japanese Word for Good Night Here is the more formal form of the phrase now, written in both Japanese and roman…

When you’re first starting out with the language, you want to learn a lot of the common words and phrases first. Things such as how to say goodbye in Japanese will serve you well for the rest of your days. After all, it’s a word that you can practice in the real world many times each day, depending on how many people you normally interact with. But did you know that there are actually a lot of different ways that Japanese people say goodbye? Choosing the right one depends on the context of the situation, and your relationship with the other person. Let’s dive right in and learn the different…

Learning how to say hello in Japanese will serve you well as it will allow you to begin any and all new conversations in a friendly way when you speak in Japanese. The cool thing about the Japanese language is that there are many different ways that you can say hello, and they all depend on various things such as the time of day, the level of politeness needed, and so on. So today I’m going to share with you this ultimate guide on greetings, known as 挨拶 (aisatsu), so that you always know how to begin a conversation with anyone you meet. 1. Hello / Good Afternoon The most…

When you’re listening to a variety of Japanese podcasts or anime, you tend to run into a lot of the same words and phrases over and over again. One of those short phrases is sore yori, which is spelled in Japanese as それより. Today we will ask and answer the question, what does sore yori mean in Japanese? After that I’ll provide some additional example sentences so that you can begin to really get a feel for how it works and is used in the language. The Meaning Behind the Phrase If you simply pop the phase それより into Google Translate it will provide you with the English translation “Than…

Hey, we’ve all been there, right? Separated from a friend or family member in a huge crowd or an unfamiliar mall, and there’s nothing to do but call them on the phone and figure out where they went. To solve this problem, it’s time to learn how to say where are you in Japanese. The first thing I want to go over is the basic phrase so that you can immediately learn one way to ask this question. But after that I’d like to spend a little bit of time going over some other stuff as well. One of those things is the Japanese word for “you.” This word isn’t…

Sometimes in life, people make mistakes. It could be that they screwed up your lunch order, or perhaps called you by someone else’s name. Regardless of the specific details, you want to let them know about it. So how do you say wrong in Japanese? That’s what I’ll be covering today so that you can learn the correct form of the word to use depending on what sort of situation you find yourself in. The thing to keep in mind is that, in English, the word “wrong” can have several meanings and it really depends on the context that it appears in. Consider the following sentences examples: What happen to…

Let’s say you’re out and about with your Japanese friends and you discover something cool. You’d like to tell your friends about it, but there’s one phrase you need to know first, how to say come here in Japanese! We’ll be going over this phrase, and a couple that are pretty similar to it, so that you can persuade people to come over to where you’re at and save yourself the trip of going over to them, throwing them on your shoulders, and then taking them by force. No? It’s just me that does that? Oh well, MOVING ON! The Polite Way to Say it We’ll start out with the…