Japanese

When someone says "thanks" to you, you say “you’re welcome” or “no problem” in English. When you want to say “You’re welcome,” in Japanese, you say  “どういたしまして (douitashimashite).” This is a basic word to reply to a thank you, but you rarely hear this word in a real conversation. Contrary to popular belief, Japanese people don’t say douitashimashite very often. So, is it not good to say どういたしまして (douitashimashite) when you reply to a thank you? The answer is “yes, it's fine." But there is a rule of using どういたしまして(douitashimasite). We will share about the natural way to say どういたしまして ...

Thank you is "Arigatou (ありがとう)" in Japanese. Many people know "Arigatou (ありがとう)" but maybe there are few people who can say "thank you for (something)" Just saying "arigatou" is totally fine, but you can express your thanks more to someone if you can say what you're thankful for in Japanese. For Japanese beginners, saying your thanks specifically is the next level! We will share how to say "thank you for ..." in Japanese in this article. You'll learn the correct expressions for each situation. If you haven't read our previous post, check out Seven phrase to say thank you in ...

Saying "thank you" is fundamental when learning Japanese. Many learners may already know "arigatou" or "arigatou gozaimasu" but there are some other ways to say "thank you." We will share seven basic ways to say thank you, including "arigatou," as well as explanations about when to use them. It'll be easy to understand even for non-Japanese leaners! You will be able to say a "thank you" that is suitable for every situation and for every person. Seven phrases to say "thank you" in Japanese Arigatou gozaimasu / Thank you The most common way to say thank you in Japanese is ...

Boiled egg is called ゆで卵(たまご) (yudetamago) in Japanese. ゆでる(yuderu) is a verb meaning “to boil.” When you want to say boiled food in Japanese, the structure of phrase is same as English: boiled+food name, ゆで(adjective meaning boiled)+たまご(food name). Various ways to say boiled egg. Different people have different preferences for the hardness of their boiled eggs. Some people might like soft-boiled eggs, and other people like hard-boiled eggs. We will share about how to express the hardness of a boiled egg and various ways to say boiled egg! Soft-boiled egg/半熟(はんじゅく)ゆで卵(たまご) Boiled egg with a soft yolk is called 半熟(はんじゅく)ゆで卵(たまご) (hanjuku-yudetamago) ...

In Japanese, fried egg is called 目玉(めだま)焼(や)き (medamayaki). 目玉(めだま) means “eyeball.” It’s called that because the yolk of the egg is round like an eye. Japanese people think of fried egg as breakfast or an easy lunch. 目玉焼き There are a lot of ways to fry an egg. In English, people have their eggs sunny side up, over-easy and over-hard. These words illustrate whether a person likes to have one side fried or both sides, or the yolk soft or hard. Today we’ll share how to say fried egg in various way! Different ways to say "fried egg." When you say ...

Japanese has what’s called a pitch accent. This is the intonation of Japanese language. If your goal is to sound like a native Japanese speaker, it’s important to have a grasp of it, since incorrect pitch accent will make you sound foreign. Pitch accent also differentiates words! For the word はし(hashi), pitch accent can change it from a bridge to a pair of chopsticks, so be careful! Here are some words that sound the same, but with different pitch accents. 11 different examples of pitch accent あめ　雨(あめ) (rain) vs 飴(あめ)(candy) あめ has two meanings. One is rain and another is ...

People say that time is just an illusion, but you do use it in daily life! Time is one of the fundamental measurements of our daily lives. It’s also the foundation for language learning because you’ll need to express time when talking about things such as meeting places, getting on the train, or your daily life habits. The Japanese units of time are 時(じ) (ji)-hour, 分(ふん) (fun) -minute and 秒(びょう) (byou)-second.  時(じ) (ji) and 秒(びょう) (byou) are simple, but 分(ふん) (fun) is little tricky because the pronunciation changes depending on the numbers. In this article we’ll learn how to count ...

When something bothers you, or you just don't want to do something, you can say "it's such a hassle..." in English. In Japanese, you can say めんどうくさい (mendou-kusai) for these situations! Such a hassle / めんどうくさい めんどうくさい (mendou-kusai) is often used to say “such a hassle.” This is a useful word you can use for a thing, situation, or a person.For example, your homework is always a pain in the butt. You want to do something else, like hanging out with friends or watching a drama or an anime, but you have to do your homework.When you have homework you ...

You probably feel Japanese people nod and say things in response a lot when you are having a conversation in Japanese. Japanese has many words and phrases to respond to what the speaker is saying, like うん (un) or あー(ah). These are called aizuchi (あいづち) in Japanese. Aizuchi (あいづち) show that you're following along with the conversation when you talk with Japanese people! In this article, we will share 10 common words and phrases so you can respond naturally in Japanese! How to respond in Japanese naturally うん (un) うん is the most common reaction to show you're listening to ...

It’s always fun to crack jokes with your friends. When you tell a joke, you probably say “just kidding” or “I’m kidding” after the joke. We’ll share how to say “just kidding” in Japanese in this article. Justina There are lots of phrases that mean “just kidding” in Japanese! Atsuya We’ll also share about how to apologize when your joke was too much for your friend! How to say “just kidding” in Japanese 冗談(じょうだん)だよ When you want to say “just kidding,” you can say 冗談(じょうだん)だよ(jodan dayo). 冗談(じょうだん) means joke. だ is an auxiliary verb for determining something. よ is a ...