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
want 欲しい ほしい (this is an adjective in Japanese)
like 好き すき (this is an adjective in Japanese)
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.)
so (meaning “therefore”; e.g. “I wanted it, so I bought it”) から
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
too (as in “too tall”) 過ぎる すぎる
so (as in “so tall”) 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
better Grammatical comparative construction AのほうがBより is used
worse Grammatical comparative construction AのほうがBより is used
the, a (technically articles) this doesn’t exist in Japanese
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’)
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)
last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday”) 先 せん
last (meaning “final”) 最後の さいごの
right (meaning “correct”) 正しい ただしい
Know them in the subject (“I”), direct object (“me”), indirect object (“to me”), and possessive (“my”) forms.
it typically それ is used, which means ‘that’, this is hard to translate
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.
(name of the language you’re studying) 日本語 にほんご
time (as in “a long time”) 時間 じかん
time (as in “I did it 3 times”) 回 かい
(name of your home country) イギリス
manager 主事 しゅじ(this is very sensitive to hierarchical language changes this is a complex issue in Japanese)
work (as in “I have a lot of work to do”) 仕事 しごと
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
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
get (meaning “obtain”) もらう
try 〜てみる (this is a grammatical construction)
stop (doing something) 止める やめる
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
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 for (aka “request”) 頼む たのむ
wonder expressed using だろう or かな at the end of sentences
live 生きる いきる (to live/exist)・住む すむ(to live/reside in a place)
care 世話する せわする (take care of)
excuse me (to get someone’s attention) すみません
it’s fine (response to an apology) とんでもないです
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
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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