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For beginner language learners, it helps to start with the practical basics. For example, if you’d like to tour Japan, it’s a good idea to first get comfortable with Japanese words for travel.
Once you’re confident using Japanese to engage in everyday skills like navigating, going out to eat, and shopping, a great next step is having simple conversations with Japanese people. These 100+ Japanese phrases can help you take that next step!
Japanese phrases for getting to know people
When you meet a group of people for the first time, you often go around and say your self-introductions. In Japanese, a self-introduction is called a jikoshōkai (自己紹介), and you can regularly use several basic Japanese phrases for your jikoshōkai.
If you’re still getting to know someone, it’s best to use polite Japanese. You’ll know you’ve become friends when the other person switches to casual Japanese and starts using Japanese slang! And if you want to share your hobbies in a self-introduction, many sports and other types of recreation are Japanese loanwords.
Japanese | Romanization | English |
自己紹介しましょう。 | Jiko shōkai shimashō. | Let’s do self-introductions. |
初めまして。 | Hajime mashite. | Nice to meet you. |
名前は___です。 | Namae wa ___ desu. | My name is ___. |
お名前は? | O-namae wa? | What is your name? |
出身は[country]の[state / city]です。 | Shusshin wa [country] no [state/city] desu. | I’m from [state/city] in [country]. |
出身はどこですか? | Shusshin wa doko desu ka? | Where are you from? |
___のどこから来ましたか? | ___ no doko kara kimashita ka? | Where in [country] are you from? |
仕事は___です。 | Shigoto wa ___ desu. | I work as a ___. |
お仕事は? | O-shigoto wa? | What is your job? |
趣味は___とか___です。 | Shumi wa ___ toka ___ desu. | My hobbies are things such as ___ and ___. |
趣味は? | Shumi wa? | What are your hobbies? |
兄弟がいますか? | Kyōdai ga imasu ka? | Do you have any siblings? |
何かペットを飼っていますか? | Nani ka petto o katte imasu ka? | Do you have any pets? |
よろしくお願いします。 | Yoroshiku onegai shimasu. | I look forward to getting to know you. (important phrase for the end of a first meeting) |
Phrases in Japanese for common questions
Questions are among the most important Japanese phrases, because the ability to ask questions is a vital skill for learning how to speak Japanese! By asking questions, you can direct the conversation to a more comfortable language level and vocabulary you’re familiar with, which will help your overall comprehension. You’ll also come off friendlier, as asking questions shows interest in the other person.
For most questions, you can change the casual version into the polite version by adding desu ka (ですか) to the end. Intonation is important when asking questions in Japanese, especially in casual Japanese—it can be all that differentiates a question from a statement.
You can have a full conversation just by using the chart’s first two questions, and there are endless categories you can start talking about, such as animals (dōbutsu; 動物), locations (basho; 場所), and cuisines (ryōri; 料理). Knowing Japanese nouns can help you discover even more conversation topics!
Japanese | Romanization | English |
どんな___が好き? / どんな___が好きですか? | Donna ___ ga suki? / Donna ___ ga suki desu ka? | What kind of [category noun] do you like? |
___が好き? / ___が好きですか? | ___ ga suki? / ___ ga suki desu ka? | Do you like [noun]? |
おすすめは? | Osusume wa? | What do you recommend? |
他は? | Hoka wa? | Anything else? |
誰? / 誰ですか? | Dare? / Dare desu ka? | Who? |
何? / 何ですか? | Nani? / Nan desu ka? | What? |
___はどこ? / ___はどこですか? | ____ wa doko? / ____ wa doko desu ka? | Where is ___? |
いつ? / いつですか? | Itsu? / Itsu desu ka? | When? |
今何時? / 今何時ですか? | Ima nanji? / Ima nanji desu ka? | What time is it now? |
*どれくらい? / どれくらいですか? | Dore kurai? / Dore kurai desu ka? | About how much time? or About how far? |
どうして? / どうしてですか? | Dōshite? / Dōshite desu ka? | Why? |
どう? / どうですか? | Dō? / Dō desu ka? | How is it? or How about it? (should answer with opinion) |
どれ? / どれですか? | Dore? / Dore desu ka? | Which one? |
___が知っている? / ___が知っていますか? | ___ ga shitte iru? / ___ ga shitte imasu ka? | Do you know ___? |
**元気? / 元気ですか? | Genki? / Genki desu ka? | How are you? (greeting) |
最近はどう? / 最近はどうですか? | Saikin wa dō? / Saikin wa dō desu ka? | How have things been recently? |
*You can respond to the question “about how much time” if you know how to tell time in Japanese.
**Similar to English, “how are you” is used more as a greeting than an earnest question. You can casually respond with genki or politely respond with genki desu. If you’d like a more thorough answer to your question, you can use the Japanese phrase, saikin wa dou (desu ka)?