[ Learning Japanese | Everyday Phrases in Japanese | Greetings and farewells]

This Russian-Japanese phrasebook with pronunciation and transcription includes common words and expressions for everyday communication: standard phrases of greetings, thanks, questions, requests, a set of words for communication in shops, restaurants, hotels, orientation in a new and unfamiliar place and much more.

Typically, English is used for communication in the tourism industry. At the same time, knowing and using common polite phrases that the Japanese phrasebook offers will help establish contact and earn the respect of the local population.

In the Russian-Japanese phrasebook for tourists, pronunciation is given based on transcription. The colon indicates the longitude of the sound. For convenience, you can download the Russian-Japanese phrasebook for free in pdf format.

Greetings

Homework

New homework

Writing

Write a brief definition of the following terms:

• kana
• hiragana
• kanji
• katakana

Grammar

Translate into Russian:

• あなたは先生ですanata wa sensei desu
• 私は先生でしたwatashi wa sensei deshita
• 私もあなたを見ますwatashi mo anata o mimasu

Translate into Japanese:

• You are a teacher.
• I saw you.
• Can you see me.

Phonetics

Cross out Russian sounds that are not present in Japanese:

• I
• O
• e
• To
• l
• G
• w
• ts
• R
• at
• n
• s
• uh
• and

Cross out the incorrect statement.

• In Japanese, all syllables end with a vowel.
• In Japanese, tonic stress affects the meaning of a word.
• In Japanese, reduction does not affect the meaning of a word.

Correct answers to homework

Grammar

Translate into Russian:

• あなたは先生ですanata wa sensei desu
  = You are a teacher
• 私は先生でしたwatashi wa sensei deshita
  = I was a teacher
• 私もあなたを見ますwatashi mo anata o mimasu
  = I see you too

Translate into Japanese:

• You are a teacher. = あなたは先生ですanata wa sensei desu
• I saw you. = 私はあなたを見ましたwatashi wa anata o mimashita
• Can you see me. = あなたは私を見ますanata wa watashi o mimasu

Phonetics

Cross out Russian sounds that are not present in Japanese:

Sounds that should have been left are highlighted in bold

• I
• O
• e
• To
• l
• G
• w
• ts
• R
• at
• n
• s
• uh
• and

Cross out the incorrect statement.

statement that should be left in bold

• In Japanese, all syllables end with a vowel.
• In Japanese, tonic stress affects the meaning of a word.
• In Japanese, reduction does not affect the meaning of a word.

Standard phrases

Writing

I think it would be wise to start by explaining the Japanese writing system.
The Japanese language has two syllabaries - katakana and hiragana, each with 47 unique characters and 73 including derivatives. Here, kana characters (as katakana and hiragana together are called) are called letters, although most of them are sequences of sounds - syllables, and are transcribed with several Russian letters. The most interesting thing is that both alphabets duplicate each other in the set of letters (the spelling is different), that is, without any damage, you can replace any hiragana letter in the text with the same katakana letter and vice versa - the readability of the text will not be lost. The Japanese language has rules for when to write in hiragana and when to write in katakana. So, let's look at these two alphabets in a little more detail. And later we will look at Japanese characters - kanji.

Katakana

An alphabet used to write words borrowed from other languages. For example, the Japanese language has a lot of borrowings from English, which is due to the imposition of American culture and language on the Japanese since the Second World War. Although Japanese words that you want to emphasize can also be written in katakana (it is used as an analogue of our italics

).
An example of the correct spelling of the letter ア
An example of a letter from katakana is (a). And immediately an example of a word. アニメ, or anime

, if written using the kiriji transcription system for Japanese text that we will use in this tutorial. This word means animation (by the way, any animation, not just Japanese). True, in Russian this word is usually written as “anime” and in Russian it means exclusively Japanese animation, but we are learning Japanese, not Russian! The letters ア (a) and (ni) are pronounced in Japanese the same way as in Russian, but (me) sounds like a cross between the Russian syllables me and me, but is perhaps closer to me. But I have already delved into phonetics, which we will certainly look at in more detail a little later.

Hiragana

And here is the alphabet used to write ordinary Japanese words. Why only regular ones? For example, the word karaoke is almost always written in katakana, although it is the most Japanese and can be written not only in hiragana, but even in hieroglyphs. According to our observations, Latin and katakana are “cool” for the Japanese.

An example of the correct spelling of the letter あ

An example of a hiragana letter is (a). And here is the word - あなた ( anata

;
the letter あ is pronounced like the Russian a
, as well as equal to
na
and equal to
ta
).
The word means “you”, but at this point I would like to immediately note that in the Japanese language there are no numbers and genders, which is usually explained using the example of the word ねこ ( neko
; the situation with
ne
is approximately the same as with
me
, although here the opposite is closer ねto Russian
ne
, than to
not
), which in Russian, depending on the context, can be translated as "cat", "cat", "cats" or "cats".

Railway station

Phonetics

Japanese phonetics is in many ways similar to Russian: in the Japanese language, vowels that soften a consonant are also widespread (and, ya, ё, yu - they, by the way, are also written in separate letters, unlike many other languages), a small total number of vowels ( 8, and in Russian 10), a small number of consonant sounds (most of them coincide with Russian), so it’s easier to say how Japanese phonetics differs from Russian than to tell everything as if you didn’t know Russian.

1. The Japanese language has a syllabic system, i.e. after a consonant there is always a vowel, there are only two exceptions - n (an independent syllable from one consonant) and doubling (for example kka
   , which is only written in Russian transcription with two letters; in Japanese alphabets a special symbol is used indicating doubling, but more on that in in the following lessons).
2. The Japanese language does not have the following Russian sounds: consonants - v, zh, l, f, ch, sh, shch; vowels - e, s.
3. In the Japanese language there is no Russian force stress, all syllables are pronounced evenly and equally clearly (approximately like stressed syllables in Russian), but at the same time there is a special Japanese tonic stress, certain syllables are pronounced in a tone higher than others. This emphasis is very important; incorrect emphasis can distort the meaning of the phrase. More about this in the following lessons.
4. But some syllables are reduced, for example, if we take the already studied connective ですdesu
   , then in fact, due to the reduction, it is pronounced almost like
   des
   , and the past form of this connective でした
   desita
   is pronounced almost like
   desta
   . Nevertheless, pronouncing a word without reduction does not change the meaning of what was said, and in some Japanese regions it is customary to pronounce it this way.
5. wa
   recorded in the transcription is pronounced approximately like
   ua
   (very short u) or like English.
   wa
   .
   r
   recorded in the transcription are pronounced in Japanese as something between Russian
   r
   and
   l
   .
   In the syllable fu, f
   is pronounced approximately like
   in
   the syllable
   va
   , but without tension on the vocal cords.
   By the way, in Japanese the letter f
   is found only in the syllable
   fu
   , since this syllable is in the row of the letter
   x
   , that is, the syllable
   hu
   is pronounced
   fu
   .
   The pronunciation of some consonants changes if they are followed by softening vowels: t
   becomes an intermediate sound between
   t
   and
   h
   ;
   dz
   - in the sound
   j
   , but with softening (as for example sometimes in Russian in the word drozhzhi
   )
   ;
   s
   - a sound intermediate between
   s
   and
   sch
   .
   The syllable tu
   is pronounced as
   tsu
   , the syllable
   du
   is pronounced as
   dzu
   (voiced
   tsu
   ).
   The vowel y
   is intermediate between
   y
   and
   y
   . It is clear that it is difficult to master everything at once; we will analyze each of the above sounds separately in subsequent lessons.
6. In Japanese, the meaning of a word is influenced by the length of the pronounced vowel. In Russian transcription, long vowels are followed by a colon. For example ほんとうにhonto: ni
   - lit. “truly, truly, truly.” If instead of a short vowel you pronounce a long one or vice versa, you may not be understood.

red - phonetically significantly different syllables, yellow - not too significantly different, black - almost completely identical to the transcription.
Despite such a considerable number of differences, the Kiriji transcription system allows you to pronounce the text in Japanese as close as possible to the original, and even if you do not understand all the differences in syllables at first, pronunciation using the Kiriji system will still allow you to be understood correctly. The only syllable where there may be problems with clear understanding is va

.
Try to pronounce it as ua
with a very short u, without stretching your lips too much. The remaining transcription options give you the opportunity to speak Japanese clearly, although they are far from the standard version. In further lessons we will gradually study the pronunciation of all syllables that differ from Russian.

Passport control

How to say "thank you" in a polite way in Japanese

The phrase arigato gozaimasu can be said to people with a higher status than you (bosses, teachers and those older than you in age). This phrase is translated as “thank you very much.” In addition, it can be used when communicating with close friends to express sincere gratitude.

有難う御座います or ありがとうございます - arigato gozaimas - arigato gozaimas - thank you very much

A more polite form of expressing gratitude is domo arigato gozaimasu. You can use it in any situation, including at an official reception.

どうも 有難う 御座います - domo arigato gozaimasu - domo arigato gozaimasu - thank you very much

If you want to thank someone for something they did to you in the past, then you need to say “thank you” in the past tense, replacing the ending -u in the word gozaimasu with the ending -ita.

ありがとう ござい まし た - arigato gozaimashita - arigato gozaimashita - thank you very much (in the past tense)

Orientation in the city

Grammar

Now you can try to say something. I will give the necessary theory with specific examples, as well as a glossary with the words used.

Theory with examples

Japanese is a structural and analytical language, like English or Esperanto. There are two tenses in Japanese: present and past. The future is usually expressed in the present tense. Words (except perhaps verbs) are not inflected, and the connection is expressed by particles (they can also be called cases). For example, let's study a particle (in general, this is the letter ha

from hiragana, but as a particle it is read
wa
).
は is a subject particle (the subject is placed to the left of it, and the predicate to the right). In Russian, the particle は in sentences consisting of a subject and a predicate can be very successfully translated as a dash (“—”). And now a small example. At the end of words, for example, です (=desu), the sound “u” is not pronounced.私は先生です, watashi* wa sensei des
- “I am a teacher.”

• Let's return to phonetics: the sound "s" in "watashi" is read as something between "s" and "sh", and "v" - between "v" and "u".

- an auxiliary verb, which usually (there are also other auxiliary verbs, which, however, are used much less often - in special cases, such as negative phrases) ends a phrase consisting of a subject and a predicate, where the predicate is a noun or an adjective (and not an independent verb) . There is also a particle very similar to は ( mo

), which has all the same properties as は, but it means “too.”
私も先生です, watashi mo sensei des
- “I am also a teacher.”

It can be immediately noted that the verb です can be declined according to the general rules for declension of verbs in the Japanese language (they will be described in one of the following lessons) and you can, for example, form the form でしょう ( desho:

) - the same auxiliary verb, but only “probable” (that is, something that is probably true, but maybe
not )
.

Or, for example, you can form a past tense auxiliary verb. It will be でした ( deshita

, but phonetically closer to “ten”)
あなたも先生でした, anata mo sensei deshita
- “you were also a teacher.”

In addition, there is a particle of the accusative case about

, which is written with the hiragana character from the series on
in
を (
in
), but is read as
o
.
The verb is placed to the right of the particle, and the object of the action is placed to the left. 先生を見ます, sensei o mimas
- “to see the teacher.”
私は先生を見ます, watashi wa sensei o mimas
- “I see the teacher.”
私は先生を見ました, watashi wa sensei o
mimashita - “I saw the teacher.”

As can be seen from these examples, the predicate is usually found at the end of the sentence, to the right of the connective “va”. The auxiliary verb in the last three examples is not used because we already use the verb 見る ( to the world

) in different forms.

Dictionary

• ( watashi
  ) - “I”
• あなた ( anata
  ) - “you”
• ( sensei
  ) - “teacher”
• ( to the world
  ) - to look, "mieru" - to see, the example uses the verb in the polite form na -
  masu
  and the past tense na -
  ta
  .
  More details about verb conjugation will be discussed in subsequent lessons, although it is worth immediately noting that this is a verb of the second conjugation, where in almost all forms the “ru” simply disappears. Verbs of the second conjugation can be recognized by ending in iru
  or
  era
  .

Transport

Hotel

Simple words in Japanese

If you've ever wondered how to say the word "Japan" in Japanese, then this collection is for you. It will allow you to become familiar with basic Japanese words and remember their transcription and translation. When reading Japanese words in Russian, keep in mind: “:” denotes a long sound, and the vowels [u] and [i] in the syllables “ku”, “ki” and “su”, “si” are reduced.

Of course, these are not all the Japanese words that beginners may need, but if you are just starting to learn Japanese, then this list may come in handy.

Emergencies

Dates and times

Purchases

Expressions used in certain circumstances

“GOCHISOSAMA DESHITA” – “THANK YOU FOR THE TREAT”

御ご馳ち走そう様さまでした。 Gochisosama deshita. Thanks for the treat.

“Gochisosama deshita” is gratitude to the one who prepared your food. This expression can be used in restaurants. It should be said after eating. It is best to say it when you have paid and leave the establishment.

“SUMIMASEN” SHOULD BE SAID TO THE ONE WHO CORRECTED YOUR ERROR

すみません。 Sumimasen. Thank you and sorry.

The Japanese rarely say “arigato gozaimasu” to thank the person who corrected their mistakes. They prefer "sumimasen" instead. It literally means "Forgive me" in Japanese. This way your interlocutor will understand that you regret the mistake and thank him for his vigilance.

Restaurant

How to say thank you in Japanese to a friend

To express feelings for a friend, phrasebooks suggest using “domo arigato.” In etiquette lessons they explain that such a phrase is appropriate when communicating with good acquaintances, friends, and acquaintances. It is used in conversations with service personnel - sellers, waiters. It is not suitable for dialogue with a manager or official. You cannot say “domo arigato” when you are at a gala reception.

If the intimacy of communication allows for familiarity, it is acceptable to say “arigato.” In the language of the Stirana of the Rising Sun, a short word is used only with those with whom the speaker is “on friendly terms.” Japanese-Russian dictionaries, which provide a detailed description of meanings, advise choosing the short version when talking with family members, loved ones, people whose social status is definitely lower than that of the speaker (or at least equal).

To express feelings towards a loved one, but the arigato seems insufficiently emotional and bright, they pronounce “domo”. This word sounds somewhat politer than the banal arigato; it is a transitional step between familiar and respectful address. The official translation of “domo” is “very.” In everyday life, “thank you” is often omitted; only “very” is enough. The listener understands the meaning of what is said from the context.

In dialogue with loved ones and relatives of the same age, they often use not Japanese expressions, but the borrowed sankyuu, which comes from the English thank you. It can be said to a younger person, a close relative, or a good friend. This method has spread among young people. In a text message, the Japanese do not write sankyuu, but “39”, since the numbers are read as san kyuu.

Youth thanks message 39

Numbers and numbers

We hope that the Japanese phrasebook posted on the site will be useful during your trip to Japan - in solving household, transport and other common issues.

Beautiful Japanese words

This selection has been prepared in case you are in a poetic mood. In it you will find beautiful words and phrases in Japanese with translation and transcription, they are easy to remember. Just a little more, and you can write poetry!