Common Japanese Phrases & Sentences

The Japanese language is quite extensive and can be daunting to learn, but luckily can surprisingly be easy to use by memorizing common Japanese phrases for basic communications. After all, the average person that fluently speaks Japanese will spot a beginner a mile away, thus offering certain discretion for your mistakes!




1. Question: How do you say “How are you” in Japanese?

Answer: ii genki desu ka.

Means: how are you in Japanese

2. Question: How do you say “Yes, I am doing well” in Japanese?

Answer: Hai, genki desu.

Means: Yes, I’m healthy. Literal meaning breakdown is – Hai(yes), Genki(healthy) desu(exist/is).

3. Question: How do you say “Thank you very much” in Japanese?

Answer: Doomo Arigato.

Means: Thank you very much




4. Question: How do you say “You are welcome” in Japanese?

Answer: Dooitashimashite

Means: You are welcome.

5. How do you say “Good Morning” in Japanese?

Answer: Ohaiyo

Means: Good Morning (Informal)

6. How to ask “Where is a restaurant” in Japanese?

Answer: Resutoran wa doko ni arimasu ka?

7. How do I ask “whats your name” in Japanese?

Answer:
(casual)
namae wa?
namae nanteiuno?

(polite)
onamae wa nandesu ka?

(very polite)
onamae oshiete itadake masu ka?




8. Telling Someone Your Name: (Response to someone asking your name)
I’ve ordered these from least polite to most polite.

(name) desu – It’s (name)
Example: Steve Desu

Boku no namae wa (name) desu (for boys) – My name is (name)

Watashi no namae wa (name) desu (for boys and girls) – My Name is (name)

(name) to iimasu – I’m called (name) – This is more polite than (name) desu, and it is used for more polite situations.

(name) to moshimasu – I’m called (name) – pretty much the same as to iimasu but it is more polite.

9. How do you do? – Nice to meet you

Answer: Hajimimashite
Pronounced “ha-gee-meh-mah-she-teh”. This is commonly used to say both How do you do and Nice to meet you. So Person A can say Hajimimashite and Person B can reply by also saying Hajimimashite.