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Try the Quiz : BASIC WORDS (KIHON-TEKI NA KOTOBA)

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Usage of Japanese Scripts

• There are 3 Japanese scripts : Hiragana, Katakana & Kanji. Mostof the Japanese sentences are written in Hiragana, Katakana & Kanji, all three.
• Hiragana is used for the endings of verbs and for grammatical particles.
• Katakana is used for transcription of words borrowed from foreign languages (except Chinese), like country names, personal names, etc.
• Both Hiragana and Katakana letters are phonetic representations of sound, representing exactly the same set of sounds.
• Kanji, which is a set of Chinese characters called sinograms, is used for the nouns and the radicals of verbs.
• The Hiragana script has a Kanji equivalent (excepts the endings of verbs and the particles).
• The Katakana script does not have a Kanji equivalent.
• Whereas Hiragana and Katakana are phonetic representations of sound, Kanji conveys sounds as well as meanings.
• A sentence in Japanese can be written in Hiragana /  Hiragana and Katakana only (without Kanji).
• Romaji (Roman letters) is simply the transliteration of Japanese in the Latin script. It is sometimes used for the convenience of foreigners, mostly on sign-boards and at stations.
• The Romaji vowelsā, ī, ū, ē signify emphasis, and hence are also written asaa, ii, uu et ee. ex. īe = iie
• The vowel ō becomes ou and not oo ex. gakkō = gakkou
• In Katakana, the emphasis on the vowel signifies a long sound written as ー. ex. nōto (notebook), will be written in katakana as : ノート

Example. The sentence 'There is a lake in Geneva.' is written in :

Japanese Romaji : Junēbu ni mizūmi ga arimasu ;

Japanese traditional (Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji) : ジュネーブに湖が あります。; where
Kanji = 湖 (mizūmi = lake) ; Katakana = ジュネーブ (Junēbu = Geneva) and the rest is Hiragana.

Japanese Hiragana and Katakana (without Kanji) : ジュネーブにみずうみが あります。
The Kanji in the sentence written in Japanese traditional, 湖 is replaced its hiragana equivalent みずうみ.

Note : Lake becomes 'ko' when attached to a place name. ex. Lake Geneva = Junēbu ko (not Junēbu mizūmi). 

Romaji Vocabulary   Hiragana Vocabulary  Katakana Vocabulary  Kanji Vocabulary

Hiragana Alphabets  Katakana Alphabets  Kanji Characters Tables

• father : おとうさん
  - Romaji : otōsan
  Kanji : 父
  
  
• mother : おかさん
  - Romaji : okasan
  Kanji : 母
  
  
• brother : おにいさん
  - Romaji : onīsan
  Kanji : 弟
  
  
• sister : おねえさん
  - Romaji : onēsan
  Kanji : 姉妹
  
  
• son : むすこ, おぼっちゃん
  - Romaji : musuko, obotchan
  Kanji : 息子
  
  
• daughter : むすめ, おじょうさん
  - Romaji : musume, ojōsan
  Kanji : 娘
  
  
• husband  : おっと
  - Romaji : otto
  Kanji : 夫
  
  
• wife : つま
  - Romaji : tsuma
  Kanji : 妻
  
  
• uncle : おじさん
  - Romaji : ojisan
  Kanji : 叔父
  
  
• aunt : おばさん
  - Romaji : obasan
  Kanji : 叔母
  
  
• child : こ
  - Romaji : ko
  Kanji : 子
  
  
• grandfather : おじいさん
  - Romaji : ojīsan
  Kanji : 御祖父さん
  
  
• grandmother : おばあさん
  - Romaji : obāsan
  Kanji : 祖母さん
  
  
• I : わたし
  - Romaji : watashi
  Kanji : 私
  
  
• we : わたしたち
  - Romaji : watashitachi
  Kanji : 私達
  
  
• he : かれ
  - Romaji : kare
  Kanji : 彼
  
  
• she : かのじょ
  - Romaji : kanojyo
  Kanji : 彼女
  
  

• airport : くうこう
  - Romaji : kūkō
  Kanji : 空港
  
  
• bank : ぎんこう
  - Romaji : ginkō
  Kanji : 銀行
  
  
• cafeteria : しょくどう
  - Romaji : shokudō 
  Kanji : 食堂
  
  
• cinema theater, movie theater : えいがかん
  - Romaji : eigakan
  Kanji : 映画館
  
  
• college, university : だいがく
  - Romaji : daigaku
  Kanji : 大学
  
  
• company : かいしゃ
  - Romaji : kaisha 
  Kanji : 会社
  
  
• garden, park : にわ
  - Romaji : niwa 
  Kanji : 庭
  
  
• hospital :  びょういん
  - Romaji : byōin
  Kanji : 病院
  
  
• hotel : りょかん
  - Romaji : ryokan 
  Kanji : 旅館
  
  
• Information center : あんないじょ
  - Romaji : annaijo 
  Kanji : 案内所
  
  
• library : としょかん
  - Romaji : toshokan 
  Kanji : 図書館
  
  
• market : いちば
  - Romaji : ichiba 
  Kanji : 市場
  
  
• museum : はくぶつかん
  - Romaji : hakubutsukan 
  Kanji : 博物館
  
  
• office : じむしょ
  - Romaji : jimusho 
  Kanji : 事務所
  
  
• school : がっこう
  - Romaji : gakkō
  Kanji : 学校
  
  
• station : えき
  - Romaji : eki 
  Kanji : 駅
  
  
• pharmacy, chemist : やっきょく
  - Romaji : yakkyoku  ; Kanji : 駅
  
  
• Police : けいさつ
  - Romaji : keisatsu 
  Kanji : 薬局
  
  
• zoo : どうぶつえん
  - Romaji : dōbutsuen 
  Kanji : 動物園
  
  

• 
  morning : あさ
  - Romaji : asa
  Kanji : 朝
  
  
• afternoon : ごご
  - Romaji : gogo
  Kanji : 午后
  
  
• evening : ばん
  - Romaji : ban
  Kanji : 晩
  
  
• night : よる
  - Romaji : yoru
  Kanji : 夜
  
  
• midnight : まよなか
  - Romaji : mayonaka
  Kanji : 真夜中
  
  
• left : ひだり
  - Romaji : hidari
  Kanji : 左
  
  
• right : みぎ
  - Romaji : migi
  Kanji : 右
  
  
• north : きた
  - Romaji : kita
  Kanji : 北
  
  
• south : みなみ
  - Romaji : minami
  Kanji : 南
  
  
• east : ひがし
  - Romaji : higashi
  Kanji : 東
  
  
• west : にし
  - Romaji : nishi
  Kanji : 西
  
  
• house : うち, いえ
  - うち
  いえ Romaji : uchi, ie
  Kanji : 家
  
  
• street : とうり, みち
  - とうり
  みち Romaji : tōri, michi
  Kanji : 通 
  
  
• avenue : おうどうり
  - Romaji : ōdōri
  Kanji : 大通り
  
  
• lake : みずうみ
  - Romaji : mizūmi
  Kanji : 湖
  
  
• mountain : やま
  - Romaji : yama
  Kanji : 山
  
  
• river : かわ, がわ
  - かわ
  がわ Romaji : kawa, gawa
  Kanji : 川
  
  
• car : くるま
  - Romaji : kuruma
  Kanji : 車
  
  
• train : でんしゃ
  - Romaji : densha
  Kanji : 電車
  
  
• ship : ふね
  - Romaji : fune
  Kanji : 船fune
  
  

Try the Quiz : BASIC WORDS (KIHON-TEKI NA KOTOBA)