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

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

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

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