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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 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 long vowels ā, 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 notebook in the bag' is written in :

Japanese Romaji : Nōto ga kaban no naka ni arimasu ;

Japanese traditional (Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji) :  ノートが鞄の中にあります。; where
Kanji = 鞄 (kaban = bag), 中 (naka = in) ; Katakana = ノート(nōto = notebook) and the rest is Hiragana.

Japanese Hiragana and Katakana (without Kanji) : ノートがかばんのなかにあります。
Note - The Kanjis in the sentence written in Japanese traditional, 鞄 and 中 are replaced by their hiragana equivalents かばん(kaban) and なか(naka) respectively.

Romaji Vocabulary  Hiragana Vocabulary   Katakana Vocabulary  Kanji Vocabulary  

Hiragana Alphabets   Katakana Alphabets   Kanji Characters Tables

• father : otousan, otōsan, chichi
  - Hiragana : おとさん ;  Kanji : 父
  
  
• mother : okaasan, okāsan, haha
  - Hiragana : おかさん ;  Kanji : 母
  
  
• brother : oniisan, onīsan, ototo
  - Hiragana : おにいさん ;  Kanji : 弟
  
  
• sister : oneesan, onēsan, imoto
  - Hiragana : おねえさん ;  Kanji : 姉妹
  
  
• son : musuko, obotchan
  -
  Hiragana : むすこ/ おぼっちゃん 
  Kanji : 息子
  
  
• daughter : musume, ojousan
  -
  Hiragana : むすめ / おじょうさん
  Kanji : 娘
  
  
• husband  : oshojin, otto
  - Hiragana : おっと ;  Kanji : 夫
  
  
• wife : tsuma, onna
  - Hiragana : つま ;  Kanji : 妻
  
  
• uncle : ojisan
  - Hiragana : おじさん ;  Kanji : 叔父
  
  
• aunt : obasan
  - Hiragana : おばさん ;  Kanji : 叔母
  
  
• child : ko, kodomo
  - Hiragana : こ ;  Kanji : 子 
  
  
• grandfather : ojiisan, ojīsan
  - Hiragana : おじいさん ;  Kanji : 祖父
  
  
• grandmother : obaasan,  obāsan
  - Hiragana : おばあさん ;  Kanji : 祖母
  
  
• I : watashi
  - Hiragana : わたし ;  Kanji : 私
  
  
• we : watashitachi
  - Hiragana : わたしたち ;  Kanji : 我々
  
  
• he : kare
  - Hiragana : かれ ;  Kanji : 彼
  
  
• she : kanojo
  - Hiragana : かのじょ ;  Kanji : 彼女
  
  
• they
  : karera
  
  - Hiragana : かれら ;  Kanji : 彼ら
  
  

• aeroplane : hikouki, hikōki
  - Hiragana : ひこうき ;  Kanji : 飛行機
  
  
• airport : kuukou, kūkō
  - Hiragana : くうこう ;  Kanji : 空港
  
  
• bag : kaban
  - Hiragana : かばん ;  Kanji : 鞄
  
  
• book : hon
  - Hiragana : ほん ;  Kanji : 本
  
  
• car : kuruma
  - Hiragana : くるま ;  Kanji : 車
  
  
• eraser : keshi gomu
  - Hiragana : けしごむ ;  Kanji : 消しゴム
  
  
• fork : fouku, fōku
  - Katakana : フォーク 
  
  
• knife : naifu
  - Katakana : ナイフ
  
  
• napkin : napukin
  - Katakana :  ナプキン
  
  
• notebook : nouto, nōto
  - Katakana : ノート
  
  
• paper : kami
  - Hiragana : かみ ;  Kanji : 紙
  
  
• pen : pen
  - Katakana : ペン
  
  
• pencil : enpitsu
  - Hiragana : えんぴつ ;  Kanji : 鉛筆
  
  
• school : gakkou, gakkō
  - Hiragana : がっこう ;  Kanji : 学校
  
  
• spoon : saji
  - Hiragana : さじ ;  Kanji : 匙
  
  

• morning : asa
  - Hiragana : あさ ;  Kanji : 朝
  
  
• evening : ban
  - Hiragana : ばん ;  Kanji : 晩
  
  
• night : yoru
  - Hiragana : よる ;  Kanji : 夜
  
  
• yes : hai
  - Hiragana : はい
  
  
• no : iie, īe
  - Hiragana : いいえ
  
  
• left : hidari
  - Hiragana : ひだり ;  Kanji : 左
  
  
• right : migi
  - Hiragana : みぎ ;  Kanji : 右
  
  
• north : kita
  - Hiragana : きた ;  Kanji : 北
  
  
• south : minami
  - Hiragana : みなみ ;  Kanji : 南
  
  
• east : higashi
  - Hiragana : ひがし ;  Kanji : 東
  
  
• west : nishi
  - Hiragana : にし ;  Kanji : 西
  
  
• street : touri, tōri, michi
  - Hiragana : とうり/ みち ;  Kanji : 通 
  
  
• avenue : oudouri, ōdōri
  - Hiragana : おうどうり ;  Kanji : 大通り
  
  
• thank you : arigatou, arigatō
  - Hiragana : ありがとう
  
  
• goodbye : sayounara, sayōnara
  - Hiragana : さようなら
  
  

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