doo (doh) どう
yes hai (hie) はい, also ee (eh-eh) ええ, which is less formal.
Hai (or ee) is quite often used in the sense of “yes, I hear you” or “yes, I’m listening” in conversation, particularly when talking on the phone. Bear in mind that this use of hai (or ee) does not mean “you are right” or “I agree with you.”
no iie (ee-eh) いいえ, also ie (e-eh) いえ, which is less formal.
Iie (or ie) is used more often to mean “no” than hai (or ee) is to mean “yes.” However, Japanese do not like to say “no” outright unless the situation is informal or they are answering a simple yes-no question, such as “Do you know Mr. Smith?” Especially in business they usually couch the concept in more subtle forms and try to avoid saying “no.”
Here are some commonly used verbs, presented first in the dictionary form (i.e. the plain non-past affirmative form, which you can find in a dictionary), then in the stem form, the te-form (a sort of present participle), and the nai-form (i.e. the plain non-past negative form). There are two tenses in Japanese, namely, the non-past tense, which corresponds to the English present and future tenses, and the past tense. The following table shows how to conjugate verbs:
For example,
buy kau (kah-uu) かう, kai (kie) かい, katte (kot-tay) かって, kawanai (kah-wah-nie) かわない, kaimasu (kie-mahss) かいます “buy / will buy.” kaimasen (kie-mah-sen) かいません “do not buy / will not buy.”
kaimashita (kie-mah-sshtah) かいました “bought.” kaimasendeshita (kie-mah-sen desh-tah) かいませんでした “did not buy.”
kaitai-desu (kie-tie dess) かいたいです “want to buy.”
kaitakunai-desu (kie-tah-kuu-nie dess) かいたくないです “do not want to buy.”
katte kudasai (kot-tay kuu-dah-sie) かってください “please buy.”
kawanaide kudasai (kah-wah-nie day kuu-dah-sie) かわないでください “please do not buy.”
Note that the subject (I, you, he, she, we or they) is usually omitted when it is easily understood from the context. To change them to the interrogative form, simply add ka (kah) (か question marker) to the end (e.g. kaimasu-ka (kiemahss kah) かいますか “buy?”, kaimashita-ka (kie-mahsshtah kah) かいましたか “bought?”).
come kuru (kuu-rue) くる, ki (kee) き, kite (kee-tay) きて, konai (koe-nie) こない.
drink nomu (no-muu) のむ, nomi (no-me) のみ, nonde (noan-day) のんで, nomanai (no-mah-nie) のまない.
eat taberu (tah-bay-rue) たべる, tabe (tah-bay) たべ, tabete (tah-bay-tay) たべて, tabenai (tah-bay-nie) たべない.
forget wasureru (wah-sue-ray-rue) わすれる, wasure (wah-sue-ray) わすれ, wasurete (wah-sue-ray-tay) わすれて, wasurenai (wah-sue-ray-nie) わすれない.
give (to someone)
ageru (ah-gay-rue) あげる, age (ah-gay) あげ, agete (ah-gay-tay) あげて, agenai (ah-gay-nie) あげない.
give (to me)
kureru (kuu-ray-rue) くれる, kure (kuu-ray) くれ, kurete (kuu-ray-tay) くれて, kurenai (kuu-ray-nie) くれない.
Note that “please give me” is simply kudasai (kuu-dah-sie) ください, not kurete kudasai (kuu-ray-tay kuu-dah-sie) くれてく ださい.
go iku (ee-koo) いく, iki (ee-kee) いき, itte (eet-tay) いって, ikanai (ee-kah-nie) いかない.
hear kiku (kee-koo) きく, kiki (kee-kee) きき, kiite (kee-tay) きいて, kikanai (kee-kah-nie) きかない.
have motsu (moe-t’se) もつ, mochi (moe-chee) もち, motte (moat-tay) もって, motanai (moe-tah-nie) もたない.
Note that, instead of the stem form, motte-i (もってい te-form + i い) is used in the non-past and past forms (e.g. motteimasu (moat-tay ee-mahss) もっています “have,” motte-imasen (moat-tay ee-mah-sen) もっていません “do not have”).
know shiru (she-rue) しる, shiri (she-ree) しり, shitte (ssh-tay) しって, shiranai (she-rah-nie) しらない.
Note that in the affirmative forms shitte-i (しってい te-form + i い) replaces the stem form, with the exception of the desiderative form (e.g. shitte-imasu? (ssh-tay-ee-mahss) しっています “know,” shitte-imashita (ssh-tay-ee-mah-sshtah) しっていました “knew,” but shiritaidesu (she-ree-tie-dess) しりたいです “want to know”).
read yomu (yoe-muu) よむ, yomi (yoe-me) よみ, yonde (yoan-day) よんで, yomanai (yoe-mah-nie) よまない.
return (go/come back) kaeru (kah-eh-rue) かえる, kaeri (kah-eh-ree) かえり, kaette (kah-eh’t-tay) かえって, kaeranai (kah-eh-rah-nie) かえらない.
say iu (yuu) いう, ii (ee) いい, itte (eet-tay) いって, iwanai (e-wah-nie) いわない.
see (someone)
au (a-uu) あう, ai (ai) あい, atte (at-tay) あって, awanai (ah-wah-nie) あわない.
see (something)
miru (me-rue) みる, mi (me) み, mite (me-tay) みて, minai (me-nie) みない.
sleep neru (ney-rue) ねる, ne (ney) ね, nete (nay-tay) ねて, nenai (nay-nie) ねない.
speak hanasu (hah-nah-sue) はなす, hanashi (hah-nah-ssh) はなし, hanashite (hah-nah-sshtay) はなして, hanasanai (hah-nah-sah-nie) はなさない.
understand
wakaru (wah-kah-rue) わかる, wakari (wah-kah-ree) わかり, wakatte (wah-kot-tay) わかって, wakaranai (wah-kah-rah-nie) わからない.
walk aruku (ah-rue-kuu) あるく, aruki (ah-rue-kee) あるき, aruite (ah-rue-ee-tay) あるいて, arukanai (ah-rue-kah-nie) あるかない.
wait matsu (mah-t’sue) まつ, machi (mah-chee) まち, matte (maht-tay) まって, matanai (mah-tah-nie) またない.
write kaku (kah-kuu) かく, kaki (kah-kee) かき, kaite (kie-tay) かいて, kakanai (kah-kah-nie) かかない.
Common Phrases
Do you speak English?
Eego-o
