Introduction
If you want to learn the Japanese language online, you've come to the right place! Our lessons can
get you well on your way to learning how to speak, read, and write the Japanese language. On
this site you will find such things as the Japanese alphabet (including Hiragana and Katakana) as
well as Kanji, Japanese vocabulary, Japanese grammar, Japanese sentence structure, and common
Japanese phrases. What sets us apart from other "learn how to speak Japanese" courses is that we
teach you how to conjugate Japanese verbs and how to build your own Japanese sentences things critical to becoming fluent in the Japanese language.
The Japanese language is actually very simple but so unlike English that many English speakers
find it difficult to learn Japanese. The goal of this 10 free Japanese lesson course is to help you
study the basics of the Japanese language and to teach you how to learn Japanese in a way that is,
hopefully, fast and easy to understand. These public lessons start with basic Japanese and more
intermediate and advanced level Japanese lessons can be found in our Members Area.
IMPORTANT: While learning how to speak the Japanese language, do not rely too heavily on
Romanized Japanese or romaji (Japanese written in English letters). It is not used in Japan nor is
it widely known in Japan. It is very important to learn Kana (the Japanese alphabets - Hiragana
and Katakana) to avoid many issues that can come from using romaji as a crutch.
Lesson 1: Hiragana - ひらがな
The first step to learning the Japanese language is to learn the Japanese alphabet. Or, at
least, to learn the sounds that exist in the Japanese language. There are absolutely no
"tones" in Japanese like in many other asian languages and there are only 2 exceptions
within the Japanese alphabet which will be explained later. The Japanese alphabet does
not contain letters but, instead, contains characters and, technically, they are not alphabets
but character sets. The characters in the chart below are called Hiragana. It is the main
alphabet or character set for Japanese. The Japanese language also consists of two other
character sets - Kanji (Chinese characters), which we will get into later, and another
alphabet/character set, Katakana, which is mainly used for foreign words. Katakana will
be covered in Lesson 2.
There are 5 vowels in the Japanese language. (a), pronounced "ahh", (i), pronounced like
"e" in "eat", (u), pronounced like "oo" in "soon", (e), pronounced like "e" in "elk", and
(o), pronounced "oh". All Hiragana characters end with one of these vowels, with the
exception of (n). The only "consonant" that does not resemble that of English is the
Japanese "r". It is slightly "rolled" as if it were a combination of a "d", "r", and "l".
Combinations
あ
a
い
i
う
u
え
e
お
o
か
ka
き
ki
く
ku
け
ke
こ
ko
きゃ
kya
きゅ
kyu
きょ
kyo
が
ga
ぎ
gi
ぐ
gu
げ
ge
ご
go
ぎゃ
gya
ぎゅ
gyu
ぎょ
gyo
さ
sa
し
shi
す
su
せ
se
そ
so
しゃ
sha
しゅ
shu
しょ
sho
ざ
za
じ
ji
ず
zu
ぜ
ze
ぞ
zo
じゃ
ja
じゅ
ju
じょ
jo
た
ta
ち
chi
つ
tsu
て
te
と
to
ちゃ
cha
ちゅ
chu
ちょ
cho
だ
da
ぢ
ji
づ
zu
で
de
ど
do
にゃ
nya
にゅ
nyu
にょ
nyo
な
na
に
ni
ぬ
nu
ね
ne
の
no
ひゃ
hya
ひゅ
hyu
ひょ
hyo
は
ha
ひ
hi
ふ
fu
へ
he
ほ
ho
びゃ
bya
びゅ
byu
びょ
byo
ば
ba
び
bi
ぶ
bu
べ
be
ぼ
bo
ぴゃ
pya
ぴゅ
pyu
ぴょ
pyo
ぱ
pa
ぴ
pi
ぷ
pu
ぺ
pe
ぽ
po
みゃ
mya
みゅ
myu
みょ
myo
ま
ma
み
mi
む
mu
め
me
も
mo
りゃ
rya
りゅ
ryu
りょ
ryo
や
ya
ら
ゆ
yu
り
る
よ
yo
れ
ろ
ra
ri
ru
わ
wa
を
wo
ん
n/m
re
ro
Click here for a printable Hiragana chart (PDF - get Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Exceptions:
1. The Hiragana は (ha) is pronounced "wa" when it immediately follows the topic of the
sentence. This Hiragana character is usually only pronounced "ha" when it is part of a
word.
2. The Hiragana へ (he) is pronounced "e" when it immediately follows a place or
direction. Both of these are very simple to detect.
Click here if you'd like to know why these two exceptions exist.
Note: You probably noticed in the chart above that there are 2 Hiragana characters
pronounced "zu" and 2 Hiragana characters pronounced "ji". The Hiragana characters づ
(zu) and ぢ (ji) are very rarely used. づ (zu) only occurs when there is a つ (tsu) in front
of it like in つづく (tsuzuku - to continue) or when a Kanji (Chinese character) that has a
reading which starts with つ (tsu) is paired at the end with another character changing the
つ (tsu) to a づ (zu). The same applies for the Hiragana ぢ (ji). Since they are used so
rarely I wouldn't worry about them too much. I will let you know whenever we come
upon a word in which they are used.
Lesson 2: Katakana - カタカナ
As mentioned in Lesson 1, Katakana (as seen in the chart below) is mainly used for
foreign words such as foreign names and words that have been borrowed from other
languages such as コンピューター (kompyu-ta- = computer). Katakana is the least
frequently used of the three character sets in Japanese. The Japanese language does not
have as many sounds as the English language so, when creating a name in Katakana for
instance, the name must be sound out to the closest Japanese equivalent. Katakana,
Hiragana, and Furigana (when Hiragana is written small next to a Kanji character to show
how that character is read) are collectively known as Kana.
There are some special Katakana characters that exist only for foreign names (such as シ
ェ (she) or ティ (ti)). These special Katakana characters are not in the chart below
(which contains only the standard set of Katakana characters) but can be seen in our
Names in Japanese lesson.
Combinations
ア
a
イ
i
ウ
u
エ
e
オ
o
カ
ka
キ
ki
ク
ku
ケ
ke
コ
ko
キャ
kya
キュ
kyu
キョ
kyo
ガ
ga
ギ
gi
グ
gu
ゲ
ge
ゴ
go
ギャ
gya
ギュ
gyu
ギョ
gyo
サ
sa
シ
shi
ス
su
セ
se
ソ
so
シャ
sha
シュ
shu
ショ
sho
ザ
za
ジ
ji
ズ
zu
ゼ
ze
ゾ
zo
ジャ
ja
ジュ
ju
ジョ
jo
タ
ta
チ
chi
ツ
tsu
テ
te
ト
to
チャ
cha
チュ
chu
チョ
cho
ダ
da
ヂ
ji
ヅ
zu
デ
de
ド
do
ニャ
nya
ニュ
nyu
ニョ
nyo
ナ
na
ニ
ni
ヌ
nu
ネ
ne
ノ
no
ヒャ
hya
ヒュ
hyu
ヒョ
hyo
ハ
ha
ヒ
hi
フ
fu
ヘ
he
ホ
ho
ビャ
bya
ビュ
byu
ビョ
byo
バ
ba
ビ
bi
ブ
bu
ベ
be
ボ
bo
ピャ
pya
ピュ
pyu
ピョ
pyo
パ
pa
ピ
pi
プ
pu
ペ
pe
ポ
po
ミャ
mya
ミュ
myu
ミョ
myo
マ
ma
ミ
mi
ム
mu
メ
me
モ
mo
リャ
rya
リュ
ryu
リョ
ryo
ヤ
ya
ユ
yu
ラ
ra
リ
ri
ル
ru
ワ
ヲ
ン
ヨ
yo
レ
re
ロ
ro
wa
wo
n/m
Lesson 3: Vocabulary - 単語
Now that you've got the Japanese alphabets down, let's learn some basic Japanese
vocabulary words and simple Japanese phrases. I will list the Kanji, Hiragana, Romaji
(the word sounded out using English letters), and the English meaning for each Japanese
word or phrase. Most Japanese words have Kanji for them but I will only include the
Kanji if that word is typically written that way.
Keep in mind that the Japanese language has different levels of politeness that change
based on who you are talking to. I will refer to these as "ultra-formal", "formal" (or
"polite form"), "normal" (or "plain form"), "informal", and "rude" (we won't be covering
too much of the rude form, however).
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
English Meaning
私
わたし
watashi
I (formal for males,
normal for females)
僕
ぼく
boku
I (normal for males)
彼
かれ
kare
he
彼女
かのじょ
kanojo
she
あなた
あなた
anata
これ
これ
kore
ここ
ここ
koko
here
この
この
kono
this (ex. this pen)
それ
それ
sore
that (the object
itself)
そこ
そこ
soko
there
その
その
sono
that (ex. that pen)
人
ひと
hito
person
犬
いぬ
inu
dog
猫
ねこ
neko
cat
家
いえ
ie
house
ありがとう
ありがとう
arigatou
Thank you. (normal)
ありがとう
ございます
ありがとう
ございます
you
(singular/normal)
this (the object
itself)
arigatou gozaimasu Thank you. (formal)
You're welcome.
(normal)
ohayou
Good morning.
おはよう
おはよう
(sounds like "Ohio")
(informal)
Good morning.
おはようございます おはようございます ohayou gozaimasu
(normal and formal)
どういたしまして
どういたしまして
douitashimashite
こんにちは
こんにちは
konnichiwa
Hello. (normal)
こんばんは
こんばんは
konbanwa
Good evening.
(normal)
さよなら
さよなら
sayonara
Goodbye. (normal)
Lesson 4: Basic Japanese Grammar - 文法
Japanese grammar is quite simple and straight forward but very different from English
grammar so most English speakers find it rather confusing. For instance, in Japanese the
verb always comes at the end. The best thing you can do when learning Japanese
grammar is to learn it from the bottom up and not compare it to English grammar.
Japanese grammar uses what we will refer to as particles to mark the various parts of the
sentence. The main Japanese particles are: (These particles will be described in more
detail below)
は
wa
(as mentioned in Lesson 1, the Hiragana
"ha" is pronounced "wa" when it
immediately follows the topic)
topic marker
が
ga
subject marker
を
wo
(pronounced "o")
direct object marker
に
ni
direction marker, time
marker, indirect
object marker
へ
e
(as mentioned in Lesson 1, the Hiragana
"he" is pronounced "e" when it
immediately follows a place or direction)
direction marker
The particles "wa" (は) and "ga" (が): The particle "wa" marks the topic of the
sentence and the particle "ga" marks the subject of the sentence. In the example, "I know
where you live" (watashi wa anata ga doko ni sunde iru ka shitte iru), "I" would be the
topic while "you" would be the subject.
Not all sentences have both a topic and subject and, in many cases, the topic is implied in
Japanese (for example, the "I" (watashi wa) would be left out of this sentence because it
is implied that since I am talking I am the one that knows where you live). Many
Japanese books and teachers teach that "wa" and "ga" are the same thing and it doesn't
matter which you use when. This is not the case but I wouldn't worry too much about
keeping them straight at first.
The particle "wo" (を): The particle "wo" (or "o") marks the direct object of the
sentence. In the example, "I'm going to take her home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie ni
okuru), "her" would be the direct object.
The particle "ni" (に): The particle "ni" can be used to mark the direction, time, or the
indirect object of a sentence.
An example of a direction marker can be seen in the previous example "I'm going to take
her home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie ni okuru). In this case, the "ni" acts like a "to" - "I'm
going to take her 'to' home". The particle "e" (へ) can be used in this way as well but
usually implies more of a general direction as opposed to a specific place.
The particle "ni" is also used to mark time in a sentence. For example, "I'm leaving at 3
o'clock" (watashi wa sanji ni hanareru).
The final use for the particle "ni" is that of indirect object marker. In the example, "I was
taken home by him" (watashi wa kare ni ie made okurareta), "him" is the indirect object.
Note: The "watashi wa" in all of the example sentenced used above would normally be
left out as it is implied.
Lesson 5: Numbers, Time, and Days of the Week
Before we get too much further into grammar and verb conjugation, I thought it would be
a good idea to teach numbers, time, days of the week, etc.
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
English Meaning
一
いち
ichi
one
二
に
ni
two
三
さん
san
three
四
し、 よん
shi (yon after 10)
four
五
ご
go
five
六
ろく
roku
six
七
しち、 なな
shichi (nana after 10)
seven
八
はち
hachi
eight
九
きゅう
kyuu
nine
十
じゅう
juu
ten
百
ひゃく
hyaku
hundred
Numbers after 10 are a piece of cake once you know 1 through 10. 11 is simply ten with a
one after it, 十一 (じゅういち, juuichi), 12 - juuni, 13 - juusan, 14 - juuyon, etc. 20 is
simply 二十 (にじゅう, nijuu), 21 - nijuuichi, and so forth.
Put these numbers in front of the character for time 時 and you've got the time of the day.
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
English Meaning
一時
いちじ
ichiji
one o'clock
二時
にじ
niji
two o'clock
二時半
にじはん
nijihan
two thirty (半 means half)
二時四十五分 にじよんじゅうごふん nijiyonjuugofun
2:45 (分 means minute)
...etc.
Now just put the character for moon 月 after a number and you've got a month.
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
English Meaning
一月
いちがつ
ichigatsu
January
二月
にがつ
nigatsu
February
三月
さんがつ
sangatsu
March
四月
しがつ
shigatsu
April
...etc.
Days of the week don't follow such an easy pattern but here they are anyway along with
some other time-related words.
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
English Meaning
日曜日
にちようび
nichiyoubi
Sunday (日 - sun/day)
月曜日
げつようび
getsuyoubi
Monday (月 - moon)
火曜日
かようび
kayoubi
Tuesday (火 - fire)
水曜日
すいようび
suiyoubi
Wednesday (水 - water)
木曜日
もくようび
mokuyoubi
Thursday (木 tree/wood)
金曜日
きんようび
kinyoubi
Friday (金 - gold)
土曜日
どようび
doyoubi
Saturday (土 - dirt)
今日
きょう
kyou
Today
明日
あした
ashita
Tomorrow
昨日
きのう
kinou
Yesterday
一昨日
おととい
ototoi
the day before yesterday
明後日
あさって
asatte
the day after tomorrow (a
small "tsu" (っ) makes a
double consonant)
今朝
けさ
kesa
this morning
今晩
こんばん
konban
this evening
今
いま
ima
now
Lesson 6: Godan Verbs - 五段動詞
Now, before you can start making up sentences of your own, you need to learn how to
conjugate verbs. Verbs are the most important part of the Japanese sentence. Often times
Japanese people will leave out everything but the verb.
They are very big on leaving out the obvious and sometimes not so obvious which can
get confusing at times. There are only 3 types of verbs in the Japanese language and they
each follow a pattern that is very simple and very rarely has any exceptions. Most
Japanese verbs fall into the first group, the Godan (五段) verbs. These verbs always
conjugate the same way with only one exception. These verbs have five changes that
follow the order of the Japanese vowels, hence the name Godan (meaning 5 levels or
steps), and then the "te" and "ta" forms that are common to all verbs. Here's an example:
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
話す
はなす
hanasu (to speak)
話さ
はなさ
hanasa
Base 1
話し
はなし
hanashi
Base 2
話す
はなす
hanasu
Base 3
話せ
はなせ
hanase
Base 4
話そう
はなそう
hanasou
Base 5
話して
はなして
hanashite
Base "te"
話した
はなした
hanashita
Base "ta"
Verb Base
Base 1: Base 1 can not be used by itself but becomes the plain form negative simply by
adding -nai. (ex. hanasanai - I won't say anything.) If the verb ends in う (u) then the end
for Base 1 becomes わ (wa). (ex. au (Base 1) -> awa)
(Plain form is what people use when talking to a friend. It would not be proper to use in a
business environment. We will go over the polite form in lesson 8.)
Base 2: Base 2 is, in most cases, a noun when used by itself but is primarily used with the
polite form of the verb.
Base 3: Base 3 is the main form (the one that would be found in the dictionary) and is
also the plain form present/future tense.
Base 4: Base 4 is most often used as "if verb" by adding -ba. (ex. hanaseba - If he'd just
say something.) It can also be used by itself as a command form but it is extremely rude
and I recommend not using it at all.
Base 5: Base 5 is used by itself as the "let's" form. (ex. hanasou - Let's talk.) We will get
into other ways it's used in later lessons.
Base "te": Base "te" can be used by itself as a plain form command. It is not rude but
should only be used with close friends and children. By adding kudasai it becomes the
polite form command. Base "te" can also be used in other ways that we will get into in
later lessons.
Base "ta": Base "ta" is merely Base "te" with an "a" sound on the end instead of an "e"
sound. It is mainly used by itself as the plain form past tense. (ex. hanashita - I talked.)
We will get into other ways it's used in later lessons.
Notice: There is one thing that you'll need to learn in order to conjugate the "te" and "ta"
forms correctly. Basically, for all Godan verbs ending in う (u), つ (tsu), or る (ru); the
う (u), つ (tsu), or る (ru) becomes って (tte) in the "te" form and った (tta) in the "ta"
form. (ex. katsu (to win) -> katte (Win!), katta (We won!))
For all Godan verbs ending in ぶ (bu), む (mu), or ぬ (nu); the ぶ (bu), む (mu), or ぬ
(nu) becomes んで (nde) in the "te" form and んだ (nda) in the "ta" form. (ex. yomu (to
read -> yonde (Read it.), yonda (I read it.))
For all Godan verbs ending in く (ku), the く (ku) becomes いて (ite) in the "te" form
and いた (ita) in the "ta" form. (ex. aruku (to walk) -> aruite (Walk!), aruita (I walked
here.)) The only exception to this rule is for the verb iku (to go) which becomes いって,
いった (itte/itta).
For all Godan verbs ending in ぐ (gu), the ぐ (gu) becomes いで (ide) in the "te" form
and いだ (ida) in the "ta" form. (ex. oyogu (to swim) -> oyoide (Swim!), oyoida (I
swam.))
For all Godan verbs ending in す (su), the す (su) becomes して (shite) in the "te" form
and した (shita) in the "ta" form. (ex. hanasu (to talk) -> hanashite (Say something!),
hanashita (I talked (to him).))
Here are some Godan verbs. Try conjugating them on a piece of paper using what you
have just learned. Click here for the answers.
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
English Meaning
会う
あう
au
to meet
勝つ
かつ
katsu
to win
売る
うる
uru
to sell
遊ぶ
あそぶ
asobu
to play
飲む
のむ
nomu
to drink
死ぬ
しぬ
shinu
to die
歩く
あるく
aruku
to walk
泳ぐ
およぐ
oyogu
to swim
消す
けす
kesu
to erase, turn off
行く
いく
iku
to go
(Remember the exception
for Bases "te"and "ta")
Lesson 7: Ichidan Verbs - 一段動詞
The second group of verbs are called Ichidan (一段) verbs. It is usually an Ichidan verb if
it ends with the sound "iru" or "eru". Some well used verbs which appear to be Ichidan
but are really Godan are listed here. Ichidan verbs also follow a simple conjugation
pattern that is somewhat similar to that of the Godan verbs. Here's an example:
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
食べる
たべる
taberu (to eat)
食べ
たべ
tabe
Base 1
食べ
たべ
tabe
Base 2
食べる
たべる
taberu
Base 3
食べれ
たべれ
tabere
Base 4
食べよう
たべよう
tabeyou
Base 5
食べて
たべて
tabete
Base "te"
食べた
たべた
tabeta
Base "ta"
Verb Base
Base 1 and Base 2: As you can see, Base 1 and 2 are the same. Just like with the Godan
verbs, a negative can be made by adding -nai (ex. tabenai - I will not eat.) and this base,
or root form, is also used for the formal form of the verb.
Base 3: Base 3 is the same as with Godan verbs.
Base 4: Base 4, however, cannot be used by itself like with Godan verbs. It is only used
for "if verb" by adding -ba. (ex. tabereba - If I eat it...) It is not the low command form for
Ichidan verbs. The low command form for Ichidan verbs is Base 1 + ろ (ro).
Base 5: Base 5 is the same as with Godan verbs.
Base "te" and Base "ta": The Base "te" and "ta" forms for Ichidan verbs are a lot easier
than with Godan verbs. Simply take off the "ru" and add a "te" for Base "te" and a "ta"
for Base "ta". These have the same functions as with Godan verbs.
Here are some Ichidan verbs. Try conjugating them on a piece of paper using what you
have just learned. Click here for the answers.
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
English Meaning
いる
いる
iru
to exist (animate), to be
somewhere
見る
みる
miru
to see
寝る
ねる
neru
to sleep
着る
きる
kiru
to wear, put on
出来る
できる
dekiru
can do
覚える
おぼえる
oboeru
to remember
Irregular Verbs
The last type of verbs are the Irregular verbs but there are only 2 of them in the entire
language so just memorize their charts below. The first one is suru (to do something).
Many nouns can be used as a verb simply by putting "suru" right after them. It is
probably the most used of all Japanese verbs. The second Irregular verb is kuru (to
come).
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
する
する
suru (to do)
し
し
shi
Base 1
し
し
shi
Base 2
する
する
suru
Base 3
すれ
すれ
sure
Base 4
しよう
しよう
shiyou
Base 5
して
して
shite
Base "te"
した
した
shita
Base "ta"
Verb Base
The functions for these bases are the same as for the Godan verbs except that Base 4 can
only be used as the "if verb".
The rude command form is "Shiro".
漢字 - Kanji
ひらがな - Hiragana
Romaji
(English Letters)
来る
くる
kuru (to come)
来
こ
ko
Base 1
来
き
ki
Base 2
来る
くる
kuru
Base 3
来れ
くれ
kure
Base 4
来よう
こよう
koyou
Base 5
来て
きて
kite
Base "te"
来た
きた
kita
Base "ta"
Verb Base
The functions for these bases are the same as for the Godan verbs except that Base 4 can
only be used as the "if verb".
The rude command form is "Koi" and really should only be used on animals.
私はﾃﾞｲｰです。お建機ですか？