Dites qui vous êtes, où vous êtes et à qui vous parlez. Tout ce qui suit est tiré du vocabulaire et de la grammaire déjà présents sur le site — aucune situation n'a sa petite liste de mots privée.
Ce qui compte le plus, c'est à qui vous parlez. En japonais, cela ne choisit pas seulement entre des mots : cela reconstruit la phrase. これいくら？ · こちらはおいくらでしょうか。 sont la même question posée à deux personnes différentes. Changez l'interlocuteur ci-dessous et regardez chaque phrase changer avec lui.
À qui parlez-vous ?
敬体 — the です/ます forms. The safe default with anyone you do not know well, and what you should learn first. Neither familiar nor grovelling.
Each sentence is a frame filled with a word from the fields above. Open at the other two levels to see the same thing said to a friend and to a client.
Getting by
Greet
おはようございます。
ohayō gozaimasu.
Good morning.
ございます is the deferential form of ある. Politeness in Japanese is a verb ending, not a separate word. more →
Thank
ありがとうございます。
arigatō gozaimasu.
Thank you.
Present tense for something still happening; ありがとうございました, past, for something now finished. more →
Apologise
すみません。
sumimasen.
I'm sorry. / Excuse me.
Negative in form — 'it does not end' — because the debt is not settled. It also does duty as 'excuse me' and even 'thank you'. more →
Get attention
すみません。
sumimasen.
Excuse me.
The same word as the apology. You are apologising for the interruption before you make it. more →
Ask for a repeat
もう一度お願いします。
mō ichido onegai shimasu.
Once more, please.
お願いします covers any request whose content is obvious from context. more →
Say you don't follow
よくわかりません。
yoku wakarimasen.
I don't quite follow.
よく 'well' softens it: not 'I don't understand' but 'I don't understand well'. Hedging is politeness. more →
Transacting
Ask the price
ねじはいくらですか。
neji wa ikura desu ka.
How much is screw?
いくら asks a price specifically; いくつ asks how many. か marks the question — no word order changes. more →
Ask for a thing
ドライバーをください。
doraibā o kudasai.
screwdriver, please.
ください is the imperative of くださる, the honorific of くれる 'give to me'. The politeness is baked into the verb of giving. more →
Accept
はい、お願いします。
hai, onegai shimasu.
Yes, please do.
はい agrees with the statement, not the action — watch it after a negative question. more →
Decline
いえ、大丈夫です。
ie, daijōbu desu.
No, I'm fine thanks.
大丈夫です declines. Hearing it as 'no' rather than 'yes I'm fine' is a milestone. more →
Check you got it right
虹ですよね。
niji desu yo ne.
It's rainbow, isn't it.
The polite copula plus the same two particles. ね is the single most common word in Japanese conversation. more →
Finding your way
Ask where
流しはどこですか。
nagashi wa doko desu ka.
Where is sink?
どこ sits exactly where the answer will sit. Nothing fronts. more →
Ask when
何時ですか。
nanji desu ka.
What time is it?
Clock times take に when you act at them: 三時に会いましょう. more →
Ask if they have it
歯ブラシはありますか。
haburashi wa arimasu ka.
Do you have toothbrush?
ありますか asks about existence, which is how Japanese asks about stock. more →
Say what you need
バグがほしいです。
bagu ga hoshii desu.
I'd like bug.
が because ほしい is an adjective describing the thing. Same pattern as 好き and 恋しい. more →
Testez-vous
45 questions from this situation. All three answers are real sentences — only one fits who you are talking to.
Greet — friends, family, people younger than you. Which one?
The words
Autres façons de le dire
Words in play that carry an alternative — a different register, or a synonym worth knowing.
ゼロzero— zero→ 零 rei · まる maru (reading digits aloud)