Vocabulary · 3 min read
Japanese Vocabulary for Beginners
Essential starter vocabulary organized by daily-life topic.
Key takeaways
- Start with high-frequency words grouped by everyday topic.
- Learn each word with an example sentence and its kanji when it's simple.
- Spaced-repetition review keeps words from slipping away.
- About 800 words is enough for JLPT N5.
Start with the words you'll use most
A small number of words covers a large share of everyday Japanese. Begin with greetings, numbers, family, food, time and places. The topics you'll use in your first conversations.
People and family
- わたし: I / me
- ともだち (友達): friend
- せんせい (先生): teacher
- かぞく (家族): family
- ちち / はは: (my) father / mother
- おとうさん / おかあさん: (someone's) father / mother
Food and drink
- ごはん: rice / a meal
- みず (水): water
- おちゃ (お茶): tea
- パン: bread
- やさい (野菜): vegetables
- くだもの (果物): fruit
Time and days
- きょう (今日): today
- あした (明日): tomorrow
- きのう (昨日): yesterday
- まいにち (毎日): every day
- いま (今): now
- げつようび (月曜日): Monday
Places
- いえ (家): house / home
- がっこう (学校): school
- えき (駅): station
- みせ (店): shop
- びょういん (病院): hospital
- トイレ: toilet
Useful verbs
- いきます (行きます): go
- きます (来ます): come
- たべます (食べます): eat
- のみます (飲みます): drink
- みます (見ます): see / watch
- します: do
How to make words stick
Review new words the next day, again after three days, and again after a week. Flashcard apps with spaced repetition do this for you.
Always learn a word in a short sentence, みずを のみます (I drink water), and say it aloud. You'll remember it faster and use it correctly.
Frequently asked questions
Ten new words a day, with daily review, adds up to N5 vocabulary in about three months.
Yes for simple, common kanji like 水 and 学校. For harder ones, learn the word in kana first and add the kanji later.
次の一歩 · Your next step
Put this article into practice
Check how many everyday words you already know.
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