Here are Japanese words for greetings & basics to start with: 家族 (kazoku, family), 友達 (tomodachi, friend), さようなら (sayounara, goodbye), こんにちは (konnichiwa, hello). Below are 24 words (A1–C2) with their English translations, part of speech and a romanization to help you say them, across 3 themed lists.
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| family | 家族kazoku | noun | A1 |
| friend | 友達tomodachi | noun | A1 |
| goodbye | さようならsayounara | interj | A1 |
| hello | こんにちはkonnichiwa | interj | A1 |
| here | ここkoko | adv | A1 |
| house | 家ie | noun | A1 |
| no | いいえiie | interj | A1 |
| please | お願いしますonegai shimasu | interj | A1 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| age | 年齢nenrei | noun | A1 |
| and | とto | conj | A1 |
| answer | 答えkotae | noun | A1 |
| birthday | 誕生日tanjoubi | noun | A1 |
| but | しかしshikashi | conj | A1 |
| name | 名前namae | noun | A1 |
| or | またはmatawa | conj | A1 |
| phone | 電話denwa | noun | A1 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| camaraderie | 仲間意識nakamaishiki | noun | C1 |
| cordial | 心のこもったkokoro no komotta | adj | C1 |
| gist | 要点youten | noun | C1 |
| rapport | 信頼関係shinraikankei | noun | C1 |
| salutation | 挨拶aisatsu | noun | C1 |
| small talk | 世間話sekenbanashi | noun | C1 |
| tact | 気配りkikubari | noun | C1 |
| valediction | 別れの挨拶wakare no aisatsu | noun | C2 |
Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0
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These lists show a sample of the A1–C2 words for greetings & basics. The packs in Watch Your Language hold more and reach the advanced levels, along with every other topic.
The app shows them to you a few at a time, in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting.
You could start with words like 家族 (kazoku, family), 友達 (tomodachi, friend), さようなら (sayounara, goodbye), こんにちは (konnichiwa, hello). This page lists 24 Japanese words for greetings & basics (A1–C2), each with its English translation and part of speech.
Reading a list once is rarely enough. Watch Your Language shows Japanese words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and schedules repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.
Yes. The lists on this page are free to read, with no sign-up. The app holds more words for each topic.