/ Japanese
Can a Japanese verb have more than one meaning?
Listen or hear? Do or play? Discover how context shapes the meaning of Japanese verbs, with examples that show why one translation isn't always enough.
Blog
/ Japanese
How should you bow in Japan?
In Japan, the way you bow depends on the situation and the level of respect you want to show.
/ Japanese
Is green sometimes "blue" in Japan?
In a word, yes. In Japan, we sometimes use 青【あお, ao】, which usually means "blue," for things that many other languages would call green.
/ Japanese
Why are Japanese people known for being so clean and tidy?
Cleaning is not treated as a punishment, but as an everyday activity. And when you do something every day from an early age, it eventually becomes a habit and feels like a totally normal part of life.
/ Japanese
Why do kanji make Japanese such a visual language?
When you first start learning Japanese, one of the biggest surprises is that some words can sound exactly the same yet have completely different meanings. Kanji help make these differences immediately clear.
/ Japanese
Why do yes-or-no questions in Japanese keep the same word order?
In Japanese, yes-or-no questions usually follow the same basic word order as affirmative sentences. In polite speech, you simply add the particle か 【ka】 to the end of the sentence.
/ Japanese
The birth of Japan according to Japanese mythology
The myth surrounding the birth of Japan is mainly found in two ancient texts: the Kojiki (古事記, "Record of Ancient Matters") and the Nihon Shoki (日本書紀, "Chronicles of Japan").
/ Japanese
Is basic Japanese verb conjugation simpler than it looks?
The short answer is yes – basic Japanese verb conjugation is much simpler than it looks at first glance.
/ Japanese
Hiragana and katakana: The origin and history of the Japanese syllabaries
Hiragana and katakana are two of the three writing systems used in Japanese, the third being kanji. Although they are now taught very early on in Japanese lessons, both originated more than a thousand years ago from Chinese characters.
/ Japanese
Japanese Writing System
Kanji is the primary form of notation, but particles, auxiliary verbs, verb endings, and some adverbs are written in hiragana.
/ Japanese
Letters: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji
The Japanese writing system is based on a combination of Chinese characters (kanji) and two syllabaries: hiragana and katakana.
/ Japanese
How to Pronounce Japanese
Japanese has five vowels: /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, and /o/, which are the most basic sounds. The consonant phonemes include /p/, /b/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /t/, /m/, /n/, /r/, /s/, /z/, /h/, /j/, and /w/.