Essential Vocabulary

The idea here is to list a few categories of vocabulary which are absolutely essential to understanding Japanese. For the most part, that means how numbers and pronouns work. Not only are those critical in all languages, but the way they work in Japanese is very different from English, so a dictionary alone won't cut it.

Japanese Numbers
Counting Words
Grammatical Vocabulary
Pronouns and Closely Related Words
Interrogative Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Semi-Personal Pronouns
Impersonal Pronouns, Demonstratives and More
Miscellaneous
Less Simple Example Sentences

Japanese Numbers

Counting Words

Now that you've seen basic numbers, we can move on to what makes Japanese number usage very different from English number usage: counting words.

This is one of the few categories of vocabulary that not only should but must be explained before you can just look stuff up on your own. In English, we have the numbers one, two, three and so on, and you say you have one, two or three of something. In Japanese, you have the numbers いち , に , さん and so on, and instead you say you have ひとつ , ふたつ or みっつ of something. The first three are just "numbers" while the latter three are "counting words." It turns out there are several sets of counting words for different kinds of objects. Irregular ones include:

General: 一つ ( ひとつ ), 二つ ( ふたつ ), 三つ ( みっつ ), 四つ ( よっつ ), 五つ ( いつつ ), 六つ ( むっつ ), 七つ ( ななつ ), 八つ ( やっつ ), 九つ ( ここのつ )
People: 一人 ( ひとり ), 二人 ( ふたり ), 三人 ( さんにん ), 四人 ( よんにん ), 五人 ( ごにん )
Animals: 一匹 ( いっぴき ), 二匹 ( にひき ), 三匹 ( さんひき ), 四匹 ( よんひき ), 五匹 ( ごひき )
Days: 一日 ( いちにち ), 二日 ( ふつか ), 三日 ( みっか ), 四日 ( よっか ), 五日 ( いつか ), 六日 ( むいか ), 七日 ( なのか or なぬか ), 八日 ( ようか ), 九日 ( ここのか ), 十日 ( とおか ), 十一日 ( じゅういちにち )
Months: 一ヶ月 ( いっかげつ ), 二ヶ月 ( にかげつ ), 三ヶ月 ( さんかげつ )
Cylindrical or Prism-Shaped objects: 一本 ( いっぽん ), 二本 ( にほん or ふたほん ), 三本 ( さんほん )

Most counting words (including these and other irregulars) are easy to recognize if you're familiar with those above, and easy to look up in any decent dictionary, but you should remember these details:

・The general counters stop at nine, even though every other set can theoretically go on forever with the same suffix. The closest thing to a general counter above nine would be the 〜 個 -ko set.

・ 一人 and 二人 are counting words for "one person" and "two people" as well as adjectives meaning "alone" and "together." 一人ぼっち and 二人っきり specify the adjective usage, though 二人っきり tends to be much closer to "just the two of us" than 二人 (and the っきり suffix can be used similarly on 三人 and up as well).

・The day counters (like 二日 ) can indicate days of the month ("the 2nd") as well as numbers of days ("two days"). In contrast, 一月 ( いちがつ ) only means "January" while 一ヶ月 ( いっかげつ ) only means "one month." I have absolutely no explanation for that ヶ .

・The suffix 目 ( め ) changes a "cardinal number" such as 一つ "one" into an "ordinal number" such as 一つ目 "first". So 一日目 means "first day," 二人目 means "second person," etc.

・The prefix 何 ( なん ): 何人 means "how many people?," 何ヶ月 means "how many months?," etc. For the general counters, use 幾つ ( いくつ ) "how many?".

・The prefix 数 ( すう ): 数日 means "a few days," 十数匹 means "ten and a few animals," 百数十人 means "a hundred and a few tens of people," etc. Be careful not to confuse 十数 with 数十 .

・When you see something like 二 〜 三十分 , it means "twenty to thirty minutes". Not "two to thirty", but "twenty to thirty" (or more literally: "two to three tens of minutes"). This is a really easy mistake to make since in English "twenty" and "thirty" are not the same thing as "two tens" and "three tens".

Grammatical Vocabulary

It's debateable whether or not these are particles or just really common words. Either way, they are so incredibly common that you have to learn them sooner or later to understand any remotely complex sentences, so you should start paying attention to them early. Also, many of these words are impossible to truly define, in the same way that "is" or "of" can't be directly defined in English. So, the best I can do is list some English words and phrases which come close enough that they should give you a good idea where to start.

や = and/or

から = so, because, from, since, starting from _

だから = like I said, because, therefore

ながら = while, during

まで = until, as far as, as much as, even

もう = already, no longer, more (can also be an interjection expressing strong displeasure)

いくら = how many/much/far, as far as

また = again

まだ = still, not yet

はず and べき = should, ought (hazu is likelihood, beki is moral obligation)

しかし = however, still, but

しかも = not only, on top of that

くらい = only, at least, to the point of being (sometimes just emphatic)

さえ = even, as far as, just, only, not even

こそ = the very _, precisely because, the one/thing which will

だけ = only, just, degree, extent (placed after a noun or verb)

ただ or たった = merely, only, just (placed before a noun or adjective)

そして = and, and then, also, in addition

として = as a _, in the manner of a _

かも or かもしれない or かもしらない = maybe, might, possibly

しか＿ない = nothing but, no choice, no other way

けれど or だけど or けど or だが = but, however, although

でも = even, but, something like (also modifies pronouns a lot like the "-ever" suffix in English; see pronoun list)

やっぱり or やはり = as I thought, indeed, after all

ずつ = in pieces/blocks/periods of, each/every, at a time

もしかして or もし = perhaps, maybe, if

じゃ = if/then/in the case of _

みたい = apparently, seems like, resembles

らしい = apparently, seems like, I heard that, I was told that

ばっかり or ばかり or ばっか = nothing but, lots of (after a noun), only just finished (after a verb)

それに = besides, however, on top of

それにしても = despite, in spite of, although

など = _ and the like, things such as _, etc.

やら = _ and the like, things such as _, _ever, by/with some _

Pronouns and Closely Related Words

Again, just need-to-know vocab plus a bunch that a dictionary isn't much good on. By "interrogative" I mean used to ask a question, by "personal" I mean used to denote a person, by "semi-personal" I mean used to denote either a person or a thing, and by "impersonal" I mean used to denote a thing. These are far from strict categories, and are only here to make it a little easier to wrap your head around the very large number of pronouns and other words I've listed.

Interrogative Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Semi-Personal Pronouns

Impersonal Pronouns, Demonstratives and More

Miscellaneous

I know it's a lot, but trust me, it's worth it. Thankfully a lot of them fit into neat little sets (especially the impersonals).

Less Simple Example Sentences

Same as last time , except now I'm adding compound particles and grammatical vocabulary to make the sentences a little more complicated. Verb forms will still be grayed out.

Next is Grammar Part 2: Conjugation .