Japanese Lesson: Basic vocabulary

[elysiian_]

There is this thing called the JLPT, which stands for 'Japanese Language Proficiency Test'. Using this, it helps set a level of 'fluency' for non-native Japanese speakers. There are 5 levels in total, and there are lists of words and kanji in each JLPT level, based on how often they will be used. Here, I will list some JLPT 5 words, as well as examples as to how they're used. I will do a separate lesson on verbs, this lesson will be nouns and adjectives.

赤（あか)-Aka: Red i adjective

*Note: In Japanese, adjectives end with i (い), na (な), no (の), and (though I do not believe I've seen/heard it yet), taru (たる）. I will do another lesson explaining the conjugation of adjectives.

Example sentence: 昨晩、友人たちと赤ワインを飲んだ. （さくばん、ゆうじんたちとあかわいんをのんだ）sakuban, yuujin tachi to aka wain o nonda.-Last night, I drank wine with my friends.

青（あお)-Ao: Blue *i adjective

Example Sentence: 私の好きな色は青です（わたしのすきないろはあおです）watashi no sukina iro wa ao desu- My favorite color is blue

暑い（あつい）atsui: Hot (Weather) *i adjective

熱い（あつい）atsui: Hot (Thing) *i adjective

*Note: There are different kanji you use when referring to the word 'hot'. Be careful with which one you use.

Example sentence: このお茶はとても熱い（このおちゃはとてもあつい）Kono ocha wa totemo atsui-This tea is very hot

今日はとても暑いので、勉強したくない（きょうはとてもあついので、べんきょうしたくない）Kyou wa totemo atsui no de, benkyoushitakunai- Because it is very hot today, I do not want to study.

歌（うた）uta: Song *noun

Example Sentence: この歌を歌えますか。（このうたをうたえますか）kono uta o utaemasu ka- Can you sing this song?

映画（えいが）eiga: Movie *Noun

Example sentence: 私は悲しい映画は嫌いだ（わたしはかなしいえいがはきらいです）watashi wa kanashii eiga ha kirai desu- I do not like sad movies

多い（おおい）ooi: Many *i adjective

Example Sentence: 今日はすることが多い（きょうはすることがおおい）kyou wa suru koto ga ooi- I have a lot of things to do today

I do not want to put an overwhelmingly large amount of words here, and these I will admit that I just pulled out of random. If any specific words are asked for, I will add them to a separate list at the bottom of this paragraph. Once again, native speakers, if I made any mistakes please correct me. If you would like a more thorough explanation for anything, comment it and I will try to help, and if I can't help I'm sure that there's someone who can.

[BonBonChat]

ありがとうございます

[elysiian_]

いえいえ。頑張ってね。

[RunawayTrolley]

arigato

[Mandelmassa]

これはとっても良いレッスンだ！
でも、『歌えます』何故？歌いますでしょうか？

I hope my Japanese is comprehensible lol. Japanese verb conjugation is a little confusing to me so I might be wrong.

[elysiian_]

ありがとうございます！Verb conjugation is very difficult. However, there is a difference between 歌えます and 歌います. 歌 is the stem, meaning 'song', but the ending えます means 'to be able to'. So, 歌います= To sing. 歌えます=To be able to sing. Another example of this is with the verb 話す= To speak. 話します＝To speak. 話せます=To be able to speak. The 'i' sound is replaced with an 'e' sound. I hope this cleared up any confusion.

[Mandelmassa]

Thanks, now I understand! :)